Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-18
CHAL0NER SPURNS KIN THEY ASK Mr., BARNESI
Rejects Makeup 0vertues OF All Sorts of Strange Inquiries
Brother and Sister. Come to the Postmaster
WOULD KEEP BREACH OPEN IMAM WANTS TO SELL SKIM
Relatives Charlottesville Anxious Money His
Ask Him See Them. Little Daughter
WRITE APPLAUDING HIS DEED JOKE ON CHICAGO WRITER
Sayer Elk Sends Post Windy
pense-Bloodstans to Be Pre- City
as Memeno ,n+a, p.uuo.. cuo.4oa
All Sorts of Strange Inquiries
Come to the Postmaster.
MAN WANTS TO SELL SKIN
Anxious to Raise Money for Hi
Little Daughter.
JOKE ON A CHICAGO WRITER
Sends Post Card From the Windy
City to Be Mailed From Wash
ington-Request Granted.

Postmaster Barnes has recently been re-
ceiving quite number of strange and
unusual requests from persons living
away from Washington. some of them
even across the sea. For years il has
been the custom Of persons abroad who
wished to locate their friends or rela-
tlVes IN America to apply to the city
postmaster for full particulars as to their
whereabouts. their circumstances and
sometimes their moral life. The District
Commissioners have also been invoked in
like cases. But Mr.. Barnes has recently
received letter from a man at Island
Park. Ky, which surpasses anything
ever received before in the way of nov
city and even gruesomeness.
The man. whose name is withheld, not
only because he asked il as a special
favor. but because his peculiar PROPOSE
ton arises from his great love for his
little daughter, who needs things beyond
his means to buy, is willing to immediate
himself upon the altar Of devotion for his
child. and actually offers his body for the
purpose Of raising the money he needs.
Would Sacrifice Leg.
Il have written you. sir, his letter
states. in the hope that you may know
Of some surgeon. physician hospital
where they are in search of human skin
FOR grating purposes to help some poor
wretch who has met with an accident, or
burns, or whose body is eaten with holes
1 can furnish any amount of skin,
flesh, yes. even to the extent of whole
leg, If necessary. / am not doing it in the
interest of science. or because l am a
great philanthropist. hut from the great
love | bear for a little daughter whose
needs make such a sacrifice easy and
pleasure to me. II you don't know your
self. perhaps you may be able to refer my
letter to some person or institution that
does | am not sensationaiist. and for
that reason l ask you not to make public
my name"
Mr.. Barnes has referred the letter to
the authorities of a local hospital for such
action as may be deemed necessary.
Many other communications are re-
ceived. some pathetic and many very
amusing. One is from young man evil
IDENTIFY struggling with the rudiments OF
his education. who wants a list of all the
colleges. especially those guaranteed TO
give a complete education in brief
period at a minimum of cost. Il don't
believe its necessary to waste a year or
two going to college" his letter states.
and I'm sure that somewhere there is "a
institution that can hustle fellow
through in month or SO and not charge
him all he's got to do it,
Joke on a Chicago Man.
inauguration time furnished a number
of amusing incidents. Throughout the
length and breadth of the land there are
doubtless many today who are boasting of
having been in Washington to see Pres
dent Taft inaugurated, who, matter
of fact, never got far away from their
n non RI cfn 1ix-iSj = nj
class recently sent to the postmaster a
highly Illuminated post card souvenir of
Washington. with the request that he
postmark it with the Washington stamp
and mail 1t TO his friend in Chicago 1t
bore the message. Dear BIZ Am having
President Taft on the Capitol stand wmen
he delivered his inaugural address and
'shuck' his hand afterwards the first one.
Wisht you were here with me-" In com
pliance with the mans request, PostmaS-
ter Barnes caused the postmark of the
Washington office to be affixed to the
card and sent it back to Chicafio, not.
however. until it had first been plainly
stamped in big red letters Received
under cover from the post office at Chi
cago and remailed."
An Ohio Woman's Inquiry.
An enterprising woman in Ohio. who in
formed the postmaster that she kept the
best dairy farm in the state, wanted full
particulars about certain young man
who lived ina nearby Virginia town. 1t
seems he had applied for employment, full
ly describing his qualifications, but fail
ing to give references. What she wanted
to know about the young man might have
been asked as well about an applicant for
her heart and hand as for a job on her
dairy farm. First she wanted to know
hrIf 1Aolyt, IL
whether his eyes were large and clear,
or little and weazened: how much he
weighed, and If he seemed to have low
ing disposition. She confidingly closed
mind If he did drink little "pervided''
his manner when in his cups was affec-
tomato and not tempery.
1t Is not unusual for callow youths to
implore the postmaster to furnish the real
names and addresses of leading actress
es, and one of them declared n short
while ago that full and correct answer
was matter of life and death.
\ recent correspondent directed her in
quiries to subject close To the post
masters official home. for she asked lin
really good faith and for perfectly proper
purposes if the new assistant postmaster
was married.
Many Good Story.
Many "A good story is hidden away in
the brown file case that stands in the
corner of the postma sters room. and
which contains the freak" letters re-
ceiyed from time to time from inquirng
correspondents all over the land But Mr..
Barnes feels that it would hardly be fair
to the writers to exhibit the letters of
this kind that have been received by him.
~ is astonishing" lie said, how abso-
lutely frank some of the writer's are and
how much they are willing to commit to
paper for the eyes of the postmaster.
They are for the most part harmless and
many of them are laughable for the
guilelessness of their writer's. if for moth