The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-11-17
HERE'S A dime
CHAIN; HOW FAR
DOESIT TRAVEL?
Ask 5 Friends to Ask 5 Friends
to Ask 5 More Friends
Etc. to Give.
LETTER TO SALESMAN
REVEALS UNIQUE GIFT
After so Rounds of Friends, How
Much Does He Get
bigger" 1t Out.

An endless chain of dimes that forms
an intricate network over the entire
country, all to be devoted to charity
for helpless former travelling sales
man, last night was uncovered in the
Cape in a letter received by F. r. Rob
lee, Il st. Louis travelling shoe sales
man.
The intricacieS of the chain started
a group of travelling men at the st.
Charles Hotel lobby to calculating in
an endeaVor to ascertain how far it
would go and they figured, multiplied
and argued till early this morning and
had only reached the 100000 mark
and had gone but tenth of the way
around the chain.
According to the story revealed in
the letter announcing the chain, Frank
Wetherbee, a former salesman for a
wholesale drug house, is down and out.
Through malignant disease, he has
lost the use of both legs and recently
he went blind. He has been supported
by few of his friends, the letter de-
clared. until the idea of starting the
dime chain was worked out, to enlist
the support of other travelling men.
He is now living at a place % miles
from Bemidii, Mimi, the letter states,
and is Is miles from the nearest rail-
road.
This is the way in which travelling
statesmen are asked to contribute only
4 dime toward his support:
"Here is the proposition the letter
says. "Please make five copies of this
letter, as | have done, only changing
the date and putting the next higher
number at the top; number and date
each of your five letters the same, sign
your name and mail the five copies to
five of your friends whom you feel will
do likewise.
mail this letter with ten cents to
T. j. Burk, trustee, care Of Northern
Grocer Co., Bemidii. OIinn.. who will
see that the funds are properly deliver
ed. This chain ends at No. so. The
party receiving No. 80 viii please re-
turn with ten cents and make no
copies. Don't break the chain"
A study of the letter reveals that the
first man who started the chain, num-
bered his letters No. /. He asked five
men to contribute a dime each and
pass the buck" each one Of them to
five of their friends.
Consequently, each of the second
ring of letters would be numbered No.
2. and would be sent to p men, each
of whom would be asked to give a
dime. This group of % men in turn
ask 125 men all in letters numbered
No. 8, to do likewise.
That group of 1875 men, in letters
which they numbered No. /, would ask
625 men to "kick in" with dime for
the support of Mr.. Wetherbee, or
$3.50.
The letters bearing No. would go
to 1926 travelling statesmen, who would
pay up and make a similar request in
letters numbered No. 6. for 1885
men to pay up with their bit Of
$1,562.50.
1t simply becomes a case of who
can multiply the fastest as to who can
calculate how much Mr.. Wetherbee is
to get at the end. Mr.. Roblee's letter
was number 26 and by that time Mr..
Wetherbee must have been worth sew
eral millions. 1t is The Tribune's
guess that he will be capable Of financ-
ing European war by the time the
fiftieth letter gets around.