The Dickinson press., 1888-05-05
POSTAGE PREPAID.
THE PROGRESS MADE IN LESS THAN
HALF A CENTURY.

Origin of tho Idea in INSTRUMENTATION
of the System in England In 1870.
What the First Stamp Looked Like.
Collecting.
How many letter writer's, when they lick
the back of the portrait of the Father of his
Country before orla,nenting u corner of the
envelope with it, realize that they are taking
the initial step i'll the enjoyment of q privi-
lego which their %grandfathers did not pos
scss: So thick and fest come the advancing
steps of civilization, the march of progress is
such a Company 'front.' movement, that the
labor saving, time annihilating, ease and
comfort bringing innovation of yesterday is
the s,aid, accepted, commonplace fact of to-
day.
Thus it is with the prepaid postal system.
The children who wondered at the first post
age stamp are nearly all i'll the land OF the
living yet, to tell the wonderful story. But
they don't tell it. They have forgotten all
about it. To the Rev. Roland Hill, of Lon
don, who was Il statesman as we'll as n great
divine, should be giveh the credit for the
Introduction of an idea vhich was equal in its
day and generation te the most startling
invention of Edison.
'&S AA dohh oSo, " bc SuiV-
that the old system OF leaving the postage
on your missives to be paid by the receiver
was abolished in England, and the prepay
ing postage stamp made it's first bow to the
public. 1t bore about as much resemblance
or affinity to the beautiful and artistic Jubi-
lee series issued last summer by the British
government as George Stephenson's first To-
connective bears to the iron steeds of the rail-
roads of today.
ORIGIN OF THE IDEA.
The idea of prepaid or stamped paper orig
mated in the brain Of NJ. de Velayer, who in
1856, i'll the rel IL OF Louis XIV, established
II private penny post, placing boxes at the
corners of the streets of Paris for the recep-
ton of letters, which were franked by past
ing bands about them. These slips were sold
for a sou tape, and "could be bought says
NJ. Piron in a pamphlet published in 1858,
'at the palace, at the turn tables of the con-
vents and from the porters of colleges But
the idea died apparently with its originator,
not to he revivified till in 1887 Rowland Hill
obtained the passage by parliament of n bill
which proposed the prepayment of postage
by means of stamped envelopes.
William Mulready obtained the contract
for engraving the envelope i'll 1910, and his
design was unique and perhaps prettier and
more tasteful than any following issue of
Great Britain. 1t had the merit of symbol
ism, too. 1t covered the whole upper huff
and ends Of the envelope, leaving only space
enough for the address, like postal cards of
today. There %as an ideal portrait of Bri-
talnia sending ont angelic messengers to the
nations of the earth, while female figures
were seen reading letters. Within a year
this unwieldy device was discarded for n
simpler c%onceit, which could be pasted or
gummed to an ordinary envelope. These
stamps were printed in sheets and were sepa-
rated by cutting. Then some one lost to
fame thought of a way to gum them in the
sheets ready for use, and afterward another
unsung benefactor of the race invented the
perforating machine, which is still used, so
that no scissors were needed to separate the
stamps.
Since 1870 the British government has
issued u dozen series of stamps, renowned
among philatelists as the least attractive in
the whole 5000 varieties Of postage stamps
that have been printed in these forty-eight
years. All the British stamps bear the dia-
DENIED head of Queen Victoria, and it may
be said in passing that there are fifty-five
colonies and provinces Of the dominion on
which the sun never sets which have issued
postage stamps bearing the portrait Of
0noan Virtorio