Wagons West Chronicles October Issue 2016 October Issue | Page 12

October 2016

12

HOW THE POST
CARD IS MADE

April 29, 1883, Daily Herald,
Dallas, Texas — The postal cards of
the United States government are
turned out near the village of
Castleton, on the eastern bank of
the Hudson River, about eight
miles below Albany. The postal
card factory proper, there being
several buildings devoted to the
purpose in question, is a one story
brick building of very unpretending appearance. The card-board is
received from the paper mill in
sheets twenty-one inches by thirty–a size just large enough to cut
up into forty postal cards. The
sheets are first printed on an ordinary large cylinder “job” printing
press. The impression is taken on
a plate containing forty card faces
with stamp, the monogram US, the
scroll and words “postal card,” and

the line “Nothing but the
address can be placed on
this side.” Thus, when a
sheet of card-board is run
through the press it comes
out with forty postal cards
completely printed, ready
to be cut up into the onecent missive with which the
public is familiar. There
are three presses, any two
of which, it is thought, are
sufficient to supply the demand
without being rushed.
From the presses the printed
sheets are taken to the cutting
machine, where they are rapidly
cut into strips containing ten
cards each. They are fed between
rollers, on which there are four
circular blades. The cutting into
strips is done as fast as a tolerably
active boy can pass in the sheets.
From the first cutting-machine the
sheets are taken to a second cutter, where they are fed through
rollers with circular blades, set as
far apart as the width of a postal
card. Thus 10 cards produced
ready for use from each strip that
is run through the cutter, and the
cards then drop into 10 pockets
made of tin, mounted on a shaft.
Continued on next column

LouisLAmour Movies
THIS MONTH’S MOVIE

“ What year did Louis
L’ Amour write his first
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Wagons West Chronicles

INDIAN TRIBAL
AUTONOMY

April 3, 1891, Gazette, Fort
worth, Texas — The Chickasaw legislature is now in extra session at
Tishomingo. It is supposed they
have met to act jointly with the
Choctaw to confirm the recent act
of congress in appropriating
about $3,000,000 for the purchase
of that part of the leased district
occupied by the Cheyennes and
Arapahos.
It is likely that some action will
be taken by the body in the intruder matter. “The squaw men” are
apprehensive lest the full-blood
legislators pass an act debarring
them from sharing in the recent
appropriation, and many of them
are taking out United States citizenship at this term of the Federal
court in order that they may sue for
their rights in this court. So far, a
dozen or more have taken the oath

of allegiance, and it is safe to predict that many will follow at once.
Since the Sam Paul campaign in
August the feeling against the
intermarriage citizens has been
very bitter among the Chickasaws,
and the policy of the Byrd administration is very oppressive toward
that element. Since the opening of
Oklahoma and the establishment
of a Federal court within the
bound of the Indian Territory, the
conflict of authority between the
tribal and Federal governments
has demonstrated the futility of
longer continuing tribal relations,
and the Indians are quickly realizing that they must embrace the
new order of things. As a consequence a great many blood Indians
will accept American citizenship,
and the disruption of tribal autonomy is certain.

Post Cards from previous column.

contain a like number. The yellow-paper band that is wrapped
about each package of the 25
cards is already gummed, so that
the three pocket-tenders are able
to work rapidly. The packages of
25 each are placed in piles of 10
each, and each two of these piles
are packed into a strawboard box,
each box containing 500 cards.
The strawboard boxes are made
rapidly on the spot by an ingenious machine.
The whole
machiner y for making postal
cards, after the card-board is
received from the card-mill, could
be operated in a room 30 feet
square. The force produces and
packs an average of 1,250,000
cards each working day.

The boy who feeds the strips into
the cutter passes 25 through and
then calls out “tally.” Three girls
remove the cards from the tin
pockets, pack them in stacks of 25
each, and provide each package
with the proper band so familiar
to those who buy cards in quantities of 25 and upward. In addition
to these operations one of the
three girls has to turn the pocketshaft every time the feeder calls
“tally,” and another has to count
the cards in any one pocket, so as
to see that strips is correct. Every
25 strips produce 250 cards, delivered equally in 10 pockets. If anyone of them contains 25 cards
each, each of the other nine must

.

Prove It! from page 11

weighted platform. The wire can be
either pulled by several stuntmen or
attached to a motorized device,
which yanks the stunt performer
backward in a violent manner.

1956 Click To Watch

It is a memorable scene that still
shocks an audience over 50 years
after the film’s release. And the
character of Jack Wilson is probably
one of the greatest villains in
Western film history.