The Lincoln County herald., 1873-04-30
Postal Cards,

The third assistant postmastmcr gen.
eral, Il. w. Barber, has given notice that
the necessary appropriation having been
made for the purpose, the department.
will, on the lst Of May inst, commence
to issue to poStmasters the postal cards
authorized by the act of June 8, 1879.
The card adopted is Eve aud one half
inches in length and three inches in
width, aad is made of good, stiff paper,
water marked with the initials U. 5. p.
U D. in monogram. The face of the
card is engraved, surrounded by . border.
in scroll work, one eight of an inch in
width. Tho one cent stamp, printed on
the upper right hand corner, is from o
profile bust OF the Goddess of Liberty,
looking to the left, and surrounded by
lathe work border, with the words"U. S."
below. On the UPPER lcf. hand corner
are the words, United States Postal
Card" with directions to "Write tho
address only on this side-the message
on the other" Underneath, aud occupy.
ing the lower half of the card, are ruled
lines on which to write tho address, tho
top line being pre6xed with the word
ITO" The back Of the card, intended
for the communication, is entirely plain,
being devoid even of ruled lines. In
the body of the card is light cream, the
printing velvet brown. No variation in
shape, szo or color, or in any other par
tcular will be made from the regular
style to accommodate special cases, nor
will the departments do any printing on
the cards beyond the engraving specified
in the description. The cards will be
sold for one cent each, neither more nor
less, whether in large quantities or small.
The object Of the postal card. is to
facilitate letter correspondence aud pro.
vide for the transu ission through the
mails at reduced rate Of postage, Of
short communications, either printed Of
written 10 pencil or ink. They may,
therefore, be used tor orders, invitations.
receipts, notices, Acknowledgements, and
other requirements of business and social
life, and the matter desired to be con-
veyed may be either In writing or IN
print, or 10 both. In their treatment 40
, mail matter, they are to be regarded By
postmasters the same as sealed letters,
aud not a. printed matter, except that in
no case will unclaimed cards be sent to
the Dead Letter Office. 40 ordinary
, printed business card may be sent through
the mails when prepaid by . one cent
postage stamp attached, but such card
must contain absolutely no written mat.
? ter except the address; otherwise il will
!, be treated as not fully prepaid, and rs.
fused admission into the mails. All
cards different fsom those herein de-
i. scribed, bearing embossed or printed
} postage stamps, and purporting to es
! United States postal cards, are counter.
!, felt; and the manufacture Of such cards,
0 or tie attempt to USE the same, will sub.
ject the offender to 6ne of $500 and
9 Imprisonment fos Eve years. (Section l78
- postal oode). Postmasters will not, no.
I der any circumstances, be permitted to
reduce or eschsnge postal cards that may
q be m,sdivected, spoiled in printing, ov
;, otherwise rendered unit fos use, in ,he
e hands of private holders. The depart
ment will not fursish tess chan 500 cards
o on the order Of . postmaster. lndi'
's siduais desiring postal cards will pu,
' chase them Of . postmaster, and in no
y case can they obtain sbsp upos sppai-
satio0 t. the departmsas.