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Show Human Postofftce Rewarded . How Boy Who Acted as Cupid's Messenger Mes-senger for Thurlow Weed Became Treasurer of the United States. Thurlow Wreed must have been about eighty years of age when I said to him one day: "An old friend of yours, Mr. W7eed, told me yesterday to ask you about the delightful surprise you gave Mrs. Weed when you took her with you to Washington during Lincoln's first ad ministration." "Ah," he said, "it was a surprise and a delight for Mrs. Weed, and it is one of the sweetest memories of my married life. I will tell you about it. "When I was a journeyman printer for, you know, that was my trade I came to be employed by a man in a little village near Herkimer, N. Y. Of course I was only, a hired man in reality not much more than a printer's devil, because all the odd jobs of the shop fell to me, the only employe and so I was not of much consequence so- cially in the village. Nevertheless 1 had not been there long before I was greatly attracted by a young woman upon whom I cast sheep's eyes at every opportunity. I soon had reason to suspect that she was not displeased by my attentions, but after a while, when we had become so well acquainted acquaint-ed that it was plain I purposed keeping keep-ing company with her, there were par ental objections, and I was practically practical-ly forbidden the house. "But, the saying is, you know, 'Love will find a way." In that village there lived a barefooted, freckle-faced, tow-headed tow-headed boy of Dutch descent. But he was as bright as a new dollar. One day I met him in the street. " 'Frank,' I said to him, 'do you suppose sup-pose you could carry a note for me to a certain young lady so secretly that nobody but she would know it?' " T guess I could,' he replied. " 'Wrell,' do you suppose you could bring a note from her just as secretly?' " 'You try me and see,' the boy said. "So I wrote a little note, discreetly worded, and delivered it to this Cupid's postmaster. A day later he came to me with a note which had been entrusted en-trusted to him by the young lady. Later in the day maybe it was the next day I answered the note and gave my reply to the boy for delivery. In due time he brought me another note from the young lady; and thus we kept up a secret correspondence that lasted until I proposed, when all objection was removed to my paying attention to the young lady. Not long after that we were married. "Well, one time when it became imperative im-perative for me to go to Washington during Lincoln's administration I took Mrs. W7eed with me. 'My dear,' I said, after we had reached there, T should like to take you to the treasury department. de-partment. . I want you to meet a gentleman gen-tleman I know there.' And a little later we walked into the office of the treasurer of the United States. "I took Mrs. WTeed over to a desk at which a gentleman was sitting. " 'My dear, do you know who this is?' I asked. " No,' she had to confess. " 'What, you don t know our Cupid's postman?' I exclaimed in feigned surprise. sur-prise. "Yes, there he was no longer the barefooted, freckle-faced, tow-headed little village boy, but a full grown, handsome man Francis D. Spinner. And you can imagine the surprise and delight of Mrs. Wreed when she discovered discov-ered in the treasurer of the United States the boy who had been the dumt and faithful little messenger of our courting days.'.' Mr. Weed might truthfully have added that, in return for the services Frank Spinner gave him in his courting court-ing days, he took every possible opportunity op-portunity to befriend the lad as he grew up. And it was upon Mr. Weed's recommendation that President Lin coin named Mr. Spinner treasurer oi the United States in 1SG1, a position that he filled with great credit until 1875, when failing health caused him to retire voluntarily. It was during his Incumbency that women were first employed as clerks in the treasury de partment to take the place of the men who enlisted in the Union army. (Copyright, 1910, by E. J. Edwards. AT. Rights Reserved.) |