Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1882 — A MAIL MARVEL. [ARTICLE]

A MAIL MARVEL.

Initiating Cheap Postage —The Ehrlich Combination Letter and Envelope Adopted by the Government. [Washington Telegram.] The Postmaster General has taken a step which it is believed in some quarters will materially affect the future operat ons and reforms of the department This was in the conclusion of a contract with Mr. Leo Ehrlich, of St Louis, for the use of his recent ingenious invention of combinatbn letter-sheet and envelope. The contract was signed today. By the middle of January the Ehrlich invention wi.l be on sale at the principal postofiic *s in the country, in foe shape o a letter-sheet and enve ope and stamp, nil for Scen s, and a circu'ar letter and envelope >nd s amp for 1 cent, adding c ot o' paper. The unstamped artijle will fl id its way into the market th’ourh the s atloneiy wor.d. This is a return to the simplicity of correspondence as it was before envelopes w.-r < Invented, without returning to he disadvantages of sealing wax, tapers and wafers. Th ' single etter shee s ore manufactured w th frumm-d flaps, which, when the sh et is folded la> over the two open edges and eoure the missive. Tni Government stamp Is to be embossed on < ne of these flaps, which come < over like the flap m an envelope, and the whole thing is licked, stamped and sealed with the same motion. 'lhl- brings the stamp where he old wafers and real used to be, instead of being u on ihe upper right-hand corner. The Postmaster will not be compelled o apply the can'-ellatlon stamp, as the letters cannot be opened nor the embo sed stamp removed without destroying the stamp. While <he whole arrangement looks like a neat trick, the principal advantage i< its cheapness, both to the Government and to the general pub’io.

English officers say that each soldier in order to become a decent shot should every year fire 1,000 rounds with his rifle. That’s all very nice, but who wants to stay in a cellar while he is firing the 1,000.