The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-01-22
pRoGREsslyEsrAMp COLLEoTING

A story has been gojpg the rounds OF
the press concerning the effort OF Mrs.
EDNA Brown GoRMAN of Kanesville,
Illinois, TO place her husbands crippled
sister into medical institute for treat
ment, by securing for the payment Cf
the, treatment the old familiar "million
postage stamps" from sympathetic
people all over the country.
There is nothing new in this scheme.
THE News, last summer. told about a
| cripple, ''shut-in," Miss CARRIE G.
DICKINSON of 1858 Third avenue, New
York City. who is supported. we be-
lieve, almost entirely by contributions
of Cancelled postage stamps from all
over the country. Aud while
medical Institutions do not ac-
%ept u-d stamps in lieu of
cash for payment, yet the stamps do
have market value ard are exchange
able for cash at rate of from four TO
seven cents thousand for the ordinary
postage stamps used in Uncle Sans
mail-say forty 10 seventy dollars a
million. Most of these stamps, it
is said, are bought by collection ex-
changes and sold abroad--just as
foreign stamps are sent over here and
sold in bargain packages to local col
lectors. In this city, too, Miss NANCY
A. GREENE, of 355 Weybosset street, is
always glad to receive postage stamps
which she puts up in packages and sells,
devoting the money thus received, we
believe, to the purchase of little extras
for inmates of ST. + izabeth Home.
Thus it will be seen. contrary to what
was 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
fake or bit of fun but is of real COM
mercial value aud is today the source of
income for several unfortunates like
Miss DICKINSON. So the appeal
of the Kanesville person may be per-
fectly legitimate one.. At all events the
stamps are marketable and may be
turned into money for whatever pur-
pose the petitioner chooses to make OF
them. We are informed that several
local merchants have received the APP
realing letters OF Mrs. EDNA BROWN
GoRMAN for postage stamps and they
may thus rest assured that II
they forward the stamps they are con-
tributing something of value. and IL
Mrs. GoRMAN has crippled sister-n-
law whom she wants to put in medical
institute the contribution of stamps will
assist that worthy object.
But EDNA BROWN GoRMAN's method
of securing her contributions of stamps
commands especial attention. 1t is an
ingenious scheme, and is likely to bring
her in small fortune in Cancelled
stamps. 1t appears that she originally
addressed three letters to as many
individuals, quite at random. Therein
she requested 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
10 send similar letters to three others,
each respectively, and so on until tie
limit of fifty of such geometrically pro-
gressive correspondence should be
reached.
Now this opens up fascinating field
of investigation as to what would result
from this method of securing a cores
pondence, with stamps inclosed. 1t is
reported that the postcffice at Kanes-
vile is loaded to the brim with letters
for EDNA BROWN GoRMAN. No won
der.
A friend of TIE NEWS, mathemati-
cally inclined. furnishes figures to show
what sort of distribution IL is possible
for EDNA BROWN GoRMAN's appeal to
achieve from basis Of those three let
ters. Each of the recipients is asked
to write three letters. They will ac-
cordingly send out nine letters
asking for Cancelled stamps and
requesting each recipient of their APP
peal 10 write to three others-which
will develop correspondence number
ing S7. Now if each of the % send
three letters they will amount to 81, and
il each of the 81 write to three more 243
more letters will have been sent. AT the
sixth re-mailing 729 letters will go out;
at the seventh, 2lS7 letters; at the
eighth, 1851, and so on. IL you figure
it up you will thus find that by the time
the limit of fifty remailings has been
reached no less that the appalling
number of az, ,s97, ,9s7 ,69l, ,s52 ,5ss, no, ,249
letters will have been written-a num-
Der quite beyond the human mind to
comprehend or the universe TO either
write or receive without considerable
duplication.