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V * * ' ' 1 ' OFFICIAL ^ARCEL POST This map is for use only In unit Nc 1071. In which the city of Washingtoi is located. Numbered squares represent unit of area; circles indicate boundaries o zones. HOW PARCEL POST RATES ARE FIXED Charges Are Regulated Under the Zone System. BIG ENTERPRISE LAUNCHED' I Eleven Pound's Is the Limit In Weiflht for a Single Package? Anything That Will Not Injure Other Mall Can Be Sent. 9 By EDWARD B. CLARK. With the coining of the New Yoar the United States government will enter into a new field of enterprise? the transmittal of merchandise by what is known as the parcel post. For years there has been a demand for such a system of inexpensive transmittal of packages. Tho camps of favor and disfavor cf the parcel ' post scheme have been about equally divided. Finally at the last session of congress a bill was passed which / will put the plan into operation, but only it must be said in little more I _ ' ?-uuu an cApuiiuiruiui way. ^ It Is the intention of Uncle Sam to move rather slowly in the parcel poBt matter. He wants to And how popular It will be, how much it will cost the government, and whether there is to be a profit or loss at the end of each year. If it is found that tho plan is successful from tho point of view of tho people, which means the government also, the parcel post will bo extended until finally it reaches the proportions which ^ts proponents say they believe it Is destined to assume. Zone System Explained. It Is no exaggeration to say that thousands upon thousands of inquiries have been made of the postmaster general as to just what the parcel post win mean to tho people. It "was J the law of congress establishing the system which inndo provision for a division of tho country into zones and into 3r>.00<) units which are to be I uned as centers in doscrlblnK the cir- ( cles ^hich mark the boundaries of the zones. There has been no clear understanding, apparently, of this zone system, but really it is a very : simple matter. The accompanying map shows the country divided into zones from the j unit in which Washington is sit- ' uated, as the center. Accompanying i the map is a tablo showing the rate of postage per pound for parcels from Washington to places within all the zones. fiach unit contains an area thirty miles square. Now each unit is a center from which the zones are drawn and so every unit in tho country no matter whero it is situated will have zones drawn from it just exactly as Washington has them drnwn from It. For instance, take Keokuk. Ia.. I - - I widen la in u nun in mc nun zone. From that will bo drawn circles exactly as they are drawn from Washington a.id they will be numbered from Keokuk as number one, just as they are numbered from Washington as number one. Of course, however. Zone Six - will have a different geographical position as related to Keokuk than it has as related to Washington. but as 'he radius of the circles drawn from Keokuk is tho same length as the /adius of the circles drawn from Washington, Keokuk's Zone Six will be just as far from its center as Washington's Zone Six is. | How Rates Aro Fixed. It cnn be seen from this readily enough that the postal rates from Washington to its particular zone will be the same as the postal rates from Keokuk to its particular zones. Each unit being about thirty miles square will of course contain in most cases a number of postolices. but each office in the same unit is considered as being the center of tho circles from which tho zones are drawn. The | rates of postage are fixed from tho unit in which the sending postofTlco is situated, but tne price to every place in any zone is just tho same. To illustrate. it will cost exactly tho same amount to send a parcel from Washington to Erie. Pa., that it costs to send 1t to Atlanta. Ga., because Erie and Atlanta with reference to Washington are situated In the fourth M , y > i_ I I I I 'W I III ! I I zone. The rates thereforo are fixed 1 from the unit in which the poBtofilce i is located, but they are the samo 1 from that ofllco to any point in any one zone. : It will bo seen by reference to the ? table of rates of postage that it will cost more per pound to send a package a long distance than it docs to send it a short distance. The rate increases for a package weighing one pound at the rate of one cent for each zone. No package weighing more than 11 pounds can bo sent un-[ der the new parcel post law. It should be said right here that on the } long hauls the parcel post may not be able to competo with the express companies, but that on shorter hauls it can so competo. It was the expressed desire of the legislators and of the postolllco officials that the parcel post system should be made of nnrt lr?n 1 nr nan to tmrcona ^ ! anil factory products to transmit to customers. It is probable that producers must study the rates of postage and the convenience of transmittal nnil compare them with the cost and convenience under present methods before Individually a man can determine whether he is to profit or not by the change. Then there is another