Bridgeton pioneer., 1899-09-07
A NEW FORM.
The Postal Money Order That Has Been
Adopted.

The Post Office Department has
adopted a new form of domestic monav
order, which will be introduced eradu.
aily' or as supplies of the old form be.
come exhausted. at the various post
ohces throughout the country, after the
4th of September.
Distinctive Features of the New Form.
The new form is somewhat smaller
than the order now in use, Its dimen-
slons are about those of the ordinary
pank draft. 1t has two adjuncts-the
advice, or notification to be sent by the
issuing to the paying postmaster, is a
reproduction of the order through the use
OF carbonized paper (the manifold pro-
cess), and a receipt for the amount, to be
furnished by the issuing postmaster to
the remitter.
On the back of the order a separate
space has been provided for the stamps
through which it may be passed for col.
lection.
In color the order is blue. having light
blue ground, with fine, closely interlaced
tinted lines of geometrical lathe-work, of
darker shade. In the centre is an es-
cutcheon bearing the words, postal
Money Order" in shaded capital letters
OF the same two tints of blue. The tint
OF the order and the lather. work will
serve to prevent limitations; but, as an ad-
ditlonal safeguard against counterfeiting
horizontal water mark, composed of
the initials U. s. M. O., in broad, capital
letters. has been wrought into the paper
on which the new forms are printed,
Advantages of the New Form.
Through the process mentioned (the
carbon or manifold process), the order
and the advice are produced sim ultane-
ously. By the same operation the essen
tial particulars of name of payee. date.
amount, and place of payment, as written
in the order, are duplicated, or repro
duced, and made to appear in the advice
precisely as in the order. The liability
to mistake is thus greatly lessened, and a
saving of time effected. Discrepancies
between order and advice, which. by
entailing additional correspondence and
causing delay in payment, have hereto.
fore been source of annoyance to the De-
partment and postmasters, as we'll as to
remitters and payees, are prevented, and
absolute uniformity between the order
and advice insured. The despatch of
advices, which hitherto have not been
made out until after issue of the orders,
will also be accelerated.
The receipt, which is to be furnished
by the issuing postmaster to the remitter
showing the number and date of the
order and the amount for which issued, is
also, in the main, reproduction, by the
carbon process, ofths writing and stamp
ing on the order, hence must necessarily
agree Herewith. The adoption of re-
ceipt has not hitherto been practicable
1t will tend to popularize the posta
money order, supplying more than all
else what was needed to make it, in the
estimation of the public, perfectly sat.
isfactory vehicle for the transmission of
small sums. Possession of the receipt
will give the remitter feeling of secur.
ity. On the back of it he may make, for
his own convenience, a memorandum of
the name and address of the person to
whom the remittance is made and the
purpose for which it is sent. Production
of the receipt will greatly facilitate refer
OhSO w lLO AOCOIOS IL IL O6COIil0 necessary
for the remitter to make application for a
duplicate order or inquiry as to whether
the original has been paid and here
again saving OF time will be effected.
In shape and size the new order is
deemed decided improvement over any
other form of money order hitherto
adopted by the departm Its dimen-
sions being about those of the ordinary
bank draft, it may be conveniently
handled when mixed with different kinds
of commercial paper. 1t is believed that
the change made in this respect will be
heartily approved by bank and business
people generally.
That the new order may win its way to
public favor by it's simplicity, clearness
and adaptability, great care has been
taken to give it this character by arrange
ment of it's parts, by avoiding surplusage
in the text or wording, and by using
plain type and excluding whatever would
be merely ornate design.
The postal money order system, from
small beginning in 1864, when the num-
ber of money order post Offices established
in the United States was 4l9, has grown
to be one of the great indispensable
agencies of exchange. There are now
about $4,000 such offices. The number of
domestic money orders issued in the
United States during the past year was
over 30,0O0,000 amounting in value to
S2l0,0000O0. The system is used most ex.
tensively for remittances from places
where bank exchange is not so readily
obtainable. While supplementing fa.
cilities for intercourse between populous
centres, it has it's own special field, sup
plying means for the safe and cheap
transmission of money where other
agencies for the purpose could not be
successfully maintained.
In the adoption of the new form of
order the interests and preferences OF