Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1897 — Chicago Papers Scarce. [ARTICLE]

Chicago Papers Scarce.

Tuesday’s Daily: The Chicago morning papers command a premium in town today. They are so very scarce that the lucky possessors of any could, had they the right amount of the right kind of business enterprise, make several times the cost of each paper by renting out to their more unfortunate neighbors, at the rate say of 2 cents for each half hour’s reading, and an extra cent for each person allowed to over the renter’s shoulders. The cause of this paper famine is that the paper mail sack, when it was thrown from the 4:48 flyer this morning, which was going about 40 miles an hour at the time, bumped against the watering post at the end of the depot platform, and was thrown back under the car wheels, and ground to fragments. Mailcarrier Duvall gathered up what he could of the pieces, and New’s Agents Shead and Kelley managed to save 30 or 40 papers, mostly Inter Oceans and Records. Not a Tribune or was saved. The news agents lost about 120 papers, in all. Of the mail sack about all that was found was the strings. How many papers in wrappers and packages for private individuals there is no means of knowing, but as the sack was very full, there were probably a great many. It would not have been at all surprising had the bulky mail bag thrown the cars off the track and caused a terrible wreck. This is not the first time by quite a number that this accident has happen-' ned, and Postmaster Honan has done a commendible act in sending the facts to the railway mail superintendent, at Cincinnati and has asked him to take measures to cause this train to stop at this station. -