First treaty rate voyage, SS Niagara

January 31, 1849

This is a January 31, 1849, folded letter from Havana, Cuba, sent by forwarding agent Dole & Burch of Havana on February 7, 1849, to New York, carried 'out of the mails,' probably in another letter or package. Letter posted in New York on February 17 by unknown agent, paying 5-cent British open mail rate as shown by pencil '5' in upper left corner. Curved "PAID" in black ink, also marked at New York. Letter carried from New York (February 21) to Liverpool (March 6) by Cunard steamship 'Niagara' on its first contract mail voyage to England after the new postal convention between the United States and the United Kingdom went into effect. At London (March 7), the letter was marked with orange boxed "COLONIES &c ART.13" handstamp to show it was an unpaid letter from overseas and treated under letter bill accounting Article 13, whereby France owed the UK 3-shilling 4-pence for each thirty grams of bulk letter weight. Letter arrived in Paris on March 8, where it was marked ten grams weight in the upper left corner and twenty decimes postage due, ten decimes (or pence) to the UK and ten decimes French internal postage.