The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-05-20

INITIATED ones are prone to believe. II
has its hard features and its discour
agements in full measure, as well as its
sunny side.
| An individual who has the ability tc
listen while everybody else is talking
| lat once) and to look interested ever
when the conversation is confined to the
takers children and their idosyncrasies
heard at the annual meeting of the So
ciety for the Prevention of Good Will
Toward Men, something about the rural
carrier which made him forget for the
time being that he was sent as repre-
sentative of the Pumpkinville Gazette
to report the proceedings of the meet
ing, and instead jotted down a few
things of what he heard said about the
rural carrier.
Often from the mouths of babes and
sucklings proceedeth wisdom, and some
times, from the mouths of the "wise
grown-ups" too. But this does not have
anything to do with the case in point.
Pm not goin gto tell what the wise ones
said
''Seems to me, we're hardly getting
any mail at all nowadays" says number
one. "We used to get such a lot when
we took our mail at the postoffice. 1
rather think there is a lot of careless
ness about this free -delivery business"
Number one subscribes for one or two
papers. Of these one is weekly, the
other a monthly. Number one is of
the opinion that because the carrier
fails to drop a paper or letter in his
box every day, 'the fellow is dishonest
old scamp that ought to be put out"
Number two says he has had similar
experiment. The carrier won't even col
lect his mail-when he forgets to hang
out his mail-card, and "but the carrier
ought to look anyway. That's his bust
ness" And what is more, he ought
to thank heaven that he has the privi-
lege of thawing out his fingers in zero
weather-perhaps 20 collecting
loose pennies in the box which are for
the unstamped letters. ct isn't much
to just stick on a stamp to an envelope,
is it?"
Number three says all this is true,
but he can testify to the general de-
pravity of carriers by relating the fol-
lowing fact:
LAST sumner when everybody was so
busy gathering bounteous harvest,
that good for nothing carrier actually
got cranky when asked him to get my
groceries from town for me. I don't
call that neighborly, do you? When I'd
made out a list of the things wanted,
bologna sausage, cheese, gallon of kerr
osene, etc., etc. Uncle Sam ought to get
after that lazy carrier. I'll just show
him what can do when the yearly con-
tribution of oats for his horse is DUE"
Number four is woman, and has
valid reasons for disliking this humble
servant of the government. She ''iust
hates the old thing" because he didn't
get the right kind of knitting yarn for
her, even when she 'was 80 good as to
send him a sample of the kind he was
to buy-what's he good for anyway ?"
Number five is woman too, and like
number four, she believes in the total
of mail carriers. The third
time she asked him to buy soap for her
he actually refused. He'd forgotten the !
yeast, too. Now any housewife knows
that it's impossible to make decent
bread without yeast, leave alone what !
the old bachelor says about it, and to
think that "a man who hasn't got any
thing else to do but cart along the
country road with few letters" should
actually forget or refuse to buy yeast
for needy woman. It's unspeakable
And to cap the climax he forgot to get
the three white nipples for the baby's
nursing bottle
Number six also belongs to the fem
mime persuasion. She has a leaning to- F!
wards leniency. Most newly welded wo- |
men have. He did her good turn when
she was making her wedding gown. |
There lacked just two yards of the prec- |
lous material, and the faithful one. who
by taking on himself the responsibility |
OF working for Uncle Sam, has become
the scape goat of the route, came to the
rescue, and just in the nick of time got
the stuff needed for the sleeves in that
gown. Consequently Mrs. Younghusband
carries him no grudge. It's different
with the woman who needed the Yeast
and the three white nipples. Who
blames her for getting mad?
Number seven, strange to say, shares
the good will of number six The carrier
made satisfactory purchase of three
white linen towels for her, which towels
went to swell the number of Mrs.
Younghusband's wedding presents, and
established the best possible relations
between her and number seven. She has
implicit confidence in the carriers abil-
ity to select suitable wedding presents,
as she has in the good old doctors skill
in curing all manner of diseases. But
No. ~ r "A ~ /