Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1872-1875, 1875-01-07
Postage Stamps.

L i - ! !. ! e. y
i Every . nited States postage stamp in
use IS made here in New York. The
contract was held by che American Bank
Note Company from July 1, 1863, until
the alne day in 1878. That was for
three terms of four years each. The
Continental Bank Note Company at
that time offering to do it for one.half
the asnount required by the other COM
pany, the contract was awarded 10 them.
The Office of the Continental is at the
corner OF Greenwich and Liberty
streets, but as it was desirable to have
the postage stamps made in perfectly
firenfoef building, the fifth story of the
Equitable Life Insurance building, on
the the eecorreTz oss Broadway and and Cedar
ssreeb was rented for that purpose.
The office hero is for the use Of MIR.
Daniel M. Boyd, the government agent,
and AIr. Charles f. Steel, the agent
and superint ntendent appointed by the
company. The facts given in regard to
the making of the stamps were obtained
by your correspondent from MIR. Henry
Bowen, MIR. Boyd's assistant. Two
passsngcr elevators run to the top of
the building, and on leaving them, the
only entrance to the postage stamp
rooms is by means of a door which is
constantly kept locked and guarded by
a janitor, who always sits inside to an
sweritne bell which is just outside. On
the right hand side are the Office and
printing room, and away to the left, ut
the front of the building, are tho other
rooms used in making the stamps.
In printing, steel plates are used, on
which 200 stamps are engraved. Two
men are kept hard at work, covering
them with the colored inks and passing
them to q man and girl, who are equally
busy at printing them with large rolling
hand d-presses. Three of these little
squads are employed all the time,
although ten presses can be put into use
in case of necessity. After the small
sheets of paper upon. which the 200
stamps are engraved have dried sufli-
GENTLY they are sent into another room
and gummed. The gum used for this
purpose is q peculiar composition, made
of the powder of dried potatoes and
gGrzyDrSs
which is better than any other kind, for
instance, gum arabic, which cracks the
paper badly. This paper is also of a
peculiar texture, somewhat similar to
that used for bank notes. After having
been again dried, this time on racks,
which are famed by steam power for
about an hour, they are put between
sheets of pasteboard and pressed in
hydraulic presses, capable of applying
weight of two hundred tons. The next
thing is to cut the sheets in half; each
sheet, of course. when cut, contains q
hundred stamps. This is done by girl
with large pair of shears, cutting by
hand being preferred to that of machin-
cry, which method would destroy too
many stamps. They are passed to two
other squads, who in as many opera
tions perforate the sheets between the
stamps. Next they are pressed once
more, and then packed and labeled, and
packed away in another room, prepara-
tory to being put in mail-ba2s for dis
patCulnG " luiuil oIuSlcs IL - oihSiS
stamp is torn, or in any way mutilated,
| the whole sheet of one hundred is
burned. About five hundred thousand
are burned every week from this cause.
For the past twenty years not single
sheet has been lost, such care is taken
in counting them. During the process
of manufacturing the sheets are counted
eleven times.
There are $4,000 postoflices through
out the country, and they use in the
course of one year 7G0,00O,000 postage
stamps. a week or two since 64.000,-
600 finished and S7,OOO,OOO unfinished
stamps were put into the safes. The
New York post-oflics alone nses 120,-
600, 900 year, somewhat over one-si1th
of the whole number used, or equal to
tho amount required by 6,000 other
Offices. Four times year the different
post-oflices send an order for the num-
ber of stamps they expect to have occa-
sion to use during the coming three
months. OF course, if they run out,
during that time, they are at liberty to
send for more. The Office here in New
York is supplied differently. Twice
month an order is sent for about 500,0 900
of various denominations. Three cent
stamps are, of course, in much greater
demand than those OF any other