thing to be considered and which only can he known definitely when fuller regulations have been made to specify exactly what kind of things can be sent by parcel post. It can be said in n general way that anything can be sent which is properly wrapped and which will not injure other mail matter with which it may come In contact. Copy Foreign Countries. It is probable that the government will adopt a means of transportation for certain kinds of its merchandise much like those which have been adopted in parcel post countries abroad. What the English call hampers, basket-like arrangements, probably will be adopted, and as these can be kept separate from the ordinary mall matter it is believed that the regulations as finally adopted will allow the sending of eggs, butter, dress j ed poultry, live poultry, honey, fruit. ' and other products of the country. i no xi-pouno limit tor a stnglo package may work at first against any very extended use of the parcel post for some of the articles which have been named. Of course, more weight can be sent if it is sent in different parcels, but the cost in that case would bo heavier because the increase per pound on a single package Is not great up to 11 pounds, and probably it would increase at no greater rate if the government were to | raise the limit of weight which is now fixed To make it simpler, it will cost more to send two packages of 11 i pounds than it would to send one packago of 22 pounds if the govern ment eventually should allow a heavier single packago to be carried and j should charge in proportion just what it does now for ono package of 11 j pounds weight. Every postmaster in the United States will have a parcel post map i like the one which is here reproduced except that the 7.0110 lines will be i shown with the unit of his postofileo 1 as a center. All that a postmaster j will have to do when a parcel is presented for transportation is to find out in what zone the destination of the package lies, ills table will show him Instantly the rate ner oound from RATES OF Parcels weighing four ounces of one cent for each ounce or fra distance. Parcels weighing more at the pound rate,as shown by the i at this rate any fraction of a poun 1st zone 2d 3d Wt. Local Zone zone zone Lbs. rate. rate. rate. rate. 1 $0.05 $0.05 $0.06 $0.07 2... .06 .08 .1(3 .12 3... .07 ,11 .14 .17 4... .08 .14 .18 .22 5... .09 .17 .22 .27 6... .10 .20 .26 .32 7... .11 .23 .30 .3/ 8... .12 .26 .34 .42 9... .13 .29 .38 .47 10... .14 .32 .42 .52 11... .15 .35 .46 .57 For a full explanation of t Zone see the Parcel Post Guide. ; \ ^ ? 1 V-3-'-V-vj~l( v'r!.z^u'."fc-i?1 ^V-'-'-' -*- ? **,? fH 3^ iii^fefii-l^F ##rk^t#El?S&^rgS* J| | Ihe unit In wliloh his postoflice lies j to the zone of the package's dcstinn- | tlons, tho price as has been explained before, to every postoflice in any one zone being the same. The parcel post will take nothing but fourth-class matter. Printed matter is still In the third-class designation. Therefore books cannot be sent by the parcel post system. This the postoflice nu thoritles seem to think is in a way unjust and may work a hardship, it may be that In the future the law will be changed so as to include all printed mnttcr. It seems to he certain that an attempt will be made to bring about this change as speedily ns possible. Postmaster General Hitchcock has ordered that postmasters be advised ?!...? 1 * ? mm. ihulci |iosi parKapi'H cannot ne accented for mailing unless they bear a distinctive purcel post stamp nnd have attached ttf them the return card of the sender. A series of distinctive stamps is now In course of preparation for this class of mail as required by the law creating the parcel post system. Consignments of these stamps will be ready for shipment to all postofllces in nmplo time for the establishment of the new system on Now Year's day. The postofflce department has given instruction to every postmaster in the country to enlighten his patrons as much as possible 011 tho general subject of the parcel post and especially on the use of tho special stamps nnd tho necessary attachment of tho return card. The law requires that all fourth-class matter mailed a icr January 1, 1913, without parcel post stamps attached shall be treated ns "Held for postage" matter. Parcel poSt packages will be mailable only at postofllces, branch postoiTices, lettered and local named stations, and such numbered stations as may be designated by the postmasters. Rate on Seeds Not Affected. It bhould be said that tho act of congress which puts a parcel post plan into operation does not in any way affect tho postage rate on seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions and plants as lixed by section 482 of the postal laws and regulations. The classification of articles mailable as well as the weight limit, the iai?