The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-07-09
POSTAGE STAMP LORE.
Some Facts OF Interest to the Carton.
Among Our Young People

| age stamps. the new Columbian STAN pS
for instance, are really miniature s.eel
| engravings? The average person who
| sticks one of these works of art on the
corner of an envelope does not think OF
| this: but if you will look closely at the
| two-cent stamp you will see that 1t has
! all the delicacy and detail OF a steel
portrait. II you prefer the blue variety
you can purchase a genuine steel en-
| craving without frame for cent.
And If you chance to have money in
| your purse you can secure the entire
| historical series at a moderate cost.
| The Colum bian stamps. as stamps,
/ are great improvement over their
! predecessors They are gems of art.
and the fact that they are to be issued
! only during 1898 VIII make them valu-
/ able as curiosities Historically the
kind critic will overlook such little ir-
! accuracies as the representation of Co
I lum bus as a beardless youth when
/ sighting land and as wearing a
! full beard when landing the next
| dav. Evidently the skill of the en-
/ graver did not extend to the tonsorial |
/ art; or else boards grew fast in those
days. But, fortunately, trifes like this
/ viii not prevent the government from
making profit of a quarter of a million
| dollars or more from stamp collectors.
The centennial of 1876 also was COM
memorated by the post Office depart
ment, but in a different manner. A
souvenir envelope was issued, with a
shieid-shaDed stamp in the corner It
represented mail-carrier of the olden
time, riding on horseback at full speed.
! Below was modern railway train.
The stamp was of the denomination of
three cents At the top were the fg
ures ''1'16. and at the bottom ''fS16
AS a work of art it was inferior to the
new Colunbi issue. It was the only
special issue of United States stamps
up to that time, except fifteen-cent
stamp representing the landing of Co.
lumbus which was issued in 1869
Do not suppose that stamp making is
an easy nor even a rapid process. Every
part of the work is performed by hand
The designs are first engraved on steel
and two hundred stamps are engraved
OH SItI2 &c 1HC NOIh VI KING
these plates is done by two men, and
they then go to man and girl who
print them on large hand press. Three
sets of these workers are kept con-
stantly employed in this manner. As
fast as the stamps are printed they are
dried and then gsmmed with starch
paste made from potatoes. The paste
is dried by placing the sheets of stamps
in a steam tanning machine, and then
the stamps are put into hydraulic
presses and subjected TO pressure
of two thousand tons A girl
with large pair of shears next cuts
the sheets IN two, each sheet when cut
containing one hundred stamps. The
paper between the stamps is then per-
forated, and after again being sub
jected to hydraulic pressure they are
filed away ready to be sent out when
ordered. II single stamp is injured
in any way the entire sheet is burned.
The sheets are counted eleven times
during the process of manufacture to
prevent pilfering By employees
The history of postage stamps in this
country is so inse parably connected
with the history of the postal system
that II is necessary to review the latter
in order to understand how stamps first
came to be used. It is almost incredi-
bic that less than fifty years ago the
United States really had no postal sys-
tenn as we understand it. Previous TO
lS47 the mails were carried largely by
private firms, and rates Of postage
varied according 10 the distance trav-
ersed. To send letter across the con
tinent cost nearly as much as a tele- |
graph message at the present day.
And. though costly. the service was By J
no means satisfactory Much Of the /
mail matter was Of necessity entrusted I
70 carriers on foot or horse back. and /
their progress was of course verv slow /
Prior to the Introduction of the ad /
hesive stamp, letters were sent either /
paid or collect, At the option 4
Of the sender Under this svs- 1
tenn stamps were In little demand 1
1t was the custom TO mark prepaid 4
letters with paid mark" and each +
Office was allowed to adopt 2 design Of !
its own The usual device was the +
word paid. with the amount and the /
addition ~ one or more stars, the
v ~i2ole surrounded by a circle. During
The first wears Of the late civil war this
cid system was revived by the confed-
crate states. whica were withou.
stamps In some insta the or
iinarv date mark was altered and
thus the name OF Tire town appeared
with the word 'paid" and the amount
five or ten cents as cne case might
be. This system was IN vogue IN the
states until boat Januar-
/. 1859. a. which time they isSzed their
0vvn stamps
The inconveuiences Of This local"
system. as it was called were so many
that. before the new issue of adhesive
stamps came out. plan was devised TO
furnish marked envelopes The ch,sf
objection % the paid stamp was tn2t
III mai had 70 be b-ouga. TO tie past
,ffice To b. marked. This was obvizt1d
81 the envelope svstem the govern
neat marking the envelopes N advance
and selling them TO consumers.
Returning - oar narrative, we Ead
hat in SO, many of the post offlces had
ssned paid stamps OF their own. These
we're called --provlsiouai Issues. and
sae most valuable O, these Iocal s.azs7s
are thcSe Of Milibury. Eass.- uo,. vor.A
fifteen hundred dollars. O. which czIY
TX examples arr t-1lo7vn 80 exist, sn4i ca
Brzttlebo0o. VI. now vziaesi at six
.JznSI-ed tiolIa-s-
n 1876 the z4j%azf,-> Sam zrs-4a-s
z thls country. following e.os.s On It's
-cioptlou II EneiaaS:. ais. n ls5k a leE=
vas passed making The Ts-epSa v711cn ne q