The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-07-24

ANEH
York Sunday Nesss says that The Aheri.
can Prototype company--to whom the
contract for making the postal cards Of the
United States was awarded ip ls77-@ear-
ried on the business in this city for two
years; bat 70 save the expense and risk
attending the transportation Of paper from
the mill at Holyoke, Mass, the business
was remOved4hilher in the Spring Of 1879,
new building being erected for it's ac.
commOdation The main portion Of the
building is divided by a partition through
the middle One side is used by the con-
tractors for manufacturing cards, and tho
other sido by the Special Agent Of the
P0stofiee and his sabordinates, ID the
transaction Of the Government business
pertaining to making up Of orders and
forwarding cards to the various postofEces
ordering them. No business, Of whatever
nature, is transacted with more systematic
precision than is maintained 10 both de.
partments Of the poatal card agency.
On entering the contractors side, the
rstthing noticed are the large piles Of pa
| per, which are delivered to the contractors
BY the Parsons Paper Company ID loads Of
5000 sheets each. The works consume
on the average about three tons daily at
present. The process Of manufacturing
cards is neither lengthy nor complicated,
butts at once so novel and interesting that
brief description is well worth recital.
The sheets are about thirty by twenty.
two inches in size, and are just fitted by
the plates from which the cards are print.
ed, each plato covering forty cards, four
in width and ten in length The printing
is done on two Hoe superroyal presses by
skillful pressmen, aud as each sheet passes
into the press the number Of cards is un-
: orringly recorded by registers attached to
the presses, and which are carefully lock
ed every nightto prevent tampering. The
sheets are then piled up and allowed to
dry in order that they may not be damaged
by future handling. Incident to the rapid
ity with which the work is performed,
. now and then a sheet is misprinted, but
this occurs only rarely, the number Of
/" cards spoiled in this way being not over
y one.tenth Of one per cent. or one ia
thousand on the average X f2
y After drying thoroughly the sheets are
! then passed through the rotary Sitter, q
! machine fitted with circular knives, which
= cuts them into strips of ten cards each,
y and trims the edge of the outside strip.
I These strips arc then passed transgersely
through the rotary cross cutters, the me.
" chanism Of which is ssimilar to the 'slitters. "
The cross cuts divide the strips into the
:. single cards, which drop into rotary hop.
! per containing ten compartment. As
soon as each compartments has received
twenty five cards the hopper revolyes and
throws the cards out upon a table. A
number of girls then take them, and after
III throwing aside all damaged cards, bind the
N perfect ones into packs Of twenty-five each
er Other girls then take the packs and, re-
W counting them, put them in pasteboard
re boxes containing twenty packs or Eve hun.
N dred cards each. Theboxes are made entire.
n ly Of one piece Of pastoboard, without seam
lie or paste, and after being filed are all
y weighed. Each box is supposed to weigh
G three pounds and two ounces. In the rear
Of of the building is large fre-proof vault,
a with capacity for storing 25,OOo,OOO
'e cards. BY the stipulation Of the contract
9 the American Prototype Company is re-
O. quired to keep at least 1o,oO0,oo IN store
IS all the time. Aa
"a SO rapidly has the popular demand for
'e postal cards increased that the works have
y lately been run night and day, employing
IN in all nearly fifty hands, and producing
L nearly million ofcards day on the aver
q age. The government portion Of the
y works is no less interesting than the other.
a Here thebusiness is carried on in manner
er similar to that in the general postofIices in
large cities. Every postofiee in the coun-
'e try requiring postal cards sends its order,
. together with a requisitiou for other sup.
70 plies, to the Office Of the Third Assistan.
~ Postmaster General at Washington. There
y the orders are separated, aud all the
: the orders for postal cards ara made up 10
N one general order to the agenay at Holy
e oke, the names Of ordering postoiHcss be.
ing put down alphabetically An order il
3, sent every day, and often includes the or.
al ders Of several hundred postoiiees, and
requiring all the way from few thousand
n % two, three and even four million cards
IL to Gil it. During the first month in each
Z. quarter the orders average much larger
n than At other times, for, as rule, large
. number Of Offices order supplies in those
4 months 70 last for the quarter. As an
! example Of this there were ordered during
a the months Of January last 36,48e, 800
" domestic cards, while 1852 900 slled the
i orders for February.
10 A large portion Of all the cards made
!. arc used in the Eastern aud Middle States.
il New York City alone uses about ton per
" cent. Of the entire production. Chicago
!. stands next to New York. using more
"A cards than Boston. The Southern States
T. take but few cards.
i. The total number of cards Issued during
Ie the fiscal year ending June 80, 1879, was
of 221,so7,ooO The department estimate
10 for the year ending June 3ptll, 1850, wss
:. 259,5i4,l9O, an increase of seventeen por
4 cent. over the previous years issae but il
Z the number issued for tho frst eight
ID months Of the year should 30 roniiepsd
l@44|