The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1907-03-14
Change I'm Postal Gard Law.
Special Delivery Stamp
hfill I'm fTsp

This side for tue address only" as
applied to postcards, is out of date. 1t
became thing of the past on the stroke
of Il Thursday night and hereafter
when you read 1t on IA postcard pay no
attention to it, but go ahead and write
any message you please on the left half
of the address side of the card, aud have
no fear that you will fall into the
clutches of the law Neither you nor
your correspondent will be- called on 10
pay additional postage bee ,nse you
have openly defied the printed order
for with the beginning of Friday an
order issued by the Postmaster General
tortelyou four months ago went into
effect and it is now permissible to use
half the face of postcard for a mess
age
The United States as rule is pretty
we'll up with the times on almost every
thing connected with progress and civili-
lzation, but it has been just little
backward now and then on postal
affairs. The great 'souvenir postal card
craze" struck Europe and spread all
over the Old World before this country
came TO a realization of its time saving
money making and instructive features
After a while the craze appeared here,
and apparently now Az bad case of
souvenir-postal caIditis exists as IL il
possible for one people TO acquire. But
the Postoffice Department diu not keep
up with the procession of nations in the
matter of facilitating the business The
postal authorities of foreign countries
soon saW fine chance to boost their
postal revenues by catering to the"fad "
aud it was not long before they granted
to postal card users the privilege of
writing messages ON one half the face of
the cards. This was done mainly to en-
able the manufacturers of tue cards 10
print pictures all over one side of the
cards and still give to the users a space
for their messages.
BY agreement between the representa-
tives of the various foreign postal de-
partments the left half of the face of the
card was granted to the writers as well
as the entire back and all that was re.
served for the address was the right
alf of the face under the postage stamp
This was found to be enough and thit
generosity on the part of the authori
ties doubtless resulted in the printing Of
many thousands of cards that would not
otherwise have been made and the con.
seqnent increase in the postal revenues
The Universal Postal Convention, which
met in the city of Rome last wear, hearth.
ly Endorsed the postal card as an aid tC
business, and % KID" the i'd a of giving
up the left half of the front or face for
the writer's use. The convention pro.
vided for universal admission to the
mails after October /, 1907, "of post.
cards bearing written messages upon the
laT Lnlf oF . ha e
Nor YET ABOLISHED
An Impression seems to have been
created that the special delivery stamp
has been abolished and that special de-
livery may be obtained by putting an ex-
ira ten cents worth of ordinary postage
on the envelope. Letters thus stamped
will not be treated as special delivery
letters. The stamp il still in use and the
Post Office Department has no notice OF
its discOntinuance. 1t seems that pat
rons of the office jumped to the conclu-
sion that because the bill to abolish VI
passed the House in Congress it has be-
come law.
RURAL PATRONS WILL PLEASE NoTf
THE FOLIO WING.
Registered mail, special delivery
letters and pension letters addressed &c
a patron of the rural delivery service
who has erected box in accordance
with the regulations, must be delivered
at the house of the addressed, PROVIDED
the house of he addressee is one hall
mile or less from the line of travel of the
carrier
In the case of registered mail, where
the addressed lives more than one hall
mile from the route, registry delivery
notice (Form No. 1929 must be left in
the aduressee's box and the addresses
may then call at the postoffice for the
mail, or arrange for the delivery to him
self or his authorized agent at the box.
hen the addressee of special de.
livery letter who is a patron of rural
route lives more than one-h half mile from
he route, the letter should be placed ia
the addiessee's box
Notice of the receipt at the postoffice
of u pension letter addressed to a patron
of rural route living more than one.
half mile from the route should be
placed in the addressee's box, when be
can call at the postoffice or arrange with
the carrier to deliver the same to him AT
the. box
The rule has been that carriers were
obliged to deliver the above when pat
roDs lived within one mile of the route.