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 /
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**?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.