-3 <ji wi /.uuub una other conditions of mailnbility under tho act of congress, if the postmaster general shall find on experience "that they or any of them are such as to prevent tho shipment of articles desirable, or shall permanently render the cost of the service greater than the receipts of the revonuo therefrom, he is hereby authorized, subject to tho consent of the interstate commerce commission after investigation, *o reform from time to time such classification, weight limit, rat us, zone or 7one8 or conditions, in order to promote tho service to the public or to insure the receipt* of revenue from such service adequate to pay the cost thereof." Through many years different members of tho house and senate have been interested in promoting parcel post legislation. Among the men most active in securing tho legislation which soon is to go into effect as law aro Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon. Representatives David J. Lewis of Maryland and William Sulzer of New York, who has just been elected governor of that state. POSTAGE or less are mailable at the rate iction of an ounce, regardless of i than four ounces are mailable i following table, and when mailed d is considered a full pound. 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th zone zone zone zone zone rate rate rate rate rate $0.08 $0.09 $0.10 $0.11 $0.12 .14 .16 .19 .21 .24 .20 .23 .28 .31 .36 .26 .30 .37 .41 .48 .32 .37 .46 .51 .60 .38 .44 .55 .61 .72 .44 .51 .64 .71 .84 .50 .58 .73 .31 .96 .56 .65 .82 .91 1.08 .62 .72 .91 1.01 1.20 .68 .79 1.00 111 1 3? he rates of postage in the First I -i^vkv-:-i:;^S&s$v3a J / -?.. I / **?b |, FOR PARCEL POST Postmaster Gcnerai Issues Reg- j ulations Governing System. WHAT MAY BE SENT BY MAIL1 I | Glve6 American People Opportunity to Send Farm and Factory Products by Mad From and to Any Point in United States. Postmaster General Hitchcock has Just approved the regulations which ' envor In detail the articles which may or may not bo sent by parcel post \ These regulations are now being turned off at the government printing olllco on a "rush order" and they will bo distributed as rapidly as possible. The rules as to what can bo sept I and what cannot bo sent and tho In I structlons for the preparation of mailI able articles with other "official ad-; vice" are Riven here as they have just i been prepared by the postollice de- i pnrtment in Washington. The minimum rate will be five cents for tlie first pound and three cents for j each additional pound to any point not exceeding fifty miles l'roin tlio office of mailing; the local rate, which is five cents for the first pound and one cent j for additional pound, applies to all parcels the delivery of which docs not I involve their transportation on rail- I way lines. The rates increase for I each successive one of the eight zones. | the maximum rate being twelve cents j a pound, which will carry a parcel ! across the continent or to any of our i possessions. Parcels will be limited j i to eleven pounds in weight and six I feet in length and girth combined. Mailable Perishable Articles, flutter, lard and perishable articles such as fish, fresh meats, dressed fowls, veg? tallies, fruits, berries and articles of a similar nature tlmt decay I quickly, when so packed or wrapped as to prevent damage to other mail matter, will be accepted for local delivery either at the office of mailing or on any rural route starting therefrom When inclosed in an inner cover and ! a strong outer cover of wood, met' al. heavy corrugated pasteboard or | other suitable material and wrapped j so that nothing can escape | from the package, they will he ac- i copied fur mailing to any offices with- j in the first zone or within a radius of I f>0 miles putter, lard, or any greasy or oily substance intended for delivery at offices beyond the first zone must be suitably packed. Vegetables I and fruit that do not decay quickly will be accepted for mailing to any ! zone if packed so as to prevent damage to other mall matter. Eggs will be accoptcd for local delivery when se- | curely packed in a basket or other ; container. Kggs will be accepted for mailing regardless of distance when each egg is wrapped separately and packed in a container. I There is no restriction on salted, dried, smoked or cured meats and other meat products, hut fresh meat in any form will be transported only ; within the first zone. Parcels containing perishable articles must he marked "PEKISIIAHLE," I and articles likely to spoil within the ' time reasonably required for transportation and delivery will not be acl eepted for mailing. Manufactured Articles. Manufacturers or dealers intending i to transmit articles in considerable ' quantities are asked to submit to the postmaster for approval a specimen parcel showing the manner of pack: tuff- I When sharp pointed Instruments are ] offered for mailing, the points must be j j capped or encased. Blades must bo bound so that they will remain attached to each other or within their ; handles or sockets, j In' Powders, pepper, snufT, or other , similar powders not explosive, or any 1 similar pulverized dry substance, not j poisonous, may be sent when Inclosed in cases made of tnctal, wood or other material to render Impossible tho escape of any of tho contents. Flour of all kinds must be put up in such < inanni r as to prevent tho package ! breaking or the flour being scattered j in the mails. Queen Bees and Nursery Stock. | Q'k n heoa, live isicts, and dried . ,'.,y 5e ?