Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-02-05
PROGRESSIVE COLLECTING.
MRS. GoRMAN's METHOD OF SECURING
CANCELLED STAMPS.
Providence News ]

] tANtELLfb SlAMfc'
Providence News
A story has been going the rounds of
/ the press concerning the effort of Mrs.
( Edna Brown Gormau of kanesville, ILL.,,
70 place her husbands crippled sister In
| a medical institute for treatment, by Sc
curing for the payment OF the treatment
the old familiar "million postage stamps
from symI athletic people all over the
country.
| There i nothing new in this scheme.
/ The News. last summer. told about
crinnle. "Shut-in." Miss Carrie G..
/ Dickinson OF lGSs Third Avenue, New
York City, who Is supported, we be-
lieyc. almo:t entirely by contributions
of cancelled postage tsmps from sii over
the country. And while medical institu-
tons do not accept used stamps IN lieu OF
cash for payment, yet the stamps 90
have market value aud are exchange
able for cash Mt a rate Of from four TO
seven cents a thousand for the ordinary
postage stamps used in Uncle Sans
mail-say forty To seventy dollars
million. Most of these stamps. u Is
! said, are bought by collection exchanges
and sold abrosd-just as foreign stamps
are sent over here and sold In bargain
packages 10 local collectors. In this
city too, Miss Nancy a. Greene OF 3ao
Weybosset Street, j. always glad 10 re-
ceiye postage stamps which she puts up
in packages and sells, devoting the mon
ey thus received, we believe, 10 the pur-
chase of little extras for inmates OK ~.
Elizabeth Home.
Thus II will be seen, contrary To what
was a prevailing opinion before this
newspaper threw light on the "million
stamps" idea-which has been frequent
fad for the past decade or more-that the
million stamp collection Is not lake or
bit of fun but Is of real commercial
value aud l. to-day the source of income
for several unfortunstcs like Miss Dick
inson. so the appeal OF the hsnesyiIie
person may be perfectly Legitimate one
At all events the stamps are marketaoie
aud NAV be turned into money Tor what
ever purpose the petitioner chooses to
make OF them. We are Informed that
several local merchants have received
the appealing letters OF Mrs. Edna
Brown German for postage stamps ana
they NAV thus rest assured that III they
forward the stamps they are contrlout-
ing something of value, and II Mrs.
German has a crippled sister-in-law
whom she wants 10 put in mcdical in-
siitute the contribution OF stamps will as
sist that worthy object.
But Edna Brown Germans method of
securing her contributions OF stamps
commands special attention. IL is an In
genious scheme and Is likely 10 bring
her in a small fortune in Cancelled
stamps. II appears that she originally ad-
dressed three letters Ia as many inuiVid-
uals, quite at random. Therein she re-
auesied contributions of cancelled
stamps and also requested that each OF
the three recipients of the missives
should address, on her behalf, three
other friends Of theirs. appealing for
contributions. who should also be asked
20 send similar letters To three Others,
each respectively, and so on until the
limit OF fifty OF such geometrically pro-
yressive correspondence should be reach
ed.
Now this opens up q fascinating field
OF investigation ss To what would result
from this method OF securing CORE
spondence, with stamps inclosed. IL Is
reported that ihc post office at kanes-
willie i loaded 10 the brim with letters
for Edna Brown German. No wonder.
4 friend OF the News, mathamatically
inclined, furnishes figures to show what
sort OF distribution 10 Is possible Tor
Edna Brown Germans appeal TO achieve
from basis of those three letters. Each
of the recipients is asked 10 write three
letters. They will accordingly send out
nine letters asking for cancelled stamps
requesting each recipient OF their appeal
10 write 10 three others-which Will de-
yelop n correspondence numbering "a
Now IL each of the - send three letters
they will amount 10 81, and II each OF
the II write To three more 2I3 more iet-
ters will have been sent. At the sixth
re-mailing 30 letters will 90 out; at
the seventh. 2.ls7 letters; at the eighth
1851. and so on. II you figure It up you
will thus find that by the time the limit
of fifty re-mailings has been reached no
less than the appalling number .l1 1.s91,-
gS7. .69l. So. .5Ss, go, ,2i9 letters will have
been written--a number quite beyond the
human mind to comprehend or the uni
verse 10 write or receive without consid-
able duplication. -,
No wonder the postoiiice At kanesville,
III. i jammed if any small proportion
of the persons TO whom letters have been
addressed have taken pains to respond
TO Mrs. Edna Brown German. NO won
der the postmaster is appalled, at the im-
mensity OF Mrs. Germans mail.
Now 10 pursue this interesting mat
ter further. let us suppose that every
recipient of these billions upon bhiions
letters responded with an enclosure OF an
average ten postage stamps. Mrs. Cor
man would thus receive 1S,9Is,Sb,9le,
%, So. .102, 400 cancelled stamps. lnciden
tally, uuless the market for them would
be utterly ruined by the flood, the value
of these stamps at low estimate, say one
cent a thousand. would amount TO over
so. 900. 900 .OO0. 900. .0O0, ,000-enough to|
sustain in luxury all the cripples ever on
earth in all the medical institutes ever
built, and leave enough besides TO sup
port the rest Of the world In comfortable
circumstances,
Now il these stamps were all received
at the kanesville post office and II the
eriny the whole state of Illinois they
would extend some 1000 miles up in the
air and would simply change the centre
of gravity of the earth and affect the
solar system materially. IL each OF the
20. .0O0, 900 men, women and children OF
the United States-how paltry sum Is
&c. 600. 900 by contrast with the foregoing
figures-should undertake to respond to
this vast correspondence, each one writ,
ing at the rate of 100 letters day, and
taking out 65 days from each years
labor for Sundays and reer alton, 1t
would take us no less than 81, $50. ISL
6l5 years to complete the Herculean
task. And IL all the l 400, 900 900 inhab-
itants of the earth should chip in on the
Job it would still require l70,91s ,O92, ,Oso
years to accomplish it.
We would extend our sympathies TO
the postmaster at Kanesville, Ill.