McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1918-07-12
NEW YORK LETTER

NEW YORK LETTER
! notice that your space is pretty
well taken up with patriotic printing,
letters from soldier boys, etc, and !
have not bothered you for some time,
but perhaps some of your readers will
like to hear from me again, il the let
ter is not too long.
The Red Cross drive here was
wonderful thing, and still you can see
people selling War Saving Stamps on
the streets. in the subways, and every
where. | saw little boy not over
three years old perched on a high
stand on Broadway, in his childish
voice calling on the people to buy
these stamps, which are to help US
win this war, and the baby was GER
tainly selling them, too. A man called
THE Human Spider" slim young
fellow of about 20 years, climbed up
on the outside Of our building, more
than 300 feet, to the very top Of the
fagpole, all for the Red Cross. 1t
made me sick to look at him, hanging
with his fingers and toes dug into the
crevices between the bricks on that
dizzy wall, but he passed by our win
dow, 200 feet from the ground, going
up that beetling height, hanging on
like spider sure enough. as though
he enjoyed it. On the sidewalk be-
low stood twenty men holding big
piece of canvas to catch him if he
should fall, but certainly would not
have liked to see him try to get saved
that way. ! think he would have
shot through Il like a canon ball.
More than q hundred thousand people
watched hin, and every time he
reached a new story (the building has
twenty-six stories, besides the steeple
and 1agpole) a mighty cheer went up
Meanwhile barrels which had been
placed along Broadway and Park Row
were being filed with greenbacks as
the people passed along flinging the
bills in, fives, tens, twenties and some-
times one hundred dollar bills, and
the people in charge, with long sticks
packed the money down like you
would pack hay or waste paper.
Money flows here like water, and it
has risen in a flood that will help
wash the German Kaiser and Kaiser
ism from the face Of the earth, never
to retnrn.
| was in Washington not long ago
and called on General Marcus j.
Wright at bis cczg home on Corcoran
street, | also met his wife and the
wife and little daughter of his son.
Captain John Wright The General
il pretty feeble now, his more than
10 Z " 81
eighty years weigh ON MIN some, as
certainly will upon the Of men, but
he looks calmly back on well-spent
life. and rej1ices 10 his fine sons and
his daughter, all of whom have taken
their place among the highest 10 the
land. Captain John Wright, his eld-
est son by his present wife, is on the
American General Staff in Paris,
France, and has been called into the
war councils of the Allied Nations in
the war on the Hun that is to make
tie world safe for democracy, Johns
sister is married toone Of the chief
assistants of the world famous inven-
tor Thos. A. Edison, who created the
electric light. etc. Mrs. Gen. Wright is
well-preserved woman, and the youn-
er Mrs. Wright is worthy Of the family
she has joined, while the little daugh.
ter, now about ten, is also worthy OF
the blood. To have such a family
and such glorious memories as grace
the evening Of the life Of this grand
est of all the old men of Tennessee,
is far better than riches.
There never has been such cele
bration of the Fourth of July as tbs
one just past in this City. More
than one hundred thousand peop g