-v'^ ^irT; *''<4 reptiles may be mailed In accordance with the regulations that now apply to Other classes of mail. Seeds of fruit, nursery stock, and all other plant products for preparation may bo mailed under tho same con* ditions. Confectionery and Soap. Candles, confectionery, yeast cakes, soap In hard cakes, otc., must be Inclosed in boxes and so wrapped as to prevent Injury to other mall matter. Sealed original packages of proprietary articles, such as 6oaps, tobacco, j pills, tablets, etc., put up In fixed quantities by tho manufacturer, and not In themselves unmailable. will be accepted for mailing when properly wrapped. Millinery. Fragile articles, such as millinery, toys, musical Instruments, ot?., an<j articles consisting wholly or in part of glass, or contained in glass, must be securely packed and the parcel stamped or labeled "FRAGILE." Unmailable Matter. The following matter Is declared unmailable by law: Matter manifestly obscene, lewd, or lascivious; articles Intended for preventing conception; articles Intended for indecent or Immoral purposes; all matter otherwise mailable by law, the outside cover or wrapper of which bears and delineation or language of a libelous, scurrilous, defamatory, or iiiii:uicuiiiK cuurucier. yvu sucn mai* tor, when deposited in a post ofilce or found in the mails, shall be withdrawn and sent to the divisions of dead letters. Intoxicants, Poisons and Inflammable Materials. Spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented. or other intoxicating liquors of any kind; poisons of every kind, and articles and compositions containing poison. ponsonous animals, insects and reptiles; explosives of every kind; inflammable materials (which are held to include matches, kerosene oil, gasoline, naphtha, benzine, turpentine, denatured alcohol, etc.). Infernal machines, and mechanical, chemical or other devices or compositions which may Ignite of explode; disease germs or scabs, and other natural or artificial articles, compositions or materials of whatever kind which may kill, or in any wise injure another or damage the mail or other property. Pistols, Animals and Birds. Pistols or revolvers, whether in detached parts or otherwise; live or dead (and not stuffed) animals, birds, or poultry, except elsewhere provided; raw hides or pelts, guano, or any article having n. bad odor will not bo admitted to the mails. Treatment of Undeliverable Parcels. Perishable matter will bo delivered as promptly as possible, but If such matter can not bo delivered and becomes offensive and Injurious to health, postmasters may destroy It, or the injurious or offensive voitlon thereof. Parcels Improperly Packed. Postmasters will refuse to receive for mailing parcels not properly indorsed or packed for safe shipment. When parcels on which the postage is wholly unpaid or insufficiently prepaid is deposited for local delivery and the sender is unknown, notice of detention need not be sent but such matter will he delivered and the deficient postage collected from the addressee by the carrier. If tho addressee refuses to pay tho postage the matter will ho sent to the Division of Dead Letters. Insurance on Parcels. A mailable parcel on which tho postage is fully prepaid may be Insured against loss in an amount equivalent to Its actual value, but not to exceed $.">0, on payment of a feo of ten rents in parcel post stamps, such stamps to be affixed. Forwarding of Parcels. Parcels may be remailed or forwarded on the payment of additional postage at the rate which would be chargeable if they were originally mailed at tho forwarding office, In which ease the necessary stamps will Lie affixed by the forwarding postmas ter. Payment must he made every time the parcel is forwarded. Preparation for Mailing. Parcels must be prepared for mailing In such manner that the contents can be easily examined. A parcel will not he accepted for mailing unless It hears tho name and address .of the sender preceded by the word "From." In ndditior. to the name and address of tho sender, which is required, it will be permissible to write or print on the covering of a parcel, or on a tag or label attached to it, the occu pntion of the sender, and to Indicate in a small space by means of marks, letters, numbers, names or other brief description, the character of tho pared. but ample space must be left on the address side for the full address in legible characters and for the necessary postage stamps. Inscriptions such as "Merry Christmas," "Please <lo not open until Christmas," "Happy New Year," "With best wishes," and the like, may be placed or. the coverins of the parcel In such manner as not to interfere with the address. Distinctive Stamps. The law requires that the postage on all matter must be prepaid by | distinctive parcel post stamps afllxed. I Postmasters cannot, receive for mail iiig pnrcels that do not bear such stamps. Parcel post stamps are not valid for iho payment of postage on matter ol the first, seeond. and third classes and when used for that purpose, the matter to which they are affixed shall be treated as "Held for postage." Maps and Guides, j Parcel post maps, with accompany ing guides, are to be sold to the pub I 11c at their cost, 7"> cents, through the I chief clerk of the post otflce depart ment. In ordering maps care I should he taken to specify the post i office from which tho postage rates are to be determined. (By E. O. SELLERS, Director of Eva& j nln?c Deportment The Moody Bible Id-V. stltuto of Chicago.) THE CREATION. \ ^ LESSON TKXT?Genesis 1:15, T. i. ltfc, . i?. 16. 