Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-05-03
A LEAKAGE OF MILLIONS.


A LEAKAGE OF MILLIONS.
The Benevolent Notifies of Men Who Id
yerttses for Cancelled Postnge-Stan.ps-
No Means Of Preventing Their Frauds
Upon the Treasury Yet Found.
New York Herald.l
A paragraph appeared q few days ago in q
morning paper in this city telling how
lady had received $500 from some eccrentic
person for having collected 100000 old
postage-stamps. The story will be recog
nized as familiar one, told with variations
by many newspapers, at brief intervals, for
years, and not little surprise has been ex-
pressed by sensible persons at the alleged
fact that there are persons who will pay
seemingly exorbitant prices for seemingly
worthless stuff. In one shape or an an
ather the anecdotes appear as regularly as
codes to spring. in country papers, and sell
dom fail to attract the attention of exchange
editors. At one time some benevolent man
offers to bestow liberal donation upon
some charitable institution on condition that
his whim for old stamps be gratifed. At
another time some other man, generally old
and eccentric, desires to inculcate habits of
industry in children, and offers them hand
some present on the same condition. Old
stamps are to be gathered, and the number
is always to be million.
A correspondent of the Scientific Anaeri-
can, who wells under an initial the name of
general of the United States army, allud-
ing to the paragraph mentioned, speaks of
the frequency with which the story is told,
and asks why there should be SO curious and
80 widespread a longing on the part of &C.
centric old men for the accumulation of old
stamps. It is evident they are not to be
used as curiosities in the collection of assort-
ed stamps of all nations, since any stamps
may be included in the million, and collec-
tons are not sufficiently numerous to call
for so many duplicates. Then, answering
his own question, he says that 100000
three-cent stamps, when washed are worth
100000.
The suggestion of a fraudulent use being
found for the apparently useless material led
reporter of the Herald to make inquiries
of gentleman who has devoted much time
and money to study of how to prevent
frauds of this kind, and from him it was
learned that the United States government
had lost money to the amount of millions OF
but revenue stamps are used, Cancelled
time, and this in such large numbers that
carried on by somebody. Yet so skillfu
escaped detection. In the case of revenue
&c he &
known, has not been diyulged, but it hal
been semi-oficlally stated that the loss te
the postofice department is not less thar
100000 a year. This is, however, prob
ably an over estimate.
Of course the existence of such leakage
has induced numbers Of inventive genius tt
spend time and money IN the search of 6
remedy, and the number of different kinds
of inks that have been proposed to the de-
partment for adoption is really surprising
Each inventor is, of course, sangulne, an6
remains thoroughly convinced, until his inl
has been subjected to. the crucial tests i'm
posed in the postoffice building at Washing
ton, that it is absolutely in1elible, for an in
delible ink, if used in canceling all stamps
ago man travelled from st. Louis to Wash
willing to risk his secret by allowing tn,
analysed. He reached the department ant
proudly Cancelled stamp in the presence O
the authorities, who took it and quickl,
washed it clean with soapy water. His in
genuity in trying different "antidotes'' TO
his ink had not led him to the use of tn
simplest means procurable.
| % ~oks L.
been tried by the different inventors. Acid
of all kinds have been combined with tn
inks in common use, and for all of then
some other combination has been found tina
will remove all traces and leave the stam]
clean as it was. Inks have been Offered
which eat away the paper it is put on, 81
strong are the acids, but while there is NJ
doubt of their efficiency the objections t.
patent Office for long time found chemica
means of washing out everybody else's ink
and then presented an invention of his owl
which he could not wash out. It was give1
to Smithsonian institution chemist, and b
shortly found out how to wash it clean
After this the department ceased to expec
that an indelible ink would be found.
OF course it was obvious to all Yankees
|
the true way to cancel stamp was to destro
it, and all sorts of devises for the purpos
have been contrived. In one room in tn
postofice building there are some hundred
of them, and many effect the purpose 70
which they are intended. 1t is an cas-
thing to tear up a stamp, and it is a compal
atlvely easy thing to tear it up even when
is pasted on letter, but there are Difficult
ties in the way of using the machines whe
they are made. For the country postmas
ter who cancels his stamps with his pen, i
what is perhaps the most effectual practice
way known, a delicate piece of machiner
would be useless. He could not keep it i
order. Aud in the New York Office. whel
something over 2O0,000,000 stamps are car
celled in year, it would be expensive to ue
a machine that has to be put in order after
had been used on perhaps only 1000 stamp
| So, although there have been machines d.
vised that prick unnumbered little holes i
the stamp, that rake the stamp into illeg
bility, that saw little Sits in the features
the revered patriots who look from the bacl
of our letters, that perhaps rip off part
the stamp itself, yet none of them ha,
superseded, and none of them are likely |
supersede the old-fashioned pad and han
stamp. The little holes are easily remedie
by the fraudulent restorer, by means of steal
and hot iron, and the machines with kniv'
or saws in them grow dull. So the depar
ment continues to suffer its losses from ye,
to year, and as little as possible is said abo1
it.
DAILY WEATHER BULLETIN.
OFFICE OF OBSERVATION, SIGNAL CORPS, q. 8.
INaERsoLL BLOCK, THIRD STREET,
ST. PAUL. MINI.
Observations taken at the same moment
time at all stations.
Neurological Record, May 2, 1879, 9:56 P.
Bar. Their. Wind. Wealth
Breckenridge. 29.66 81 Sc. L. Ra