Show i WIDOW WANTS SON Jt RICH WOMAN WOULD ADOPT ADULT MALE li I Worth About 100000 All of Which Will Go to Fortunate Man on Her DeathMany Applications Applica-tions from Farmers St Joseph Mo Thero are nearly 5000 young men In America any one of whom Is willing to become the adopted son of n rich widow 45 years old whp says the one she adopts will not bo required to work A widow whose home Is within three miles of the city called on William A Zlemcndorff humane agent and stated to him that she wanted to adopt a jon blond preferred between the ages of 23 and 25 Tho woman Is said to bo possessed of real estate and other proporty valued at 100000 but has no near relatives her husband and fairhalted eon both being dead The story was given wldo publicity and since then letters have been corning corn-ing In scores to tho humane officer each day He has received letters from Now York Now Orleans San Francisco Francis-co and Montreal Canada and from many Intermediate points In all he has received about 5000 applications many of tho applicants sending their photographs and locks of hair Hundreds Hun-dreds of them have stated that they are good looking although tho widow did not specify that the successful applicant ap-plicant should bo a handsome youth The fact that tho woman desiring 10 adopt a son lives on a farm Is taken to mean that she wants a farmer for a son At least 2000 of the young men who have applied state that they are farmers or have lived on a farm I Tho other applicants are divided up among many occupations and some of them have no occupation whatever One admits that ho Is 50 years old but says ho looks younger Toll tho widow that If she will adopt mo I will spend the money she has writes a St Louis youth She may not want to adopt a son with that inclination but I notice that the sons of rich men and rich women spend it as fast as their parents can hand It out to them and I think I can lilt a gait as fast as the best of them Two thirds of the applicants say they are poor and want a home and others say the money Is no consideration to them tho widow having stated that her adopted son will Inherit the fortune for-tune at her death Tho widows name Is being suppressed Sho Is not seeking seek-ing notoriety tho humane officer says and ho will not subject her to the Importunities of those desiring to be adopted I did not know so many young men would be willing to bo adopted she said to Mr Zlomendorff when he delivered de-livered to her till first batch of appll cations consisting of more than 2000 letters I had looked around among all tho young men of my acquaintance and did not know of a young man who would suit mo for an adopted son That was tho reason I esl d that a suitable one bo found I am overwhelmed over-whelmed by these letters and I shall make no effort to answer any of them It Is possible that I may bo a year In making a selection for when I have selected one I shall make every possible Inquiry about him and know for a certainty that ho Is tho ono I want before I complete the adoption Many of the letters aro hardly legible and the grammar and orthography orthog-raphy are noticeably deficient A small proportion of them show business busi-ness ability and most of tho applicants appli-cants depend mainly on the statement that they belong to a church and can have many people vouch for their honesty The wIdow has found less than 100 letters that will be given further consideration con-sideration Perhaps It Is her own fancy that guldos her or It may be Intuition i that causes her to reject many of those that would have been tho choice of a man under similar clr cumstances Among the communlca tlons are a number from young worn en who ask the widow to change her mind and adopt a daughter Instead ol a son A few of them ask that she adopt a daughter as well as a son and make up a family of three Ono of tho applicants admits that boIs bo-Is married and has one child but says ho will not let his relations with them interfere i with his relations with tho adopted mother I have not such a good opinion ot humanity as I had before I had read these letters said the widow The Intentions i of those applicants may be good but somehowI dont know why they do not make a favorable 1m presslon on me Sho had not believed that more than a dozen young men In America would offer themselves for adoption She thought the young American splrll was proud and haughty Sho has learned that 5000 of them are willing to live without work and she Is likely to hear from twice as many mute |