The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-02-23
THE MAKING OF POSTAL CARDS,

turns out lrillicnS ~ postal cards ~ cry
month for the United States Government
The Town is Piedmont AssK Virginia.
ana here the busy factory IS At work six
days in a week making she little oblong
sheets of cardboard which are destined
10 carry messages of ali sorts from all
condition; OF people. Here. also i made
the cardboard from which the Postal
cards are made: here X IS cut into thc
requisite sizes and the cards printed, and
finally packed and shipped into every
state. city. town and hamlet ia tho
United States, Porto Rico. Hawaii and the
Philippine Islands.
The large sulphite and paper mills
where is manufactured the psncT oft o.
which the postal cards are made. sre also
located at Piedmont adjoining the postal
works. These mills constitute one OF
the largest pulp and paper mgnut tur-
ing n ants IL tire United States and has
branch establishments ~ Davis. " Va.
CoviHgtou. Va. aud TsroLe. Pa. The
postal works were formerly located al
Castleton New York but in December
Of 1891 they were transferred TO their
present location II Piedmont or. tc be
more exact. TO Luks. a suburb OF Pied
mont on tho banks II fhe north bfgnch
of the Potomac River. Mr.. Albert Dag
gctt. Of Brooklvn.. y y, has thc con-
tract 10 manufacture all the various Kinds
OF postal cards required by the G3,ern-
lnent. Mr.. Daggett held the contract I'M
der the administration OF President Har-
risoE. but lost It on The advent of Pres
ident Cleveland
The postal card mandatory is a two
story. fire-proof brick building With a
cemert roof. The building is sL,ther
protected by patent automatic IRE
sprinlslers. with an abundant supply OF
Tar ~, fro cod
10 4 minimum. The building is NOT large
about 100 by so feet. The power 20 run
the machinery is furnished by the plant
OF the paper company whose large estab-
Hshment adjoins that OF the postal works.
ghe birding is lighted by electricity. ard
in winter Is heated by steam. Neither
matches nor smoking Of pipes are allowed
on the premises.
The front door Of the wolks is ALWAYS
under lock anc key. During the sum
mer months large lattice doors are used;
These also are kept locked DURING the
daytime. as well as at night. time
registering clock is used ri night which
the watchmen have 10 touch ST regular
intervals in their rounds. Major II.
Shook is the United States agent and
inspector. and under his direction the
greatest care and pTecaution are taken
TO guard against theft. There are also
very stringent rules which prevent Wis
itors interfering with the cards after or
during the process OF manufacture or
with the employees while at work
The first floor Of the building IS used
for press-room casiug-room. and dry
room for the printed postal cards. There
are two printing presses in the fress
room. each having a capacity of 200
impressions an hour. The sizes II tho
Ch or
is 90 by 80 inches, and each sheee con-
tains 60 postal cards ready 10 % '.iit and
packed when il comes from the ITess.
The dies used il the printing OF thu cards
are. Of course, furnished by the Govern
ment. The presses are operated nv four
men, each of whom works eight hours
every day. In the casing-room one man
is kept busy putting together the knock
ed-down pine boxes IN which the cards
are packed for. shipment These 10 xes
are made OF pine grown in West Virginia
and are SHIPPED ''knos.ked-down" 10 the
contractor Tho boxes vary in size. hold
ing 500 1000. . n0 or 100 0o0 cards re-
spectively. The largest shipment ever
made from the Piedmont works vas 4
consignment OF 2i.e00.000 which went out
on June Is. 1850.
The cards are shipped 10 various large
city post Offices and 10 the sub-agencies.
Gated at Cincinnati St. Louis. Troy.
New York. and Washington. d. &, and
are technically known as distributing
Offices At these distributing Offices re-
QUESTIONS for postal cards are filled out
in orders of the stamp division Of the
Third Assistant Postmaster General. Less
than car load lots of cards are shipped
through the post Office a Piedmont, and
all are registered. This is also the case
with shipments for the insular posses
sions. The fun car lots shipped to
the larger post offices and 10 the sub
agencies previously mentioned. There /
are 4.6oo01ge cards to the car. and they T
are valued at $4,000 per car Every (
car is sealed with a special seal by the /
United States Inspector OF the postal card /
The postal cards for use in the Philip /
pines are also manufactured AT the plant 4
in West Virginia. and are like the do !
nestle cards but are surcharged
The word Philippines appears
Just below the vignette. 1t is the same
with postal cards manufactured for use
IN Porto Rico. Those in use in the ISLAND I
Of Hawaii arc now the same as the do
westic cards. The buff stock used in /
the manufacture Of all the cards is made |
at Piedmont by the paper company. out 4
OF spruce wood. by what is technically
known rs the ~sulphite' process. This /.
process is SO rapid that cards have been +
made from the fibre within two DAYS +
after the trees have been cut from the 4
virgin forests Of West virginia.
The paper mist contain ~ per cent Of /.
spruce fibre. - per cent ~ soda 1
chemical poplar fibre bleached. and . per /
cent of English clay. All or these com 4
ponents must be clean aud free from f
imperfections; cslendered 10 N Uniform
weight and thickness. and finished on /
both sides suitable for writing With ink
or pencil she liuf in ali cases beng ~
course. uniform bur. Even the tensile
strength is tested. and in fact. in every
possible detail the cards must conform 30
2 rigid Government standard Even the
quality of the ink used ia printing tbs
cards and its color. black, must De- e1-
lctN as the Government has stipulated
IN the specifications under which The con-
tract j. let. and what is known a. a..
water finish 20 the material used e. the
or the cards IS not per-
nitted.
The entire business 81 manufacturing
Uncle Sans postal cards Is awarded hy
contract and the Government has as
has beeu mentioned. = reViGent official
known - the United states Postal card
Agent and Inspector whe g. constantly
stationed AZ tho n1anufaetors. 70 b fhs
iuty n tins dlgnitary 10 not onlg exer-
ise personal supervision Of IN. printing
quitting boxing ard casing ~ POSTAL
ards. but to also Inspect and pasS tfdE-
uens on an tho postal card saeSts before
printing. and - furnish The TIA uspaTfs-
ion ct the cards f0r the contractor. rs
zeii a. shipping fte completed paste
sosrd ~ the various Oscillations aests-
latei hr the Official orders eesreF fTom
h Postmaster General.
The regular force x ti1s postal card
numbers crisis - ensnsorss
.alf ~ whom are VIII az he -