West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-03-20
Postal Cards

nccticut river, and on the line of the rail-
road bearing the name Of that slug gish
stream, is now the scene of production OF
the millions of postal cards which are an.
nually consumed i'm the country The
manutactory Is AN unprctcntious edifcc.
and utterly insignificant In dimensions and
otherwise, when compared with the tower
ing paper and other mills which surround
1t. The business Is carried ON by the
American Prototype Company of New
YORK, who have contract for "a year from
next July. Originally, the manufacturing
Was done In New York, hut the papcry nj.
mosphere of lolyoko was probably moro
congcnial to their calling, and short time
since the whole business was transferred
To that point. The interior of the manu-
factory is seemingly as inconsequential as
II IL outwardly, bu, the flrmucss with which
general ar special visitors are denied adj
mission seems to impress one with the fact
That the concern il of more than ordinary
account The government is represented
ON the premises by "a special agent or super
lhtendeni, who sees To Ii that nj, the cards
printed are properly turned over TO him.
while all the other business Is under the
direction OF the contractors. About forty
hands are employed altogether. and, dur
my working hours, they are as ndustri-
ously kept from all intercourse with the
outside world as If they were under the
care OF Warden Chamberln of Concord
The cardboard is manufactured In the inn
mediate vicinity by the Parsons paper
Company, and ~ furnished i'm packages of
5000 sheets each. The work of transform
ing one OF these packages into postal cards.
counted, packed and ready for shipment ia
only momcntary when the concern In driven
TO It's full capacity, az is at present the case.
Ihree OF Hoes supcr-royal presses are kept
IN operation both day and night, and each
sheet bears the impression of exactly forty
cards. register attached To each press
keeping faithful record of each sheet
printed. Having become properly seasoned
or dried, the sheets are slit up by machinery
INTO strips OF ten cards each, and then I'M
immediate succession sort of rotary
hopper with ten compartments, receives
the cards ms last as cut, and when each
compartment, contains twenty-five cnrda.
the hopper rcvolycs and cmptes them on n
tapic. Here they are received hy girls
VINO quickly detect and throw out all dam
'%cd or imperfect specimens. Boxing is
next I'm order and then the cards are ready
Tor shipment TO any desired part of the
country. They are placed in seamless
phsteDoard boxes, each box containing
twenty packs or 900 cards Lots of less
Than 1000 are forwarded I'm these boxes.
strongly wrapped in heavy paper, and
large Quantities arc sent i'm strong, iron
Dound wooden cases AS before intimated
every process Of manufacture Is indus
trlously guarded by the vigilant agent of
thc government. The mechanism of the
registers on the presses Is secured by pad-
locks, TO which none but this agent has n
Key They are examined at night and the
number OF sheets printed is noted. Again,
IN the morning, they are examined To- see
lhat thcy nave not been tempered with be-
Tore the days work commences. A strict
record Is Kept OF all damaged or imperfect
cards, also OF all blank cardboard given out.
ana az all has To be accounted for, TO the
smallest Traction, undetected pilfcring IL
rendered simply impossible. In forward
ing the cards every package or box is
registered and hence loss i'm this respect is
positively guarded against In fact, II is
true that not single card has ever been
lost In the factory or In transit since their
introduction into the postal system Of the
country.
The growing popularity of the postal
cdiu aS u means OF correspondence IL some
thing wonderful The entire number manu-
iactured and used during the first wear of
thelr Introduction was 100, 900, 500, and
during the year which has just closed, the
aggregate number sent out was 2iB, 063,
oOO. ms latter number Is an Increase
over the number issued in 1873 OF 80, s70,
900. II would probably be an error TO
attrlOutc thls marked increase In the postal
card service to the late or current business
Doom, Tor II would seem that in periods OF
depression the public would be more likely
70 avail itself OF cheap postage rather than
I'm more prosperous times. The true ex.
PLANTATION, evidently, Is the growing favor
which the card finds in the community ma
1t becomes more familiar, as is manifested
by the steadIness Of the increased demand
during the half-dOzen years II has been be-
Tore the community. The orders from diff
ferent post offices differ in amount very
greatly, OF course, and they do not In any
degree represent the population or general
business done at the several points. Ii may
be stated, az AN interesting fact, that New
YORK has lately taken nearly onc-tenih of
all the cards issued, consuming upward of
half million week. All the large cities
use more than the actual business of the
post Office indicates but this discrepancy
- accounted Tor from the fact that many
country manufacturers and traders have
their advertising circulars printed on the
backs Of postal cards, and the city printers
who DO the work buy their cards in the
city where the printing Office is located
Many small post offices surrounding large
cllcs Ike Philada. and New York also pur-
chase from the nearest metropolitan point.
Instead cf applying through the proper
channel Of the Post Office Department.
The proper way Is for postmaster TO send
his order TO Washington, which I'm turn is
sent to IloIyOke, and from this point the
cards arc forwarded direct 20 their destina-
ton The capacity Of the concern is about
TWO million per day tbosgh until lately
not more than n million has been the
average IL Is intended % keep about
twenty-five million cards on hand. and
Tor this purpose special hreprOOf vault
has been provided. Beside the increased
demand for the domestic cards, there has
also come a sudden call for the new inter.
national cards Upward Of two million
have been furnished during the brief period
OF their introduction. While it NAV Do
true that England has taken the lead in the
postal card blessing in point Of priority Of
date, n is questionable il the system has
been 80 generally adopted by all classes Of
the community. This inference is drawn
from the presence Of a cOtple OF conrnie.