POSTAGE CARDS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 820, 8 September 1870, Page 3

POSTAGE CARDS.

| From the British Trade Journal. J The small but important extension of the promised halfpenny postage, which the Postmaster-General announced in the House of Commons on Friday, the 27th May, will do much to develope the usefulness of the department as the message-bearer of the public. We urged some time since the importance of the suggestion, which is one derived from continental experience. A card of a convenient size for postal collection or delivery will be issued, impressed with a halfpenny stamp. Taese cards will be just large enough to contain a notice or message. The message, which may be written or printed, as the sender chooses, will be on one side of the card, and the address of the person to whom it be sent will be on the other side; the cards will be posted and delivered in just the same way as letters. It is easy to see to what numerous uses this new convenience will be put. Even now the post in the great towns is greatly used for messages, though every message involves the use of paper, envelope, and stamp. The postage cards will involve nothing but writing the message on one side and the address on the other, and if the Post Office is quick and punctual in their collection and delivery, they are sure to come into very extensive use. The only inconvenience about them will be that the message must necessarily be an open one; but of the scoies of messages a head of a family has to send, very few need an envelope, and when they do so, a sheet of paper and penny stamp will be used as at present. We are glad to record this promise ot further accommodation as a proof ol the desire of the department to consult and serve the convenience of the public.