The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-19
WASHING OF STAMPS.
cPzAr DIFFICULTY TBB POST
OFFICE CFFIcIALS MEET.

The preservation or b StOric Il DOCu-
,,ents- Bureau of Rolls,
From the Washington Star.
TIE postoffice department wants an in
,.Iible ink for making postmarks. 1t has
~, irving to find such an article for ever
'.long, Awhile agoit called into consulta-
=, two learned chemists, one from Yale
"a tie other from Harvard. Each OF
'som agreed to prepare a canceling ink
~bich could not be erased. Without the
Eoowledge of either, stamps marked with
,bs ink which Prof. A. produced were
S.nded over TO Prof. B. to see If he could
-.sb them, while Prof. BIS product was
.,bnitted to a like test at the hands OF
p-,f A. Both experts sent back the stamps
perfectly clean.
NO INDELIBLE INK.
The fact is that there is no absolutely IT.
5eiible ink except pure carbon, and that
ssnnoe be applied with a stamp. Marshall
JaWell. when he was Postmaster General
.ivertised for canceling devices and ma
to,ials which were offered to the depart
mani bv the bushel. Some of them dis
nsnsed with the ink by pricking or punch
inc the stamps, but none was of any use.
M jewell himself had g pretty taste for
cbpmistry When minister to Russia be
vas taken through Russia leather factory
at St. Petersburg. The composition used
IN the manufacture of this product being a
secret, be dipped his thump slyly into pot
Of it and had the stuff analysed after he got
home.
AN ANNUAL LOSS.
Another Postmaster General once stated
IoA n,arv L.
900 yearly ty the washing and REFUSING Of
postage stamps. This was a great mistake.
As matter of fact, this fraudulent indGs-
try is prscticed only on a yer, contempti-
bic scale. No skilled chemists make bus
mess Of it. Employees in paper mills have
been known to cut the lie ct defaced stamps
from old envelopes and cleanse them. When
it Is noticed that the stamps which person
puts on his letters commonly look worn and
dirty the postmaster is apt to keep an eye
upon that individual. Any one who uses a
second time even a stamp which has re-
ceiyed no canceling mark in going through
the postoffice, is liable to $3.50 f1ue or one
years Imprisonment, or both.
STAMPS AT A DISCOUNT.
That the washing of stamps is a common
practice is said to be proved by the known
fact that stamps are sold in great quantities
at a discount. The fact is that stamps thus
disposed Of are put on the market by firms
which receive more than they can use.
Seedsmen and dealers in certain other small
wares are flooded with postage stamps sent
to them in payment for goods. At Marb BILE
head, Mass. one scotsman sends Que and
receives One-;hird of the mail of the town.
Yet he never buys any stamps, receiving
more than be wants from customers. This
oircumsL auce lessons by one-third the sal.
airy of the local postmaster, whose stipend
is percentage on sales of stamps. New
York uses So 1000, 900 worth of stamps an
nuslly which are not bought in the metroD-
oils. Merchants sell them through brokers
or otherwise at a discount of per cent.
Millions Of them are disposed of in that
wav.
When treasury officials are asked why
fractional currency is no longer issued they
reply that there is no demand for it. The
postOflice department contradicts this state
ment point blank. Paper notes Of smaller
denominations would be godsend 10 all
sparsely settled parts of the country. The
pc pie in such localities have no banks and
their postofices do not sell money orders or
postal notes. They have no means of re-
hitting fractional sums Of money save in
the shape of postage stamps.
THE SONS HELPED THE FATHER.
An odd story is told of a postoffice that
was established in Connecticut a few years
ago near the New York state line. It was
such a very little one that the department
here was astonished at the large orders for
stamps received from its postmaster. In
vestlgaton developed the fact that the post
master had two sons IN New York city who
had a large correspondence as o business
firm. Instead OF sending their mail matter
from the metropolitan postoftlce they
shipped it regularly by express TO their
father, whose stipend from stamp sales was
thus Increased from u normal 300 to about
81, COO year.
DAMAGED STAMPS.
The postoftice department Ia obliged to re-
oeem an enormous number of stamps which
get spoiled while in the hands Ct post
In warm weather nearly 100
packages day of damaged stamps come
lHto the stamp division. During the win
ter comparatively few are turned in. Most
CT them arrive from the south and south
west, where stamps find the climate more
trying The parcels received run in value
from a few dollars to several hundred dol
iGrs' Their contents must all be counted.
Usually they ara stuck together in solid
which have to be put into hot
water and steamed. If they come out in
lull sheets the task of reckoning them is
easy, but the worst work is when a post
master Keeps his stamps he knows not how =,
the playful cockroach roofing among them
ana eating the mucilage Off. Some stick,
others tsar, and they make no end of
trouble.
STAMP COLLECTORS.
The department does not particularly ad-
mire the practice Of collecting stamps. Peo-
pie who save them are sometimes tempted
TO wash than II 30 oil %,
consider that the business of phllately SUP.
ports $50 publications in this country, en-
ploys $4,000 GOO of capital and engages the
attention Of 800, 900 collectors. The stamp
gathering cIanks bother Uncle Sam. A
lev years ago a Postmaster General ordered
reprint of scent stamped envelope in
IN obsolete design. This action being
recognized as a mistake the entire issue OF
IU.o9O was called in. a New York collector
Rot wind of the order before It was sent
out and bought !, 500 OF tee envelops. selling
most OF them at SIS each to other stamp
nanlac5. Another collector VINO tried
similar dodge was not so successful. Learn
lag That the issue Of certain stamp was to
le Limited he attempted 10 corner the mar
Ae1 by purchasing $4,000 worth of them,
when he held at greatly advanced prices.
Complaints were made TO the department
winch promptly ordered an unlimited num-
Der 10 be printed. This broke the market
and the SPECTATOR was obliged to appeal TO
mo government to take his stock off his
hands.
NEWSPAPER STAMPS,
which run from cent to $50 in value, are
never sold nor permitted to go QUO Of post
lnces. Hence they are in great demand by
collectors. They are merely affixed to the
, ,. OF receipts for money paid by the