Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-03

marked Win small crown. THE FIRST STAMP
and there were several die varieties. The
sheets differed greatly from those of the pres
ent day. and on the margin Of each was printed
this odd notice:
Price Id. per label; / sh. per row Of twelve;
lf per sheet Place the label ABOVE the ad-
dress and to the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the letter
In wetting the back be careful not to remove
the cement"
On the same DAY the first adhesive stamp was
issued the famous Mulready envelopes first ap-
peared. These envelopes instead of being
printed singly were printed in sheets like
stamps The South Kensington Museum has
the original engraving of the Mulready en-
yelOpe, made by Thompson, an engraver, on a
block of gun metal. These envelopes were
very unpopular and were soon suppressed.
Brazil was the second country to adopt the
new postal system. Ii at first used the stamps
Of Great Britain, but after short time these
were succeeded by others bearing the portrait
of the emperor.
THE SYSTEM ADOPTED IN THE UNITED STATES.
1t was no: until the year 1s47 that the United
States adopted the adhesive stamp system and
issued its first stamps These stamps we're of
two varieties and of the values of 5 and 10
cents The first bore the portrait of benjamin
Franklin and the other that of Washington.
Soon after the introduction of the system by
Brazil. other countries followed. and shortly
after its adoption BY the United States the adj
hesive system in operation in every civil
lized country in the world. OF course soon
after this invention schemes innumerable were
suggested for the further perfection Of the
methods of delivering mail matter Some of the
most important of these suggestions were car
ried ont. and they have brought the mail
service to high degree of excellence.
The growth of the post office facilities in this
country has been wonderful In 1880 the num-
Der of post offices in the United States did not
exceed seyenty-tve; the number of miles of
post road. 1875; revenue. S37. 1886: expend-
itures. $50. 140- just 100 years later the mail
service of the country covered 403. $40 miles of
mail routes, and the receipts and expenditures
Amounted to millions of dollars per year In
lSS5 this country issued 375 600 600 postal cards
and 2.OD.0JO.OO0 stamps. On account of the
increased facilities q letter can now go around
the world IN a little more time than il formerly
tOoa to go from New York to London
The post Office service throughout the world
has advanced greatly. but in this il has taken
gigantic strides In 1864 the system of regis
rering valuable letters was introduced and has
been found to work SO successfully that all
other countries have adopted il. The money!
order department was established in 1850 and il
il very popular feature of the mail service
1t is universally conceded. however. that the
CITY Of Berlin. Germany. has the best mail SER
vice in the world Indeed. since il became a
free city, Il has always held first place in postal
matters The system used here is the famous
Stephen system and this has become so well
Enown and popular that the Italian and other
governments have sent experts there to study
the system With view of its introduction into
their countries
TIE STAMP COLLECTOR.
Soon after the issue of the postage stamp
the collectors appeared upon the scene and be-
gan their labors. At first they were few and
these were on par with the people who col
lected canes and pipes. but after time the
craze OF hobby spread and assumed immense
proportions. until it Is estimated that there are
about 800 coo collectors of stamps in North
America alone.
This vast body of so-called cranks has or
Ranized itself into numerous societies. of which
the American Phiatelc Association is the larg-
est and strongest This society has been in
existence some years and row numbers about
LOO members Besides this one there are in
North America the Philatelic Society of Amer
lea and the Canadian Philatelic Association.
which are among the largest societies in the
world.
There are sixty-four journals in this country
alone devoted to this hobby. and since 1864
there have been $40 different papers issued in
the United States which have given the phila-
tehc news to the stamp collectors. OF these
stamp magazines the most prominent are the
American Philatelist and the American Journal
of Philately.