The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-04-28
TnE NEw Orr1cIAL PosrAc,iE; srAnrs-How

TnE New OFFICIAL POSTAGE. srAiirs-Ho
THEY DIFFER FROM THE STAMPS IN COMMON
UsE.-h law passed by the last Congress
made 1t incumbent upon the Postmaster
General ithe franking privilege having been
| abolished after the LIST Of July next to pre-.
pare special stamp. or stamped envelope, IL
be used only for official mail matter for each
of the executive departments, and to be
supplied ny the proper officer of said de-
partmcnts to all persons under its direction
requiring the same for official use; and
| further provides that NIL saru stamps and
! stamped envelopes shall be sold or furnished
TO said several Department, or clerks only at
| the price for which stamps and stamped en-
Veopes Of like value are sold at the several
| post.ofllccs. After a careful consideration OF
the matter the POstmaster.Gencral concluded
TO issue official stamps for the depart
ncn;s. they being less. expensive and
more convenient generally than stamped
envelopes. When in New York, a few
weeks since, General Terrell, Third Assistant
postlnlstcr.Gencral, and his successor, Mr..
+. W. Barrier, fixed upon designs for these
stamps, and invited proposals for their mln-
ufacturc. The lowest bidder, the CONT
mental Bank-Notc Company, which does
mulch work i'll the way Of uolc-priutlDg for
the Government, was awarded the contract,
| and has already forwarded a number Of
specimens OF the new stamps for the lnspec-
ton Of the Post0ilicc Department. These
specimens are very beautiful in design, and
VIII doubtless be accepted by The Postnla>-
tcr-Gcneral. The medallion heads on the
new stamps will remain the same As on the
Ordinary stamps but the color Of the stamp
ana the border and tie lettering will be DIFF
fcrcnt for the stamps Of different depart
| mcnts. Although the coors OF the stamps
have not yet been officially selected, they will
probably be is follows: For the Executive
Department, chocolate: POstollice. black ;
Navy. blue; War, carminc; Interior, yer
Million; State, green; Treasury, vel
vet brown: Justice, purple; Agricu.
tural, orange. In several classes Of
stamps the designs will he cniiicn!-
attic. For instance, on the Navy stamp
there is Il cattle which runs entirely around
the border, and star i'll each corner and in
the War-Dcrartmcnt stamp representations
Of shield are placed below and 10 the r"hi
and lett. Of the central head. In all OF the
stamps The letters at. :" and the name OF
the department with the word department
Invariably abbreviated to "Dcp't.) appear
prominently, the latter heinz generally placed
at the top OF the stamp. 1t The bottom Of
the stamp are the letters and figures indcal-
ing its denomination. There arc eleven de-
nominations Of stamps for carh department.
ranging from one cent to ninety cents in
value. -Four special >tamp-, in addition TO
the regular official stamps, will he pirimr"t
for the Department of State, to be used III
the Transmission o: dj>m,cil-puuchc>. They
will be ot the denominations OF =, 81. $40,
and $40, respectively. The new stamps can
not be used before July 1st next, but will be
ready TO supply. on acquisitions from the
heads of departments, early in June.