Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1885-10-10

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st. Louis Globe Democrat
A representive Of Philip Roeder. the
book seller, called on Supt Harlow 1t
nation % to the propriety Of Offering for
sale fac-@miies Q! newspaper postage
stamps furnished him by . firm Of deal
ersin curious stamps. He had . sample
sheet on which were fac SMILES Of stamps,
Of face value 2, 8, 1850, 10, IL, "a. 50,
81. so, u, u. and 80 cents, and 81, 90, g..
Sc, s.. $l2. $24, $50, $48, and $50, which
were distributed with an inscription ON
the sheet stating that the sheet Of fac
SMILES having face value Of over 500
was for saleat the price Of 81, and theval-
ne of the 2.cent stamp isset ct 6 kuTuxars,
the came - the $50 stsmps The words
'.fac.similes" are printed over the face Of
the stamp in smalls letters, and in ink 20
bodyless, that it will wash off ON slight
application of water which will not de-
stroy the stamp. Newspaper stamps are
of higher denominations than any other
class Of postofiice stamps in use, q the
necessity for high denominations de-
mands. Publishers who have entered
their papers at the postofice of publica-
ton, send their mail subscription papem
to the Office in bags unstamped. These
are weighed and the weight entered on
q blank form. This form is signed BY
the postmaster and delivered to the pub
Usher on his payment Of the amount Of
postage the weight of matter justified.
Then the clerk having charge of the
weights places stamps on the stub from
which the blank was torn in . number
sufficient to represent the amount paid,
and cancels them. In order to use Q $50
stamp, single issue of some publication
would need to be six tons in weight.
But no publisher has possession of these
stamps, nor would they be received in
payment for postage. They are issued
to postmasters, who are required to &C
count for them on inspection of the Office,
either as stock on hand or concealed on
the stubs Of receipts. Formerly
they were issued to publishers, but un-
der later law they are required to pay
money directly upon the matter. and
the postmaster only has the handling of
the stamps.
The fac-similes were made by Adolph
Isenstien, of Frankfort, Germany, and
are sold in this country by M. Isenstien
at New York. Being made in Germany
RA0V0ASo oAy PAOoOVueAOA Va tA0 COUA~
terfeiter, but their sale is prohibited in
this country bp statute under which
their possessions is illegal. The law il
very similar to that protecting the
money of the country; tho penalty is
in the discretion of the court and can
be as high as five years imprisonment
and s., 600 fine. When appealed to Supt.
Harlow recognized the fine character of
the counterfeit, which is q autographed
copy of the steel. engraved original, and
the danger of the existence of such
copies. A postmaster in . email Office
could make nothing by their use, and
in large Office he would need the COM
nivance of the clerk having charge Of
the matter. But the clerk could use
them independently and steal from the
government neat sum before detection.
In such an Office as st. Louis
this would be impossible. inspector in
Charge Bradbury William and
Asst. Dist. Atty. Smith were appealed
to, and the bookseller was informed that
their sale would be illegal. Another
supply was turned over to the officers
by L. II. Booch & Co., dealers in stampa
Their sale will be stopped in this coun-
try, but locally there will be no prosecu-
tions, as the parties are not guilty of in
territorial violation of the law.