, ten cents; eighty to one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and
one-half cents; one hundred and fifty to four hundred miles, eighteen
and one-half cents; over four hundred miles, twenty-five cents. A copy
of this magazine sent from New York to New Salem would have cost fully
twenty-five cents. The mail was irregular in coming as well as light
in its contents. Though supposed to arrive twice a week, it sometimes
happened that a fortnight or more passed without any mail. Under these
conditions the New Salem post-office was not a serious care.

A large number of the patrons of the office lived in the country--many
of them miles away--but generally Lincoln delivered their letters at
their doors. These letters he would carefully place in the crown of
his hat, and distribute them from house to house. Thus it was in a
measure true that he kept the New Salem post-office in his hat. The
habit of carrying papers in his hat clung to Lincoln; for, many years
later, when he was a practising lawyer in Springfield, he apologized
for failing to answer a letter promptly, by explaining: "When I
received your letter I put it in my old hat, and buying a new one the
next day, the old one was set aside, and so the letter was lost sight
of for a time."

But whether the mail was delivered by the postmaster himself, or the
recipient came to the store to inquire, "Anything for me?" it was the
habit "to stop and visit awhile." He who received a letter read it and
told the contents; if he had a newspaper, usually the postmaster could
tell him in advance what it contained, for one of the perquisites of
the early post-office was the privilege of reading all printed matter
before delivering it. Every day, then, Lincoln's acquaintance in New
Salem, through his position as postmaster, became more intimate.

A NEW OPENING.

As the summer of 1833 went on, the condition of the store became more
and more unsatisfactory. As the position of postmaster brought in only
a small revenue, Lincoln was forced to take any odd work he could get.
He helped in other stores in the town, split rails, and looked after
the mill; but all this yielded only a scant and uncertain support, and
when in the fall he had an opportunity to learn surveying, he accepted
it eagerly.

The condition of affairs in Illinois in the thirties made a demand for
the services of surveyors. The immigration had been phenomenal. There
were thousands of farms to be surveyed and thousands of "c