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A 2 ˝ cents inland postcard send on February 15, 1897 by express mail service from Leerdam to Hardinxveld. The express delivery rate in Holland in the period from January 1, 1871 to March 1, 1921 was 15 cents. The express fee was paid with a stamp of 15 cents of the issue 1891, with the portrait of the young Queen Wilhelmina.
To make it clear it was an express sending the counter clerk at the post office Leerdam affixed the label "Express" on the card. The label is of the type 1.7A.
The lower sections of the cancellation- and departure-postmarks show the time of departure in Leerdam at 12-1 N (N is the abbreviation of Namiddag, which is Dutch word for: afternoon). In Anglicizing terms the departure of the postcard was also between 12-1 P.M.
The postmark of Hardinxveld reads that the arrival in Hardinxveld took place two hours later at the same day , also between 2-3 hours P.M.
By modern standards this is astonishing quick !
The serious reason for express delivery reads the text on the backside:
".....de toestand van oom D. (is) van dien aard, dat elk ogenblik het ergste wordt verwacht. Ant, Arie & Nico zijn per telegram verzocht te komen.....De dokter is den geheelen nacht daargebleven en heeft gisteren door bloedzuigers en aderlating de benauwdheid trachten te verminderen.....Het heeft niet geholpen."
Translation:
" .......the condition of uncle D. (is) of a nature that every moment the worst can be expected. Ant , Arie & Nico are asked by telegram to come ...... The doctor stayed the whole night with him and yesterday he still tried to relieve the tightness by bloodsuckers and bleed......His efforts were not successful.
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