Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-05
MAKING POSTAL CARDS.
HOW THE POPULAR LITTLE MESSAGE
BEARERS ARE PUT UP.

Reducing Rags to Cards and Then Print
ing Them-A Little Town Where This
Is Done-Immense Increase in the De-
mand for Postal Cards.
American postal cards made their appear
ance in May, 1873, since which time the sale
has grown 50 rapidly that over 900 900 600
have now TO be manufactured every year.
Ten miles below this city, on the east bank
Of the Hudson river, Is Castleton, pretty
little country village, overlooking the river.
| In a ravine, back OF the hill on which the
village stands, is a cluster of brick buildings.
/ In these buildings are manufactured all the
! postal cards used by the government, and
from here they sent to every city, village
and hamlet in the United States, to be used
by the public and sent by them to all parts
OF the civilized globe.
! THE LITTLE RAILROAD
| During the year 1855, considerably over a
billion cards were turned out and sent over
| the country. For each thousand OF these lit
tie missives the government pays ifty-four
cents, and for them it receives the sum OF sl0
Ia the little ravine are five buildings The
factory where the postals are made Is a long
one story structure, about three times rs long
| as il Is wide. In this building all the cards
/ liiNft anu Nut lToul tue sneGIS, cOuQteu
by machinery, put up In packages of twenty
i've each and packed in pasteboard boxes
/ ready for shipment A large fire proof vault,
built expressly and holding 1000, 900 cards,
which are always kept in reserve, is located
in this building. In the south room is the
government office, where is located the chief
clerk and nine assistants, who are kept con-
stantly busy recording the acquisitions from
postmasters and the time OF filling them.
The machinery used in making the postal
cards Is the usual kind OF paper making ma
chinery, and there are kept constantly In
motion three washing engines, four heaters
and two sets OF rollers. One set Is used en-
tirely for postal card work, and one for the
finer grade Of book paper work for the gov
erument Each day from four to seven tons
Of rags are used, besides a large quantity OF
wood pulp. The postal cards are made al
most entirely from rags. The rags are car
ried from Castleton on the smallest railroad
in the United States. IL is a little single
track road connecting with the Hudson River
railroad, and 10 runs around the hills 20 the
mill One locomotive, one passenger car and
postal car constitute the equipment OF the
miniature road. The cars are but little larger
than street cars. No operators or station
agents are required TO manage its affairs,
and no fares are charged passengers or
freight rates collected. The little train starts
| from CaStleton, or the mills, whenever there
are shipments or passengers To go, and re-
turns when any one in authority gives the
word. IL Is only half mile from Castleton
TO the mills, but nearly all the operatives
ride, as they do not care TO walk where they
have a special train at their disposal
FROM RAGS TO CARDS.
This little train OF cars carries away daily
from the works two car loads of printed
postal cards all Of which are brought 10 this
city and thence distributed, according TO the
destination marked upon them, all over the
country, In every postofiice over which I'm
Gle Sam has jurisdiction. To load a car re-
quires between 1000, 600 aud 5000, 900 OF the
little cards, according to how they are pack
ed Three million cards make large load,
as a box containing 5000 cards weighs lG2
pounds. A thousand cards weigh about 81
pounds, or, TO be more exact, |, 900 900 cards
weigh 5,225 pounds.
Climbing up the hill to the largest building
one can easily follow the process by which
postal cards are made. In "A back room OF
the building can be seen a dozen girls whose
sole duty Is to sort the rags that come in
from the collectors. The girls cut of all
buttons and buckles on discarded garments
aud sort the rags into piles according to
| quality. The sorted rags are put into huge
| chOpping machines, which cut them into
! small pieces. II then whiffs them into a dust
machine, where they are shaken aud cleaned
FROM this point they pass through a success
sion of baths In chloride of lime and various
other bleaching aud cleansing chemicals
with occasional visits 10 watts and trips
through rollers with sharp knives on them.
After passing through the different pro
| -. =.
as thin as -four paste This is shaken over
wire to get the water out, and Is then put
through II score or more of rollers and q glue
bath, after which IL is rolled out into postal
card paper. At the end OF the long rolls that
have been squeezing the paper down and put
ting the gloss on IL, are the knives used for
| cutting, and the long sheet passing through
| Il Is either cut into sheets four postal cards
wide 10 be put into the huge automatic presses
| or into sheets 2lx3Oj& inches In the big room
of the postal card mill are about q dozen men
| and two dozen women, four large presses
! four cutters and one extra large cutter The
sheets are taken TO the press, where they are
| given the feeders, who on the Campbell
| presses feed forty-one sheets a minute, or
! l, 100 postal cards The cards are printed
from steel plates so hard that file could not
| make an impression on them Each one is
printed from separate plate, and eighty
| plates are locked in the bed Of the press. All
ths plates are sent from Washington, and one
st OF plates in continual uss lasts about two
| years. The feeders are women Of experience
and they receive forty-one and half cents
for feeding 10000 cards, and can feed about
500, day
The sheets are next taken 20 the cutters,
from which they are turned out In single
cards. Three girls take the cards of each
feeder One counts twenty five In each pack
age, and ths other two put on the paper
binders After they leave this room they are
put up In packages, counted out in packages
OF twenty and put into the pasteboard boxes.
which by contract must be muslin bound
Five girls put the muslin binding on the
boxes .reseiving for the work fifteen cents
per 100 boxes The boxes when filed are put
iIfso CASES ready for shipment. No order for
less than 500 cards Is filed Orders for TO-
| 600 or more are packed in wooden cases the
largest single case holding ZOO cards
A new machine has recently been put in TO
work on postal cards that will increase the
rate Of printing them and decrease the num-
Der Of employees. Two Of the machines ara
now In operation. They print from continu-
Gus rolls at the rate Of 300 per minute A
set of knives cuts them of and they drop into
little cells; a set Of steel fingers turn the
package over. After each twenty-five cards
have dropped into a cell, the fingers Irvine a
band about the package and carry 1t back to
the packing room, where the girls put them
into boxes.-Albany On. " Cor. St Louis
Globe-Democrat.