"Dead and forgotten": 88-year-old note found at Kansas college stadium

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- A mason working on a Kansas university building has found an 88-year-old handwritten note that gives a glimpse into the lives of laborers in 1928.

The Manhattan Mercury reports that the mason found the note in a tobacco can he encountered in December while restoring and replacing stones at Kansas State University's East Memorial Stadium in Manhattan, nearly 60 miles west of Topeka.

A Facebook post from the Kansas State Historical Preservation Office says the five authors dated the note Feb. 2, 1928, and wrote that they hope the letter is found someday in the future, perhaps after they've died.

According to the Facebook post, the letter reads: "Dear Folks, Will place a not[e] in wall as it may some day be found and perhaps the men that Built it will be dead and forgotten. We are having nice weather was 18 above zero this morning. Hope when this is opened things will be better for the working man than [now?]. Mason got $10 per day and labor $3.20 there will have to be a change soon or the labor will be out of luck. Please print this if found signed CK Bell, Geo H Bell, W. Sowell, Jim Kelley, Ray [Disney?] Good luck."

University archivist Cliff Hight says the document will be sent to a conservator for cleaning and protective covering. Hight says there aren't plans to display the document currently.