New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-07
A MILLION STAMPS.
SOME FACTS ABOUT A POPULAR d.,
LUSTON.
PEOPLE MAY HAVE TOLD YOC THAT You CAN
ENDOw A HOSPITAL BED WITH THAT NUN
Ter BIT rot CAN'T. UNLESS THEY
HAPPEN TO BE UNUSED
SPECIMENS.

There is probably not large office In the business
part OF Sew-York City where there Is not al least
one collector Of used postage stamps. The men
who clip them from envelopes and put them away IN
boxes and other recep;acies are not postage-stanp
collectors In the generally accepted sense OF The
term and inquiry would disclose the fac; that every
collection IL for another man,. for "a Ifte girl IN
the country" for ''our elevator man or some
equally vague figure: and II By chance any one cf
the persons for whom the stamps are oefrg c'ieA
could be found and forced TO tell what use ne or
she hoped to make Of the stamps. the answer would
probably surprise the investigator. Not only bnsi-
negs men are asked 10 save their stamps. but large
societies and church organizations frequently De-
the collecting agencies for children, Dcd-r1hbcn
women enferprisng persons who hope 70 accom-
plish extraordinary things with million stamps
Some of the collectors want the stamps for what
they call artistic purposes" by which they mean
that the little squares will be used TO form mosaic
pictures of impossible landscapes and caricaiure-
Ike portraits: others want 10 paper rooms with the
stamps; beg their friends 10 collect stamps
with which they decorate chairs and tables and
other pieces OF furniture: but most OF the collect
ors want 10 accumulate million stamps for The
purpose Of founding a bed in hospital The am
b,tion 10 help a charity In that way has been q
popular topic Of conversation In many circles and
while thousands Of persons have helped the am
bilious phiIanthropists. ii is difficult 20 ind any
person who has seen any tangible eVinence OF 'he
scheme.
gan TO collect stamps when the hospital wherever
n may be made the offer have continued the good
work and II IL were generally known no" long
II would take TO collect a million stamps II IL PROB
able that no, many people would attempt the task.
whatever the prize might be Those VINO nave De-
gun II and whose friends had only average 'acNi'es
for collecting stamps for them say that 100 stamp.
, dav IS a good average. II this average could be
maintained for 3s5 days year. IL would take
twenty-seven years and li5 days TO collect me
coveted number; but there are only about 'nree
hundred mail delivery days In the year. II woud
require more than ihirty-three years at lO stamps
a day 10 secure enough TO buy the hospital bed
Stamp merchants have collections offered them
daily by men and women who began 10 save and
beg stamps with the 10000 stamps and the hos.
pital bed in view They bring us packages con-
tanning all the way from 1000 20 ic'o stamps
said a merchant and in most Instances they zen
the same story They thought it easy 20 get MILL
ION and on making the trial they learned mat II
was a great and tedious task. When these people
star, In they take into account II they calculate
at all only the time that 1t would take 20 correct
the stamps but they overlook one OF the MAN
features which is the removal Il the stamps from
the envelopes and II you wish 20 appreciate fuliy
what that means take io) stamps and try H. by
throwing them into basin Of water the paper VIII
senarate from The stamps. but then they must be
dried and straigh.ened and tied into bundles OF
100 and when you have finished the Job you VIII get
an idea OF what 1t means 10 put UP 1000 packages
OF the same kind. and IL you persist you VIII 20
more than most Of the people who made the start
That the feat OF collecting a million stamps has
been ACCOMPLISHED may be demonstrated 10 any
person who Is interested. the Office OF the J. '"
Scott Company
A million ,wo-cent stamps may be seen there
securely tied and formed into column winch
stands 3 feet inches high. and measures Ex!t
inches. The mass weighs zs pounds
If = be
There is nothing strange mysterious about the
million stamp fad. They have commercial value
and glad TO pay 80 for every Hi'hoh ue'
liyered TO Us We sell them again 10 foreign cOun-
tries where they go into cheap stamp packages,
but as TO the endowment of hospital beds with the
proceeds Of that number OF stamps. We know
nothing The idea probably originated many years
ago when stamps were black and white and when
the cancellation marks were made WITH red INK, ~
was an easy matter then TO remove the marks, ana
some one made people believe that cnaritabe
cause could be helped with cancelled stamps anu
and use them again The idea once established that
a hospital bed could be endowed with a million old
stamps outlives the original swinder 49,.
The people who stop collecting before they have
10000 receive very small price for me STAMPS
bought al the rate Of So a million stamp dealer
recently bought million stamps ron o an 0a
wears in the belief that when the million point
was reached she could turn them over 10 some one
who would by some means. found The hospital %
with them. When she was told that ner WORK
would Dcneflt no one except Httsrt' anu tiiaN 90
She could hope to realize would be So. she was
greatly disappointed. The person VINO sent nolr
barrel full OF cancelled stamps 10 the Scott Com
pany few days ago evidently discovered that me
Charity was myth when the work was only haf
completed. because It contained only about 5D,"n
Some OF the collectors enter into the scheme win
great enthusiasm" said stamp dealer and make
the mselves almost a nuisance 10 their fr.ends: we
profit by their folly because we frequently sell ois
Of and ten thousand cancelled stamps 10 peopi:
who send them away 10 some million crank Las;
: ear a man used come here once every week ana
hiy anywhere from five 10 ten thousand stamps.
We charge q cents a thousand. and ID cents
Thousand when in lots VI 1900 more. One day
The man said: I'm sending these TO a lady who IS
irving 70 collect a million stamps wonder what
che will do with them when she gets that NUMBER
I told him that II she ever collected a. many as
that the whole lot would probably come TO ne
finally and when had told HIN how much money
the collection would bring the man walked out ana
said that ne would money by sending the price
~ n million stamps 10 his correspondent. Whether
he did 50 or not I can't tell but do know that he
never called again to buy stamps for his collecting
friend"