The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1935-07-16
In New York
CHANGE YOUR MIND ON THAT
LETTER? GET 1T BACK.
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York, July 16-An 1mpul-
sive young woman, who's in the
habit Of saying and writing things
which she almost Immediately re-
grets, had an acute attack of pique
the other evening and broke with
her fiance.
At least she penned and mailed
letter to the young man, who
had gone to Chicago on bust
ness trip, telling him, that he had
better start searching for a new
heart-throb. Next morning she felt
very differently about it especially
after receiving a nice letter from
him by air mail. Thoroughly con-
trite now, she sped to the main
New York post office, deep in
forebodings of spinsterhood.
Was there, she sniffled rather
hopelessly, any way of recalling
a letter before it reached the per-
son for whom 1t was intended?
Why sure, said a man who en-
counters this sort of distress al
most every day. You address
second envelope just like the first,
and fill out Form 1909, and hand
them in. The post office gets in
touch with the office where the let
ter will be sorted, and that office
notifies the carriers who may ham
die the letter to be recalled. 1t is
plucked out and returned to the
sender, with no questions asked
the law holding that letter is the
exclusive property of the sender
until 1t actually is in the hands of
the addressee. The person recall
ing a letter has to pay the tele-
graph tolls, If a wire to another
city is necessary.
I recount all this because there
probably are lot of impulsive
people who would like to know.
Cupid Harrison, they call me.
Decked Out.
One of this departments secret
agents. lolling in the coolth of
Ogunquit, Me-, with the summer
theater crowd there, reports that
the actors are going back to nature
along mountain trails and trout
streams. None Of them worries
about getting lost in the woods,
because each carries a deck of
cards. Yeh, ordinary playing cards.
Whenever one Of the actors real
ICES that he can't find his way
back through the wilderness, he
just sits down and starts playing
solitaire. Sometimes he has to play
fifty or hundred games. But SOON
err or later a kibitzer will look over
his shoulder and say, "Why don't
you play the black eight on the
red nine? ?"
Express Buses.
Writing about certain small
townish aspects of Manhattan the
other day, hadn't yet received
a letter from Mrs. Josephine
Mentz, who reports an act of
nighborliness observed while visit
ing here.
She and her New York hostess
went shopping one rainy morning.
but the weather cleared by noon
and left them burdened with rub
bers and umbrellas. The Gotham
girl knew what to do about that.
She took both umbrellas and both
pairs Of rubbers, tied them to-
gether with a bit of string from
a package, then stepped out and
hailed a Fifth Avenue bus. Hand
ed them to the conductor, along
with a quarter tip, and asked If
he'd mind dropping them in front
OF the apartment building on
Eighty-first street and Riverside
Drive.
The conductor said he would,
and he did. The rubbers and um-
brellas were in the lobby when
the shoppers returned that evening.
The doorman hadn't known whom
they belonged to, but he had re-
trived them when he saw them
tossed from the bus.
Love Teacher?
Up around Columbus Circle,
where there are scores Of automo-
bile salesrooms. there also are
dozens of driving schools which
teach fiedgling operators to cope
with Manhattan traffic. I've been
told about one young woman who
had completed the course and was
out with an instructor for her final
examination.
They were bowling along busy
Flgty-seventh street with the stu
dent nc the wheel when the In
nfructor leaned close and said,
you're doing Just fine, darlingl"
why yen presumptuous eadl"