Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-26
POSTAL-CARDS.
The Little Village on the Hudson that Sup
plies the Nation scith an Economical COM

The little Village on the Hudson that Sup
plies the Nation suith an Economical COM
~aodity-A Virt"al Monopoly.
The village of Castleton, on the east bank
of the Hudson river, is about eight miles
below Albany. 1t has perhaps thousand
inhabitants. who busy themselves in sum-
mer with river transportation, in winter
with ice-harvesting and indoor amuse-
ments. Three-quarters of mile north OF
the village deep land-cave sets back into
the range of hills. From the depot at Gas
Teton railroad track lies between the
regular tracks of the Hudson River road
and the highway till it comes to this cave,
and there it curves sharply inland and fol
lows the bank of the crooked stream to a
cluster of buildings situate close in the
mouth of the ravins. In these buildings
all the postal-cards of the United States
government are manufactured. It might
be difficult to find in all the country more
retired nook for so important a business
that would be at the same time equally
convenient as a distributing point
Every day special postoffice- car
left at the Castleton depot, whence it is
taken by locomotive belonging to the
factory to the works, to be loaded and re-
turned to the depot ready to be picked up
by the Hudson River train.
The most conspicuous feature of the
factory, as viewed from the river or rail-
road trains, is an exceedingly tall, SYM
metrical chimney that rises high against
the background of second growth pines.
This has been built in connection with new
steam power for the paper-nlill, the creek
not being sufficiently constant to drive the
works and at the same time furnish the
water required in the manufacture of the
paper. The plant of the paper-mill has
long existed here, but the postai-card
factory was established at this point less
than three years ago, having been removed
from Holyoke, Mass. The paper-mill is
owned by the Fort Orange Paper COM
pany, of which William R. Sheffield, of
Saugerties, is vice president and manager.
1t is not confined to the manufacture of
cardboard for postal-cards, nor will the lat
ter, when improvements that are now in
progress are completed, constitute the
largest articles of production. The only
obligation the mill owners are under to the
government is to supply the postal card
factory with board as fast as it is needed,
and of the quality called for by the con-
tract. The government has no monopoly
in the prodact Of the mill. The same quail
ity of the cardboard that the government
demands is open to the market. The color
Of the postal cards is specific in the con-
tract, but even this the paper mill is at
liberty to, furnish to any one who
may want that particular shade of card
board. Postal cardboard is made of the
best quality of linen and cotton rags, which
are treated in all respects from the rag
bale to the calendar rolls as they are for the
manufacture of any other cardboard OF
like quality. A certain quantity of chem
ical or wood pulp is mixed with the rag
and this is of quality almost as expen.
sive as rag pulp.
The postal-card factory proper is new
cne-story brick building, of very un pre-.
tending appearance. In this respect it il
in harmony with the process of prepar ring
the cards, for the latter is extremely simple
and apparently inexpensive. The card
board is received from the paper-mill in
sheets twenty-one inches by thirty, a siz'