Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-29
THE STAMP BUSINESS.
HOY . Clerk in an Insurance Omoe
Makes q Good Thing on Stamps.


Makes q Good Thing on Stamps.
1 was strolling through Nassau street q
few days siyce when 1 happened to see a
large, upright glass case, in which and
about two-thirds toward the top there
were thousands of foreign stamps of num-
berless nationalities and varieties. On a
large poster on the inside was written '25
cents a thousand" l went up stairs and
purchased a thousand, and while looking
over a catalogue of stamps and coins
which was attached by a chain to the
counter, remarked to the party in charge
that they seemed to be very reasonable as
to their charges for them.
''Well," he said, ''I'll tell you how it is.
We buy those kind for nearly nothing.
They are all common. Probably out of
that thousand you may find fifty different
varieties, and all the rest are duplicates.
The fifty that, We're you beginner (who,
by the way, the only ones who do buy
them, you would find useful are of course
only the very commonest stamps that we
get. The others we paste on sheets or put
in envelopes, and in that way sell them
for much better prices. 1t is a sort of job
lot, don't you see, but you don't lose any
money on it at the price, for you can use
the singles and trade off others among any
stamp collectors you know"
Just at this moment a young man came
in who carried a small satchel loaded with
different envelopes which he proceeded to
deposit on the counter. Out of these, one
after another, he pulled stamps of all coun-
tries of the globe, some exceedingly rare
specimens and others common. l moved
up closer to him and started the conversa-
ton by asking him if he was the repre-
sentative of some stamp collector.
"Oh, no." he said, Il get them as they
come to the Office where i am employed"
l waited, and he and the dealer argued
as to the price they were worth, until the
bargain was consummated, and L was
somewhat surprised to see the young man
receive $3.50 for the envelopes and their
contents. As we walked away together
pursued my inquiries and speedily found
the statement of the clerk in my insur
ance Office verified. Said my new &C
quaintance:
Il am employed in a large life insurance
Office near here, and the foreign mails that
arrive from our respective agencies arc
very large. We have branches all over
the world, and all the letters addressed tC
the company go through my hands for
opening and asserting before passing into
the hands of the auditor, who attends to
the balance of the business. The stamped
envelopes 1 keep myself, and the rest, bar
ring those stamps which may be asked &c
give the officers of the company, whose
children may be interested in the collection
of foreign postage stamps, l sell to the
dealers for what | consider a fair price.
''Of course sometimes the business is
better than others, but that lot which
sold today have collected for two months
so you may judge yourself just what the
stamp business is II these large corpora
tons. And then you must also take into
consideration that the lot l sold up there
was just about half l get, for l sell good
many to travelling men. BY that mean
agents who are in the habit of coming into
the Office looking for me to sell them my
best and rarest specimens. Why, know
one young fellow who makes a very fair
living just going the rounds of the large
offices once a week so, looking at any
thing we may have new. 10 Ol lectOr