Unusual Holographic Telegrams

I don't know how prevalent the practice was, but these are the first examples I've seen, at least from the Spanish American War era.

A pair of holographic telegrams datelined August 14, 1898, Madeira, Ohio, both regarding the death of "Harry", each with a 1-cent provisional overprint (Scott #R154) affixed. Nothing is written on the reverses.

Not the most aesthetically exciting documents in the world, but the first telegrams from that period I've seen.

Updating, as I was corrected by another collector: these are not telegrams, but rather the sender's original forms to send the messages, returned to them as receipts with the tax paid.

poor Harry

feel worse for his brother getting this. That's some way to learn. My question here is should this have been a revenue stamp like a documentary or should this have been a postage stamp, and the stamp has an improper cancel. I don't see an address beside the city.

They *ARE* documentaries, Scott #R154. They were paying a tax, not postage, so there was no need for an address.