The Portland daily press., 1886-09-25
FROM WASHINGTON.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

WASHINGTON, Sept. pa year will have
| elapsed next month since sealed postal cards
were first ordered by the post office depart
ment for general use, though the law author
izing them was first passed in March 1879.
Large numbers have been ordered and sup
piled during the past month, Cincinnati, for
instance, having made second requisiti0n
but Third Assistant Postmaster-GeneralH Ha-
zen cannot tell yot whether or not the exper-
iment is a success until he has seen reports
from the rest of the postmasters. There is
some disappointment at the department over
the fact that the new device has not rushed
into popular favor at once, as there is said to
be every advantage for correspondence IN
them that can be claimed by any and all
other schemes for communication in writing.
In addition to cheapness, secrecy and con-
venience, these sealed cards are said TO be
valuable in legal sense, because they carry
with them on the outer envelope face the at
tached evidence of the date of mailing and
delivering a letter, thus preventing the use
of an old envelope with new enclosure. :,
The sealed postal cards are manufactured
by the United States Postal Card Company
of New York Their bondsmen are Sydney
Dillon and d. Q. Mill, and their patents
comprise half dozen claims purchased from IRON
sealed letter card is cents, which includes
an imprinted 2-cent stamp bearing General
Grants likeness in green ink. The govern
ment pays $22.85 per thousand for the sheets,
and gets $40 back for stamps with the extra
dollar from the sale of cards to the public.
This makes profit in addition to the stamp
of Is cents per thousand, and gives the man
ufacturing company $685. The United
States provides in its contract that any un-
sold material will have to be redeemed by
the contractors under certain conditions.
This experiment, with that of the immedi-
ate delivery stamp, will be watched with
interest. The latter is believed by the third
assistant postmaster-genera to be an as
sured success, now that the provisions of the
law have been extended to all post offices In
the country. The regulations for this SER
vice are very rigorous and no excuse LOT a
failure to make an immediate delivery will
be tolerated by the post-master-general.
The President.
The President was kept pretty busy today
receiving visitors and attending to current
business. Among those who had interviews
with him during the day we're Secretary La
mar, Acting Secretary Drum, Acting At
tornev General jerks, First Assistant POST
master General Stevenson, Assistant Secre-
tary Thompson, Solicitor McCue, Senators
Moorhees and Mcpherson. Lieut. Gen. Sher-
idan and Commissioner Coleman.
1.-THE afternoon reception for general VS.
was attended by about so persons. mostly
ladies.
The Bartholdi Statue.
Mr.. Spaulding, Treasurer of the American
Committee having in charge the arrange
ments for the Inauguration of the Bartholdl
Statue, arrived in the city this morning, and
was clOSeted with Mr.. Kieckhoyer, the ac-
counting officer of the State Department,
arranging the details of the expenditure of
the $56,500 appropriated in lump by Con-
gress. Mr.. Spaulding will endeavor to have
an interview with the President lin the
course of the day in regard to extending Of
fetal invitations to French guests