Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-26
Business at the Post Office Enjoyiug
a Boom,
SUPPLYING THE COUNTRY WlFHSfAMPS
How They Are Sent to the Various
Postmasters.
FIVE CENTS A THOUSAND


business has taken a big spurt forwards in
the past two weeks until at present the
Old gentleman has so much to attend TO
mat he threatens to he swampel with
thousands and thousands of the little coll
ored bits of sticky paper The reason 10
that with the close OF the fiscal war ana
the commencement of another txalvs
months. the various fourth-c!ass posf-
masters over the country-aud their num-
her is thousands-forward 20 the nome Of
nee mere IN Washington their acquisitions
LOT stamps TO serve stock for the en-
SUNG year. The month OF June is the big
sest month for the postal authorities in
thls city, and. in anticipation of the rush
the department is already supplied with
hundreds of thousands of miniatures of
George Washington and other celebrities
past and present
The United States Post Office Depart
meht Is not overTun with stamps. in fact
Only IN theory are the clerks of the most
office bothered with them for compara-
lively few of the gum-stick.rs pass
through the hands of the department. The
oncfous duty of counting and accounting
Tor these stamps falls to the lot OF th, b,,-
reau OF engraving and printing, where the
STAMPS are made. Tie post o.lie. acts ONLY
as clearing house for the distribution of
the stamps simply directing the bureau
Thousand stamps only ever get inside of
the big stone building at 9Th and r streets
where the Postmaster General does bust
hess. These are sent out to replace Job
lots. which have been returned, damaged.
- e ~ " '''ii''''"'
How Distributions Are Made.
But If the post office does not handle the
stamps actually, 1t is the headquarters
from which the distributions ara ordered
If the postmaster at Sweet Briar Va or
Suncook, n. H.. runs short of Uncle Sans
stickers and foresees he Will not have
enough of them to last him through the
year he sends in a request for the num-
Der required In urgent cases he can for
ward his reauest any time durino tho ynar
but in order 10 facilitate the work Inc
postmasters are requested TO sesa in their
renuisitions AT tbs. beriuninp of Tho fisc,l
ya1r The ann,ica-;on frnn, Swaet s,.ia, H.
rlaced on file and in tha course of riD,a a
clerk in the posl Office looks INFO the imam
cial credentials of Mr.. Postmaster from
Sweet Rriar II his bond is sufficient and
covers tho value Of rho st,p,ns askei Tor
: his application is q. KID. provided no has
not already over,:rav-n his account Every
thing being found right the department
sends an order 10 tho bureq,, to Sod the
desired ctarn- tn rho n.stuas.ar al Su.e,
Hriar. and they are then Forwarded by
mail in shsats of one burl~e5 .acb Tho
whole svst.p, is i,,a tho cregit scheme al
th. stores pay,nr,t for tn. stanns must
he fnrysrd.a p-itbin q raasonalle ZINE ,r
/, ,ost otiic. i,snr.tor viii ha sa,t am 20
inras,;ra,e In case nostmastar ever
fai1ad "a m,l.a ret1,rrs his ho.,s uoula
,,a.ra, ~ nI,arn,,,n,,, s;,..a D., ,.,, ,,ay.r
p,o,gt. n"e 70' - 7''' Nv an ~
80. 'o., ..'e 49,, ,,,,. -. - 49,.
- -, :, .,.,,,.,
- %, 81. =, ;,, - - -, M,
I-nci. San, ,as .rust worth hayinr and
t''oie Sam 'iao Il luz I" 81 IN ''"' i'1' -
mat his proiltS are not 10 ne ueStlSeu even
by bloatcd bondholder. In fact, Uncle
Sam is envied so much 10y other capitalists
that frequently other parties start into the
business of printing stamps, WITHOUT hrst
securing license or even trying TO get one
Sometimes the secret service office catches
the guilty parties, but IN case que discre-
ton Is exercised the COMMUNICATING OF
stamps is not very difficult, as little close
attention is bestowed Upon them in the
mails. But the expense Is so great. and
the returns so small. that the counterfeit
ers do not linger lorg at a stamp job.
During a single year the bureau OF en-
craving and printing prints about sso,G1.o~
worth of stamps. This is over an average
of 81 per head for every inhabitant of the
United States, and indicates that We are
great race of letter writers, assuming
that each person writes one letter a week.
All people who write letters, however. are
not thoughtful enough to prepay them.
Some idea of the number of delinquent cor
respondents who IKE TO send their letters
fset ihat dur,n.. the Is, -, 80 ,he
value of the hostage due stamps affixed TO
letters without sufficient postage aggre-
gated $i5o,65S, mostly in one and two-cent
stamps.
u, , u,, c,
~
Many people believe that the stamped en-
velopes were already things of the past,
S,,oo o,,,. h,,s,,,os, fr,,,s ,,,a ,.a,,. ea,, a,
'' ~ " ms ~ " ~"
ehen' use tnem any more. but IN the past
hscai year the total Value OF such stamped
envelopes amounted to Si2"sl"i5. or not
quite one-seNsnth OF the total business OF
the foSt oince Department oi postal