Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1875 — Spinner’s Autograph, and How a Mistake Was Made. [ARTICLE]

Spinner’s Autograph, and How a Mistake Was Made.

Writing of ex-Treasurer Spinner a Washington correspondent tells the following : There, surrounded by his knick-knacks and flowers, the General sat all day long achieving that remarkable signature which has struck dismay into the hearts of all ambitious penmen. How he ever made it up—whether he studied it out by strokes, • whether it was a sudden inspiration—l never thought to ask. Perhaps its beauty is its excuse for being. He keeps his ink —no, he kept his ink in an old brokennosed pitcher out in the sun to get it thoroughly black; then into an ink-stand, replenished from the classic reservoir, would he plunge his pen—a common Spencerian—turn the paper almost upside down, wiggle the pen over it a little, and that was how it was done. The General is rather proud of his autograph, I think; at least he always sends it to all the auto-graph-hunters who ask for it, and once he got into trouble that way. His messenger made a mistake in filing his letters, and an application for office (there are about 2,500 every day) got into the autograph pigeonhole. So when he was answering those he sent, among others, the following cheering note to tee young man who wanted an office: Deak Sib—lt gives me great pleasure to comply with your request. Truly yours, F. E. Sfinneb.„ Why, the young man almost stood on his head when he got that letter; in his wildest dreams he had never hoped for such speedy and amiable consent, so he bought a new suit, came on to Washington and presented himself blandly before his correspondent. Now Gen. Bpinner does what the English soldiers did in Flanders — swears, and swears on aslight provocation, too; so that in a fine opportunity like this his remarks to the young man were truly appalling. But there was the letter; he couldn’t swear that out of existence, and as a Spinner was never known to go back on his word the young man got his place, but the letters were filed more carefully after that ' —A New Hampshire man has been amusing himself with a dictionary which he won at a spelling-match, and finds that the syllable “con” is the beginning of 1,253 words; all of which have 1,639 different significations. No other three letters can be found that begin so many words as the syllable- “con.”