Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1876 — The Brazilian Wedding Hoax. [ARTICLE]

The Brazilian Wedding Hoax.

Some months ago an account of a brilliant wedding in Brazil was printed in a journal in th is country and widely copied. It was apparently a veracious report and represented “De Souza Cabral, of Diamentina, Brazil,” as one of the richest and most extravagant men in the world. In a short time begging letters addressed to this mythical character began to accumulate in the New York Postoffice, and when this was announced in the newspapers the author of the hoax asked the Postoffice Department to order their deliv ery to him. This request PostmasterGen. Jewell has refused in a letter in which he .says: ” “ The letters have all been opened in the Dead Letter Office and returned to the writers. These letters averaged twenty a week from the New York office alone, and probably as many more from the other exchange offices. The writers represented eyery condition in life; but while all parts of the Union were well represented, the South furnished the largest contingent. With characteristic directness, the gifts or loans asked were unusually large, while in one instance the writer of the letter would have been grateful for a sufficient amount to, purchase a sewing-machine. This was the smallest sum asked for. Sons of aged and infirm parents, clergymen, invalids, men ,who had failed tn business, all with the.samechildlike faith, looked to the for relief, and seemed confident that the trifle they asked would -be su r<ly forthcoming, Many enclosed postage stamps for return postage; others enclosed photographs only to have the clerks who returned the letters wonder at the credulity of the writers, and wish they Could tell them to place tn° re reliance tlreirowir efforts than upon the liberality of others.”— A’ F. Evening PO»t. ■ ' -