My attention was attracted to this last August, when passing through New York. I could not find out whence it came, until in January of this year, while at Headquarters of the 62nd French Division, at a small place named Rouez, about four miles from La Fere, on the Oise, my orderly found a volume in a rubbish heap, and as it had the appearance of having been a handsome library volume, he brought it to me, and asked if it were any good. He held it before me, open, as it was wet and muddy. On the open page I read of the line of couriers established by Xerxes. The book, although evidently long exposed to the weather, was in a good condition. As I read the words, referring to the couriers, “QUE NI LA NEIGE, NI LA PLUIE, NI LA CHALEUR, NI LA NUIT N’EMPÊCHENT DE FOURNIR LEUR CARRIERE AVEC TOUTE LA CELERITE POSSIBLE” (that neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor night shall prevent the completion of their course with all possible speed), I realized that in this “History of Herodotus,” and in the couriers of Xerxes, some four hundred years before Christ, I had found the source of the inspiration for our postal service.
EDWARD H. PLUMMER, Brigadier General U. S. Army, Fort Sill, Okla.
Editorial Note.—These lines are credited to Herodotus on the front of the Post Office building. The name of the Greek historian appears in small letters just after the quotation.
The Mentor in the Desert
It may be of interest to you to know that I came across a mutilated copy of The Mentor in a small outpost station in the Kalahari Desert, Southern Africa. How it ever got there, I can’t tell, for the nearest railway station is several hundred miles away. The pages were a solace to me on a very tedious journey in a wagon drawn by oxen. On account of the mutilation I am unable to give you the full title of the issue of The Mentor, but I recollect that with it were four photogravures of famous composers. I further clearly remember that Beethoven was among the four. He was a favorite composer of mine, and, just at that time, I was trying to grasp the philosophy of his Ninth Symphony. Further, I can remember that I was greatly interested in the publication, so strangely come upon in this desert place, and I made a mental note that should I ever come across its home address, and conditions were more convenient, I would endeavor to become more clearly acquainted with The Mentor.
BERTRAM ADAMS, New York City
THE MENTOR
A NEW VOLUME
