Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-24

would have been easy to change the color of
the two-cent stamp, but, 40 have said, the
time had come for a full revision Of the styles
recent change Of contract offered the oppor-
tunity to do the work without extra expense
and to fix the standards for at least four years,
the duration of the contract term. The con-
tract prices for furnishing the stamp include
the cost Of getting up the new styles, but any
further changes that may be made in either
the engravings or the colors will involve the
government in extra expense. Changes are
not likely to be made, therefore, from mere
caprice"
EXIT THE GREEN.
"were the complaints" asked the reporter,
'about the sickly green stamp deserved?"
"Nil de mortuis nisi bonum" replied Gen.
Hazen. Il not in the department when it
was adopted, and had no fault to find with it.,
as it went just as far on my letters as the red
dish brown stamp had done. There were good
reasons for the popularity of the reddish
brown stamp. 1t came out in 1888 to meet the
change of the letter postage. 1t typiied an
idea that was not founded upon mere senti-
ment, as it meant q reduction from cents to
2 cents in the price charged for carving a let
ter anywhere in the country. That was an idea
that struck everybody favorably, and probably
any style OF stamp that embodied the idea
would have been generally tolerated But
aside from that the stamp deserved Its popu-
iarity on itsown merits. The design was got
ten up and engraved with unusual care and it
Is a model OF simplicity and symmetry. WASH
lngton stands out in bold relief, with just
sufficient accessories to give character to the
work as postage stamp, and these were subor-
dlnated In such way as TO leave the best eff
fects with the portrait. The color was selected
IN advance OF the final adoption of the design,
and the engraving was fitted TO the color in
such way as to display the best effects of light
and shade. Not single detail of the stamp
was overlooked and the original models passed
many times between the department and the
artists in New York for criticism and altera-
ton. For both the reasons given it is no Won
der that the people parted with the reddish
brown stamp as with an old friend. / haven't
said that the green stamp was generally I'M
popular. / SAID had 10 criticisms to make
when the color was changed"
THE EsTHErIcs OF IT.
'But was not the stamp as pretty in green as
in the reddish brown" suggested the reporter.
THAT is a very different question. The mat
ter of colors is one of individual tastes. Green
is one of the best of the standard colors for
printing and most excellent effects are produced
from it. The shade selected was rather light
and, besides, the engraving was not adapted to
the color. When the change OF colors was de-
clded upon the first step should have been to
require re-engraving of the dies and plates,
with modification OF the light and shading of
the design. The scent stamp OF 1870 was orlgi-
nally printed in green, and SO was the Accent
well and no fault found with either of
them. To illustrate what have said about the
adaptability of color to engraving COM
pare the green Scent stamp with the
2-cent stamp of the same color.
In the former you will notice that the back
ground of the oval is heavily shaded, leaving
the head, with its lighter lines, to stand out in
strong relief. In the two-cent stamp the
background appears much lighter, without
corresponding weakening of the lines of the
face and head. The lack of strong contrast
gives the stamp an appearance OF tameness
which does not appear in either the green
three-cent stamp the reddish brown two
cent stamp. The want of harmony between
engraving and color would constitute a reason
for revising the other denominations in which
the cOlOrs had been changed without an alter
alton of design. Hence the new issues of 1890.
The new stamps ought to be popular. A
great deal of time and thought have been spent
on them. The work, when finished. looks easy;
but there is more in it than you imagine"
BILLIONS OF STAMPS.
"How many stamps are used annually"
queried THE STAR man.
1.-The total number of the late series issued
during the last fiscal year was ], 963 $50 400,
valued at S37 1896, 027. and of these 4O8 4i0 900
were cents, valued at s2S. l6S, 8lS. These fig
ures do not represent all the stamps issued |
have not said any thing about the postage-due,
the newspaper and periodical and the special
delivery stamps, nor OF stamped envelopes and
postal DIS. The styles of these stamps re-
main unc hanged"