Show i lindbergh the famous i H ti ii t 8 frfd I 1 N g 4 4 b in the october number of popular science monthly there Is an intensely interesting article entitled what lindbergh found in his mall mail written by fitzhugh green who through the crowded events that tha t followed the great flight to paris pans was oll one e of colonel lind berghs chief aides and in the swift P preparation of Lind berghs book we he wrote several chapters describing the we welcoming I 1 c oming receptions which the modest aviator did not wish I 1 to write himself mr green also aided in handling lind berghs ber glis huge mall mail the following are a few interesting excerpts from the article no one man in history ever received uch such a mountain of mall mail as has colonel charles A lindbergh since that memorable may 21 when he completed his lone flight from new york to parts paris by plane between that day and june 17 when he landed in st louis after an unprecedented welcome by mankind there came to him from every corner of the globe glob e more than letters tel telegrams e and cablegrams cable grams of congratulations and parcel post packages containing gifts samples and articles tor for trade I 1 1 I know that when the first great hulk of cablegrams cable grams and letters arrived for slim at the american embassy in paris he was deeply touched and profoundly interested he was thrilled tha that thousands upon thousands who whose names were strange to him and whose faces be had never seen should thus shower him with personal tributes and his first impulse was to read every letter and answer each in turn with his own owa hand it was pointed out to him that a high speed business executive with a torce force of expert stenographers might average replies a day at that rate he might clean up Lind berghs stack of mall mail in about seventy years only before he coul dAnish two thirds of it hed be dead of old agel moreover lindbergh was reminded ot of the tact fact that he knows neither how to di state nor to typewrite he writes everything even his book in longhand it if ho he should work at top speed on the letters every day hed have the job done in about years the letterheads alone in this mall of his it if placed end to end would stretch from new mew york to denver stack all this mall mail in a single pile and it would reach feet into the sky nearly to the height of pikes peak so in the end although in st louis a force of 0 fifteen secretaries of the chamber ol of commerce did manage in six weeks to acknowledge letters addressed to him there colonel lindbergh has had bad tor for the most part to content himself with the hope that his unanswered friends friend s will see his predicament and understand next in number to the appeals tor for I 1 help came the business offers I 1 doubt it if lindbergh will ever know the extent of the promised fortunes of those offers A conservative estimate by a well known banker is more than halt half this amount was cover eu in perfectly feasible moving picture contracts one company offered him about if he be would put in a few days days doing the star part in a picture re that would represent american home life another another wanted him to do an air thriller in twelve releases at a release still t I 1 I 1 I 1 another offered him to appear pe a r in a film in which he would actually be married the stipulation being that there be close ups of his face when he first met the girl that appealed to him and at the moment he be was pronounced her husband for foil this unique pictorial study of emotion it was said he would receive the most amazing offer he received in europe was of for a flight alone around the world perhaps the eaglet money he could have made was a proposition which involved about forty minutes of his time he be was to get it if he would stand in front of a camera which registered both voice and picture and read hla his own first account of the flight across the atlantic as published in the press he could have made about by letting a talking machino machine concern make a record of his story in his own voice the reading to be bracketed by the marseillaise Marseil laise and the star spangled banner played by a big orchestra lindbergh knew of most of these enticing offers but in every case he declined them graciously but firmly he seemed determined not only to devote himself to his chosen calling of aviation but jealously to guard against the danger dalager of cheapening either himself or the achievement for which the world had bad honored him 0 there were not a few vague but palpably dishonest schemes tor for getting rich quick one was a brand new counter felting device which Is absolutely secret colonel lindbergh and will turn out real ten dollar bills quicker than the eye can follow I 1 an extraordinary number of letters offered help to lindbergh many people apparently believed he be would at once settle down build a house get married and have children this meant he would need furniture bank account groceries clothing cradles carpets books medicines and goodness knows what thousands offered to supply him these articles at reasonable prices in some cas estree provided he would let his name be used as a client of the manufacturer or retailer thus ills his mass of parcel post included every sort of article from safety razors to spare tires most of which were sent with the hope he e would endorse them there were many gifts too such as cakes hats jewelry handkerchiefs ties and candy |