The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-10-19
eooD.NATuRED AND sH.iRp-gYEn.
Traits of Uncle Sam Brought Out In IIis
Conduct of the rostaHc stump Itusincss.

| Conduct of the Postage stamp business.
At one of the windows in tho cashiers de-
partmcnt OF the Post Office II clerk is kept busy
the year through paying out thousands OF doll
lars worth of Uncle Sans postage stamps to
his callers. yet the business that he transact5
is one Of which the general public rarely hears.
He is tho redemption clerk. and his work is
made necessary by this law which was passed
by Congress in 1856:
The postage on stamped envelopes and
newspaper wrappers spoiled in directing will
be refunded in stamps by II Postmaster If sat
isilcd that they have never been sent by mail
and that the misdiroction actually occurred mt
the place where the redemption is claimed;
also provided that such envelopes shall be pre-
sented in whole condition"
Before this law was passed the business
houses in New York and other cities which
bought stamped envelopes mt wholesale from
Uncle Sam used to lose thousands Of dollars u
year in misdircctod aud ruined envelopes.
For several years tho Government had re-
deemed postal cards at percentage of. but
this proved to he too much of a bother. consid-
erng tho small quantity that were redeemed.
and the practice was discontinued. Then
came an appeal from the New York banks for
the redemption OF stamped envelopes. The
bankers explained that they were in tho habit
Of keeping great many envelopes on hand
with the names and addresses Of their cor
respondents through the country printed upon
them. Whenever u correspondent was changed
this would throw a batch Of stamped enve-
lopes on the hands of the New York banker.
which was dead loss, to him. Tho bankers
ciable one, and so the law was nut throurh
primarily for their benefit.
But Uncle sam wont be cheated. and there
of envelope on which, the stamp is printed is
,b II tnH hns s Of csn
envelope some little distance away from tho
stamp, so the Government keeps on the saie
rule has disappointed many who have called
on the redemption clerk with the stamped
Of cost lind out tn
strict letter Of the law is. He had been accu-
Il M bs tine n6 S tsr S hS for SnG s
makes the REDEMPTION entirely in stamps.
Uncle Sam has n standing rulo that he won't
The an; ..nt,of business which Is done in y
s % Up i2F THs $SS the ot&sr day that hs
as neay $5Gy Sa sta ,%p
The redemption business at the New York
IN the or Posst osss Of thS aeat
combined. They, come to me sometimes p
beth s., ana d aEps paid out
| returned in lump was one lot Of about 10000
ont for those sss s ud
STA worth. Once q quarter the envelopes
which have accumulated are packed up and
up nnd destroyed after being checked of. 0-
1.-The large g banking i+ ard t mercantile houses
take advantage Of the law. There are; un-
doubptediy; thousands Of STAMPED envelopes
Tho Post Office Department does big busi-
ness In the sale OF STAMPED envelopes. AND it
lots 81 1000. Tor lust what Uncle Sam has to
and address printed p, in the corner, too. ut
no expense to yourself. if you are ordering 500
The orders are turned over to the contractor
Xho furnishes thG th and
| never reach the persons for whom they. are in
sender. If that address was not there. tho let
ters would all have to go to the Dead Letter
volume of work which is saved by this method
makes up many times over for the expense TO
which the government is put by printing the
Once in a great while tho stamps on those
lack Portion of the color
bossing and no color at all. One Of the clerks
showed u Sun reporter the other day, ono OF
but the, clerk who had got hold Of it first hai
been sold by Uncle Sam and was Just as good
| as any other stamp. Stamp collectors are al
ways eager to get hold OF these pccuiuritics In
the stamp line and prize them rs special treas-
ureS
There is another curious feature OF Post
Office business Of which the public never
hears. When the big publishing houses whose
mail goes as second class matter pay their
bills to Uncle Sam they simply receive Il re-
ceipt from the Post Office. But the Superin-
tcndent Of the Newspaper and Periodical De-
partment must buy stamps at the Post Offico
covering the amount Of tho bil and paste them
in a big receipt book. where they are punched
out and sent on when the book is full to Wash
ington The stamps are especially made for
this PURPOSE and run all the way up to $50.
about twice the length Of tho ordinary
stamp and p has upon ~, its face IN
ent buys his stamps through the week as he
requires hem. and in such denom nations
that half dozen will cover n bill of several
hundred dollars. Every Tuesday he spends
several hours in FASTING in the stamps This
arrangement is one Of the many chccAs which
the Government employs to secure itself from
any possibility. Of dishonesty among it's en-
ployces. The Superintendent must buy his
stamps from day to day from the stamp clerk.
who must buy them himsclf from thc Govern
ment. This is n good illustration Of the sharp
eye that Uncle Sam keeps on his finances.