Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-17
DAILY STOR Y
HOW THE POSTAL BILL
WAS CARRIED

any letters for him. Now. at that time
1880, the second year after the good
Queen Victoria assembled the throne
= of England-the pOstOffice was a very
different bureau from what it is today
The mail was all carried on coaches,
and the charges on letters were in pro
portion to the distance they were trans
i. mitted. ranging from 16 TO ~ cents
for letter weighing an ounce, and
were collected when the letter was de
livered. Since the value of a shilling
was prOportlonately much greater then
than now the cost of postage, especially
on Il letter sent from one extremity OF
the kingdom to another, was. to the
poor. prohibitive.
Sir Roderick stepped up to the de
livery window and, finding Il young
woman, Al maidSefvant, there. waited.
The clerk had handed her a letter. and
she was looking at the superscription.
Presently she sighed and turned To
leave. The clerk called her back.
This is the third time this week
you've been here to ask for letters. and,
though I've had one for you every time
you've called"
liic dShtu
Sir Roderick. Cant you pay for your
letter.
Il haven't the money, sir"
Whom is 1t from?"
My young man, SIR
What is the POSTAGE" asked the
baronet of the clerk.
"A shilling fourpence," replied the
clerk.
Sir Roderick took the amount from
his wallet and laid it before the clerk.
Glancng at the grl to see how pleased
she would be TO read the letter
from her lover he noticed Il peculiar
expression on her face. while she shook
her head. as much as TO say, Don't do
it, But Ii was too late. The clerk
had taken the money, and the letter
was in the baronet's hand. He gave it
TO the girl. and the two walked out Of
the post0ffice together. When they
reached the street Sir Roderick took
out an eyeglass and read the super
scription on the letter.
The name was Beth T. Il. Il. Perk"
Sir Roderick was puzzled. He had
never seen so many initials in the name
of one in her class. You are Beth
Perk. | suppose" he said.
Yes. sir; on that letter. Sometimes
I'm Bess. Elizabeth. Betsy or one o.
the other names as belongs to Eliza
BETH
The good man looked at her wonder
ingly. And you seem to have a good
many other names, judging from the
initials
DO lr,ff Il
Sometimes there's three, like this one,
sometimes two, and once there was
five. but that was only once and was
necessary"
Sir Roderick took the glass out of his
eye and surveyed the girl from head to
foot. What could she mean? He was
too well bred to ask even one so far be-
meath him to explain a matter in which
he could not possibly be expected to
have an interest so he simply looked
at her
We'll. here's your letter." he said,
handing it to her.
please. sir, don't want It,"
Don't want it."
mo. sir. There's nothing in it. sir"
Nothing in it? Then Why He
paused.
Il tried TO stop you payin' for it, sir.
It's this way. sir. Ny young mans
valet to laird in the north o. Scot
land, sir. The postage on a letter from
him is one and four, sir. so we has a
way O. writin' on the back o. the letter
as we both knows what 1t means. In
side there's nothin' but a sheet o. pa
per. with nothin' on it. / goes to the
postoffice and calls for the letter and
knows what 1t says by the writin' on
the outside. Then l hands it back to
the clerk and pays nothin'. l won't
mind tellin'' you what this one says If
you won't look at me. Beth means
sweetheart. T. means time. r. r.
means one month-that is, it's one
month before we're to be married.
Sir Roderick, who was a statesman,
stood looking down upon the girl think
ing. The postal laws enabled him as
one of the nations rich men and legis-
lators to send a piano through the
mails free, IL he chose, but the poor
must pay for an ounce of paper.
The next day Rowland Hilrs bill for
uniform inland penny postage was TO
come up In the house OF commons and
Sir Roderick had proposed to kill 1t.
1t now occurred to him that the gov
ernment was carrying this girls love
letters free. whereas the charge of a
penny might be paid not only by her.
but by thousands of others who could
not pay the high rates
Beth" he said, tearing open the let
ter and glancing at piece of blank
20
another letter to your lover come to
me-" he handed her a card, land it
shall cost you nothing; I'll frank it for
you. And here's wedding present for
you, or rather pay for an idea you have
given me-" He handed her two fIO
notes and left her standing on the side
walk gaping after him.
The next day. when the postal bill
came up in the house of commons, it's
friends were in despair since 1t was