Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-01-08
ABOUT POSTAL1CARDS.
When They We're Originated and
How They Are Printed.
introduced in Austria Twenty Years Ago
and In America Four Years Later-A
Walk Through the Factory Near
Castleton, n. Y.


issuing correspondence card, on which
brief communications not under seal or
In an inclosure could be sent through
the mails at greatly reduced rates. For
some reason never explained, the scheme
hung fire and was, apparently, aban-
doned. In 1869 Austria took up the
idea, and commenced the manufacture
and sale of correspondence cards." as
they are still called on the European
continent Prussia Immediately fol-
lowed suit, and, during the war with
France, distributed the cards free to
soldiers, and at purely nominal price
to soldiers relatives. American postal
cards made their appearance in May,
1878, since which time the sale has
grown so rapidly that over 1000, 600, 600
| have now to be manufactured every
year.
The machinery used in making the
postal-cards, writes correspondent of
| the st. Louis Globe Democrat from AL
bany, n. Y, is the usual kind of paper
making machinery, and there are kept
constantly in motion three washing en-
gines, four beaters and two sets of roll
ers. One set is used entirely for postal
card work, and one for the finer grade
| OF book-paper work for the Government
Each day from four to seven tons of rags
are used, besides large quantity of
wood pulp. The postal-cards are made
almost entirely from rags. The rags are
! carried from Castleton on the smallest
railroad in the United States. It is a
little single-track road connecting with
the Hudson River railroad, and it runs
around the hills to the mill. One loco
motive, one passenger car and a
postal-car constitute the equipment Of
the miniature road
This little train of cars carries away
daily from the works two car
loads of printed postal-cards, all of
which are brought to this city and
thence distributed, according to the des-
tination marked upon them, all over the
country, in every post-office over which
Uncle Sam has Jurisdiction. To load a
car requires between 1000, 600 and 8, ,O0O,-
600 of the little cards, according to how
they are packed. Three million cards
make a large load, as box containing
$4,000 cards weighs 1862 pounds. A thou
sand cards weigh about So pounds, or
to be more exact, 1000, 600 cards weigh
5,225 pounds. Climbing up the hill to
the largest building one can easily fol-
low the process by which postal-cards
are made. In back room of the build
ing can be seen 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 and sort the rags into piles
according to quality. The sorted rags
are put into huge chopping machines,
which cut them into small pieces. It
then whiffs them into dust machine,
where they are shaken and cleaned.
From this point they pass through
succession of baths in chloride of lime
and various other bleaching and cleans
ing chemicals, with occasional visits to
vats and trips through rollers with
sharp knives on them.
After passing through the different
processes the rags come out in fine
white pulp as thin as flour paste. This
is shaken over wire to get the water out,
and is then put through score or more
OF rollers and glue bath, after
which it is rolled out into postal-card
paper. At the end of the long rolls that
have been squeezing the paper down
and putting the gloss on it are the
knives used for cutting, and the long
sheet passing through it is either cut
into sheets four postal-cards wide to be
put into the huge automatic presses, or
into sheets 21x303 inches. In the big
room OF the postal-card mill are about
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 1,76O
postal cards. The cards are printed
from steel plates SO hard that q file
could not make an impression on them.
Each one is printed from a separate
plate, and eighty plates are locked in
the bed OF the press. All the plates are |
sent from Washington, and one set of
plates In continual use lasts about two |
years. The feeders are women of OK /
perience, and they receive Az cents for
feeding 100, 900 cards, and can feed about |
500, 900 day.
The sheets are next taken to the cut |
ters, from which they are turned out in
single cards. Three girls take the cards |
of each feeder. One counts twentv-fve |
In each package, and the other two put
on the paper hinders. After thew 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, receiving for their work Is cents
per 100 boxes. The boxes when filed
are put into cases ready for shipment.
NO order for less than 500 cards is filed. /
orders Tor 10000 or more are packed in
wooden cases, the largest single case |
holding $4,000 cards,
new machine has recently been mt
In ia work ON postal-cards that will in
crease the rate of printing them and de-
crease the number of EMPLOYEES. Two
OF the machines are now in oneration
Ihey print from continuous rolls at the
rate OF 300 per minute. A set I
OF knives cuts them off and they drop
thto little cells, set of steel fingers
turn the package over. After each
twenty-five cards have dropped into a
cell the fingers twine band about
the package and carry it back TO the
Packlng-room, where the girls put them
into boxes.
Young Husband-Seems to me. NV
near this chicken is pretty tough
Young Wife, know IL is, and
can understand it at all. picked it
ont myself
did you examine it ciosely?''
Indeed did. looked in its mouth
The first thing. and could see it hadn't
even cut its first teeth yet"-N. Y.
Weekly.
Apple Crumb Pudding. Put layer
Of bread crumbs in the bottom of a brit
tered pudding dish, then layer of
sliced tart apples sprinkled with sugar.
then crumbs and apples until the dish is
almost full. The crumbs should be last.
Cover and cook an hour Eat with a |