21. a. Ti. si. OOI.DEN TEXT?"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1. In our scheme of leaons we return to the Old Testament and conflno our study for the ensuing year to the first six books of the Bible. The word Genesis means "beginnings," and in the book of that name we see recorded all the information of the beginning of things that our heavenly father deemed necessary in the development of the scheme of re- > demption. After all the assaults of its enemies. and of the skeptics, the first verse of the book of Genesis contains all the clear, concise, and positive knowledge man possesses about the origin of this Universe. "God created," rot, "God is all and all is God." Pantheism has no ground upon which ^o stand. "In the beginning God created," therefore he is above and was before tho heaven and the earth. Tho beginning of all right thinking and true living, of every proper relation of life, is God and yet we are withholding that knowledge from young America upon the specious plea that the bible is sectarian. . Truth of the Trinity. Following this statement of the creation come the steps of rehabilitation. for tlio words in verse two denote waste, void, or confusion and one Hebrew scholar contends for the word "ruin." See also lsa. 4F>:18 R. V. Thus it seems that upon this created earth there must have come a Judgment, presumably upon some pre-Adamite race and that what follows, verse two. 1b not the original creation but the steps whereby this earth was made ready as a habitation for man. Lord Kelvin Bald, "scientific thought la compelled to accept the idea of creative power." There is a wonderful agreement between modern Bcience and the account in' Genesis: (1) The biblical accounts by their wording provide for both creation and the .evolutionary development of created things; (2) Science has failed to produce matter, life, or the bouI of man; and of these in each instance the bible snys God created while of all else it says he made. The great truth of the trinity is revealed in these first three verses (1) God. v. 1; (2) Spirit, v. 2; and (3) "God said"?the word, see John 1:1. Verse five does not call the light a day meaning twelve hours, but rather u period of time, just as we speak of an Arctic "day," which is six months. Animal life cannot assimilate these elements unless they are already fixed in organic vegetable life. How and where life originated no science has discovered. Pasteur's dictum that, "It is nothing but life which generates life." still stunds unshaken. And so tho constant and only satisfactory answer to the questions, how, where and why, of all these things of this material universe is God. God created, God made, he created, and then set into being those forces and laws whereby the earth, the sky, the sun and tho moon hnve gone on with unbroken regularity. Ho made possible those processes whereby man develops, the oak grows, and animal and vegetable life reproduce each after its own kind, Tlut creation was not yet complete. Man, the last created, was the crownf.ig glory of this earthly creation. Verses 26-30 will bo studied in connection with next week's lesson and are referred to hero simply to give a complete account of creation. It would be well, however, to refer to the fact that the great God and erentor made provision for tho immortal souls of mankind by arranging for his training in the knowledge and character of himself, tho father, by the institution of the Sabbath, as soon as ho had prepared a place in which man was to dwell. The dignity and majesty of the language of Genesis is sublime. Astrologers toll us that our sun and solar system is only ono of perhaps s million others. A recent writer tella us that a ray of light which would travel the equivalent of nine times around tho earth in one second would take nine years to travel across the great nebula in the constellation of Orion. And "God made" all of this. "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." and it is the man next door to the fool who tries to stipulate what God ought or ought not to do. What a beautiful story this is to tell to children. A mother drew her 1hre*.year-old son's attention to the beauty of tlela and mountain and added "God loves the beautiful and loves llttlo boys too." Neither spoke lor a moment. Then the son aekod his mother if ehe were praying. "Yes." said the mother. "Then 1 want to say prayers too," said the boy. It is a tremendous responsibil- ^ lty to give to others the!* first Idea of God. May God keep us all on this tho first Sunday of the New Year to ' I learn the meaning of the first foui i words of our lesson.