East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-12-19

The small oblorg piece OF card
board, which presents the easiest way
Of communication through the mails,
Is rarely considered as a product, car
loads of which go to the different
cities of the United States. But the
fact is that cities like Boston and New
York use on an average more than
two carloads OF postal cards month
ly, and that the printing and cutting
up of them forms one of the great in
dustries OF Rumford Falls, Me, says
the Boston Post.
The government contract for the
manufacture of postal cards for the
next four years has been again award
ed to a paper company at Rumford
Falls, Me.
Under the previous contracts there
were manufactured during the pre-
ceding four years 100000, 900, 900
postal cards and 10000, 900 were made
during the month of June last
There pass through Boston daily IN
registered mail cars 100000 postal
cards on their way from Rumford
Falls. Me-, to the sub-agencies over
the country.
The cards may be said to be entire
ly Maine product. The logs are
taken directly from the Maine spruce
forests and chemically transformed
into the pulp from which the postal
paper is made at the oxford mill.
After the logs have been chewed
up and chemically treated the pulp
flows into big vat called the "diges-
ter" Here the pulp looks like a rich
churning, but is In reality the solution
from which the cards are made
cards that will later carry written
messages all over the civilized world.
The wood pulp is flowed out on n
screen of such fine mesh that the pa
per is long in gathering, and the re-
suit OF this more than ordinary thor
ough shaking is a firm, smooth card
of familiar cream yellow, free from
inequalities OF texture and free from
all flakes or shadows when held to
the light.
In the big, clean finishing room.
where the floor is Uttered with "A clut-
ter of book and news paper. sit a
score or more neatly attired women,
busy and happy, smoothing the great
sheets of book and postal stock into
piles. The least defect In the surface
is detected at once by their supersen-
sltive finger tips, and sheet after sheet
is rejected for a blemish invisible save
to touch.
Great trucks carry the postal paper
to the printing establishment, but be
fore the presses are set to work each
truckful must be inspected by gov
ernment inspector. This inspector
first applies the bulk gauge, to prove
that the postal card paper is up to
standard In thickness.
The contract requires that each
sheet be one eleven-thousandth part
OF an inch in thickness. So II the
needle whirls around the face of the
indicator and stops again al 1876, all
Is we'll. The second requirement is
that every sheet shall endure the test
of 90 pounds pressure to the square
inch. So into the strength tester goes
the sheet from the truck load, the
pressure applied and the indicator
shows the value of the sheet.
The blind mans test or German
test, is the third to prove that the
surface of the card Is properly resined
sized or finished. 1t is application of
vigorous pen and ink. Should the ink
be absorbed the surface is inferior In
its glaze. When the markings are
plainly apparent to the touch with
blind eyes" the calendering is satis-
factory.
Each sheet of stock fed into the
printing press is registered automatic