Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-11

all the numerous bundles OF matter brought
into the post office of one of our large cities
after the newspapers have been printed. In
the smaller offices the postmaster attaches
the stamps to the stubs of the receipts
given to the publisher and sends them IN to
the department quarterly. This goes in
with the regular quarterly report which
each postmaster IS required to furnish the
department. For the larger offices however
a labor-saving system has been inaugurated
but 1t was not accomplished until Uncle
sam deducted from the quality of the paper
and the covers Of the books to make up for
the extravaganza of the new luxury Ac-
cordng to this system each number on a
Leceipt mas duplicate underneath. Car
BOMBED paper Is laid between the pages so
that when the busy postal clerk is filling
out a receipt for the sender he at the same
time makes his memorandum to be after
ward stamped and sent to the department
and another to be kept on file in his own
Office. In this way he is saved the un-
necessary trouble of copying the receipt on
ele STUD and OF afterward entering up his
accounts in separate book. In New York
where the second-class mail service is the
busiest in the world the clerks are allowed
TO place all the stamps for the same publi-
cation on one page, rather than make out
a dinerent memorandum for each bundle
| Of matter.
Some big Stamps.
The 2normlty OF New York's publica ton
business can only be realized by looking at
the books, which show that city to have
handed over s144,6lO to the department for
newspaper and periodical stamps sold during
the first quarter of this year. During the
whole or the last reported fiscal wear New
York sent out 60914 l49 pounds equal to
one-fourth of all the newspapers and
| periodicals mailed in the United States
Chicago came next, with 3i.077,6Ol pounds.
| While the other cities at the top Of the list
| were Boston. Philadelphia, st. Louis, Gin
cinnati, San Fran cisco, Milwaukee, Detroit
washington, Atlanta, Minneapolis Pitts
burg 81. Paul. Cleveland, Kansas City, etc.
These stamps although the largest, as
| well as the handsomest now published be-
| ing 1916 by / 3-S inches in dimensions are
rot nearly so large as the first newspaper
| and periodical stamps issued. These were
| about by "a inches in dimensions being
| the largest single stamps ever Used for
| postage in the United States The first
| issued in Great Britain, however in 1870
| covered the whole envelope, leaving only
| space for address. The stamp was
| printed upon the face of the envelope
| These giant newspaper and periodical
| stamps of were issued first in 1866
| during the war of the rebellion. These were
| in three denomina tionS-fiye ten and
| twenty-five cents. The fve-cent issue was
blue. adorned with the profile of Washing
| ton i'll the center. IN each of the upDer
corners was the figure -" with "T. s.
| Postage" forming an arch underneath. At
| each side of the portrait was the Roman
nufnerai ~" and beneath it Five Cents"
At the bottom appeared "Newspapers and
| Periodicals." The tcn-cent stamp was
similar In design, printed in green, with the
head OF Franklin. The twenty-fve-cant
stamp was also very much the same with
the profile of Lincoln In red These. on &C
count of their bulk, were soon repealed
giving away directly to the present system.
They lasted only four years. They were in
tended to be purchased by publishers, that
they might mail their pubiicat ions where
payment In money could not be made. and
tho hostage could not be collected at des-
tination.
Effect of Low Rates.
In lS"l, four years after the stamp act
went into effect, Congress made the first
curtailment IN the postage rates charged on
newspapers sent to regular subscribers and
on printed matter. The year previous to
this five cents was the lowest face value
prin ted en- any stamp, SO the limited num-
Ter OF papers published In these times, for
out-of-town circulation, may be attributed
to this enormous expense of mailing. No
special stamps were used In the early days
of this law, when the rates were so irrsgu-
lar that no record was kept in the depart
ment, showing Their worth, until 1915. The
sale of newspaper and periodical stamps last
year brought in about four times the
amount of those issued In 1919, which shows
a remarkable development in the publica-
ton business, considering the constant re-
auctions which have been made in the
postal rates. This year will bring in about
three times as much money received
from the sale of newspaper and periodical
stamps in 1856. the iii st year of the reduced
rates, and the probability is that when we
reach the end of the decade of one-cent-a-
pound rates We will have come up two more
fell
In the early days of the small newspaper
and periodical stamps few specimens got
into the hands of the philatelists. This was
before the laws governing the issue became
so binding as they are at present. In conse-
quence of this small outlet into the market
these stamps are the rarest in the hands of
the collectors. and full SGT is worth a
small fortune to the Spectator. The old
large stamp are also rare, although they
were sold at large while they were in vogue.
The official stamp albums of the Post
Office Department are worth many thou
sands of dollars. There are two-one con-
tanning the ordinary stamps and another
devoted exclusively to the new Columbian
series. the latter's pages being each filed
with large sheets, uniform, just as they came
from The press The value Of the old album
is estimated at 100000 by Mr.. Munc" the
chief of the stamp division. This ar
ranged at a great expense to the govern
ment, having been begun as late as 1874,
during the administration of Postmaster
General Jewell. Great difficulty was ex-
pc-ienc5d in obtaining many of the old OBJ
solcte issues, and even to this day Uncle
Sam has never obtained some of the first
issues. Several of the Oldest specimens in
his collection are Cancelled for the reason
that there are absolutely no uncancel1d
numbers in the market among many classes
which We're recalled almost as soon as is
sued. The 81 Columbian stamp is the only
one of that series which is entirely ey-
hauSted. 1t cannot be obtained anywhere
for less than So All OF the other denomina-
tons are rapidly decreasing, however, ana
in consequence the philatelsts are making
money.
stamps Not COunterfcttcd.
1t is fact not generally remembered that
the present Columbian stamps are not the
first ever issued in the United States In
1869 there was issued lucent stamp bear
ing the engraving Landing OF Columbus"
after the painting by Nanderlyn in Inc ~
tunda of the Capitol, the same vignette used
on the new 2-Cent Columbian stamp. The
old one vas much handSomer than the new
one, the finish being much more delicate
The picture is Prussian blue and the scroll
work and lettering is light brown, like its
younger brother. The old Columbian stamp
is one of the rarest and most expensive in
the market, having been greatly doomed by
the present issue. 1t forms an appropriate
addition to the proud set of worlds fair
souvenir stamps
Mr.. Munce says there is practically no
counterteltlng in stamps at the present day,
the work of duplicating the engravings being
much too ponderous. The high denomina-
lions are so unpopular that the counter
feiter could not rid himself readily of his
ware unless he brought 1t direct to the ex-
perts at headquarters for redemption. The
greatest number of counterfeit cases have
appeared among the dealers in obsolete is
hut NC II