The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1861-09-26
Postage stamps.


The new post Office stamps having came
into general use in the loyal States brief
| DESCRIPTION of them, together with the
will prove interesting:
There are eight classes Of stamps-one,
three, five, ten, twelve, twenty-four, thir-
ty and ninety-cent stamps, embracing line
engraving heads of Washington, Frank
lin and Jefferson, from portraits painted
by Stuart, Trumbull and Houdon. The
head of Washington-front view and pro-
! file-is used in the stamps Of five differ
ent denominations. Each stamp contains
on the upper end the words gu. S Pos
tage," and at the upper corners the de-
| nomination or value in figures, and the
value is also expressed in letters on the
| lower end, with 'U." on the left and as. y
| on the right hand corner.
The one cent stamp, printed In a tint
of pale ultamarine, has profile bust of
Franklin, which like all the heads in the
| different stamps, is on q geometrical lath-
work ground, as a security against coun-
terfeiting.
The design of the three-cent stamp is
the best of the new issue The portrait
Is IGcill tttSij anu buS
background is elaborate and artistic The
tint is a delicate carinine.
The five cent stamp is very handsome,
and is graced by spirited portrait of
Jefferson, from Stuart's original at Rich
mond, Virginia. The figure is an oval,
surrounded by lathwork, and the tint is
brown.
The ten, twelve and twenty cent
demonstrations contain hkenesses of
Washington from Stua-t's wellknown
painting, duplicate "originals" of which
are in the Boston Athenaum and the
Senate Chamb er at Hartford, Conn. 1t
has been more generally copied and en-
graved than any other portrait Of Wash
ington. The ten-cent-stamp is printed IN
green. The twelve is in an oval surround
ed by lathwork, and printed in black ;
and the twenty four-cen1 stamp is an or
namental shield, printed in purple.
Those of the value Of thirty cents con-
tains a bust of Franklin, III a circle sur
rounded by appropriate ornaments, and
are printed in orange.
| The last-the ninety cent -stamp-bears
| TrumbuIl's head of Washington, in an
oval, ornamented and the color in dark
ultramarine.
As in no bank note plates, the design
is engraved upon a steel plate, which is
hardened and "taken up" on a decarbon-
lied cylinder, which in turn is hardened
and then transferred by presses of enor-
nous power to the plate from which the
stamps are finally printed.
The employment Of transferring ma
chimes allows the repitition of the same
design to an indefinite extent, and the
cylindrical dies, as in the case Of bank
note vignettes, are used to produce new
plates, or to retouch those worn in The
process of printing. Thus a single die is
repeated on a single plate, eight by six
teen inches, two hundred times and the
plate when finished is ready for the prin-
ter.
The process of printing is the same as
in ordinary cooper or steel plate work
The ink is applied so as to Eli the lines Of
the engraving, the plate is wiped clean
the dampened paper applied, and the i'm
preston taken on cylinder press.
From the press the sheets are taken
to the drying room and dried in an atmos
phere heated to about one hundred and
twenty degrees, after which they arc
gummed. The adhesive applied is Sc
cret cf the inventor, but for the benefit oi
those who wet the stamps on their tongues
(Which is a matter of taste) it may be
stated that the new gum is an improve
ment upon what has heretofore been used
and contains "a small quantity of sugar
The gum is applied by hand. In drying
the gummed sheets no less than twenty
five hundred small frames, with canvass
coverings, and each containing two sheets
of stamps, are emplyed. These are laid
upon each other, making huge piles, and
almost filling the large-sized room devo
ted to this department of the manufacture
The smoothing of the sheets in a hydraul
ic press completes the process The wori
in this room is performed almost exclu
sively by girls.
! The pcrloration Of the spaces betweel
the stamps, so as to facilitate dividing then
as well as to promote, 10y the roughnes
of the edges, their adhesion, Is rapi'
and peculiar operation. 1t Is done b,