Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-05-24
THE posrALcARDs.


I
The following official circular is
published for the information Of our
readers, merchants especially:
The necessary appropriation having
been made for the purpose, the depart
ment viii, on the first of May, 1873,
commence the issue to postmasfers of
the postal-eards authorized by the act
OF June 5, 1872 The card adopted
Is live and one-eighth (5s) inches in
length and three (3) inches in width;
and IS made Of good stiff paper, water
marked with the initials g. s. p. O. ID.
In monogram. The face of the card is
engraved on steel, surrounded by a
border, in scroll work, one-eishth of
az inchin width. The one-cenf stamp.
printed on the upper right-hand cor
ner, IS from profile bust of the God
des of Liberty looking TO the left, and
surrounded by leather-work border,
with the words ~. s. Postage" inser-
ted above and "One Cent" below. Oa
the upper left-hand corner are the
words United States Postal-cards,"
with directions to write the address
only on one side-the message on the
the other. Underneath. and occupy
ing the lower halt of the card. are rul-
ed lines on which to write the address.
the top line being prefxed with the
word To. The back of the card in
tended for the communication, is en-
tireiy plain. being devoid even of ruled
lines. In color, the body of the card
is light cream; the printing, velvet
brown. No variation in size, shape.
color, or any other particular, will be
made from the regular style to accom-
modate special cases; nor will the de-
partment do any printing on the cards
beyond that specified in the description.
Postai-cards will be sold for one cent
each, neither more nor less, whether
in large quantities or in small. The
object Of the postal-eard is to facilitate
letter correspondence and to provide
for the transmission through the mails,
ata-reduced rate Of postage, Of short
communications, either printed or
written in pencil or ink Theu may
therefore be used for orders, invita-
tons, notices, receipts, acknowledge
ments, price-lists, and other require
ments of business and social life; and
the matter desired to be conveyed may
be either IN writing or in print, or par
tally in both. In their treatment as
mail matter they are to be REGARDED by
postmasters as sealed letters, and not
as printed matter, except that in no
case will unclaimed cards be returned
to the writer's or sent to the dead letter
office. Ifnot delivered within sixty
days from the time ofreceipt they will
be burned by postmasters. Any or
dinary printed business card may be
sent through tsie mails when prepaid
by one cent postage stamp attached;
but such card must contain absolutely
no written matter except the address;
otherwise 1T wall be treated as not full
ly prepaid, and refused admission into
the mails. All cards different from
those herein described, with postage
stamps printed or embossed thereon,
and purpOrting to be United States pos
tai cards, are counterfeits; and the
manufacture of such cards, or the at
tempt to use the same, will subject the
offender to fine of five hundred dol
lars and imprisonment for five years.
(See. US Postal COde) Postmasters
will not under any circumstances be
permitted to redeem or exchange pos
tal-eards that may be misdirected,
spoiled in printing or otherwise rem
dered unfit for use, in the hands Of
private parties The department will
not furnish less than FIVE hundred 600
cards on the order of postmaster.
Individuals desiring postal-cards will
purchase them of a postmaster, as in
no case can they obtain them upon di-
rect application to the department.
Retain this circular for future refer
ence.