Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-02-15
MILES or srAMpa

0onao Idea Of the Millions that WOro
Issued Last Year.
Uncle Sam printed just few posGage
stamps during the year 1893. The num-
Der Of 2-cent stamps issued during the
year was about 2,5O0. .OO0. 900. Such q
number. obviously, Ii beyond the grasp
Of the human mind. but perhaps the
matter may be made more clear by put.
ting 1t otherwise.
An ordinary 2-cent stamp 10 exactly
one inch long. From this fact, by q lit
tie calculation, 1t is easy to discover
that the number Of stamps Of this de-
nomination issued in 1898. placed end
to end, would extend distance consid-
erably exceeding $4,000 miles. In other
words, they would make a continuous
strip Of stamps, each one adorned with
the head Of the father of his country,
stretching in belt more than once and
. half around the equator.
OF course, though the 2-cent stamps
are those principally used, there are
others. Enough 1-cent postage stamps
have been issued during the year 1898 to
stretch from New York City, by way of
Europe and Asia, to Bombay, India, II
similarly arranged in one strip. All
other stamps, as to production and
sales. are of minor Importance compar-
atively speaking. but it is interesting
to know that almost exactly one mile
Of 81 stamps were manufactured for
the demand of 1885, OF IS stamps the
production was equivalent to little
more than half furlong. or about one
fifteenth Of a mile.
Now, If all the postage stamps print
ed by the United States Government in
1898 were placed one on top Of another,
as neatly as might be without putting
them under pressure, how high do you
suppose the pile of them would bel
There is no use guessing; you would
never get 1t nearly right, unless you
went to work to calculate it for your
self. The $500, 100000 stamps Of all
denominations printed during the cur.
rent year-the statement, Of course, 10
aproximate-wouldt tower to an eleva-
ton of twenty-One miles. This IL more
than three times the height of the high
est mountain In the world-Mount
Everest, in the Himalayas. II the same
number of stamps was piled up in the
form of the ordinary sheets of 100 hun
dred each, it follows that the stack
would be over a fifth of mile high.
During the year 1898 the number of
special delivery stamps sold was about
$3.50. 900. 1t is only reasonable to sup
pose that the average journey Of the
special delivery messenger is half a
mile. Indeed, that is an absurd under
estimate; but let it go at that. On this
assumption the total distance travelled
for special delivery in 1898 was about
2,625, 900 miles. That is very consid-
cradle space to traverse. as may be
realized when 1t is considered that
messenger boy, in order to accomplish
that total distance. would have to go
about 1000 times around the world. or
five times to the moon and back.
1t appears, from figures furnished by
the PostOffice Department. that the
average person in Massachusetts, in
Guiding men, women and children,
spends $3.50 on postage per annum.
New York comes second with an ex-
penditure of 1927. The District of Co
lumbia third with $2.16 Colorado is
fourth with $1.93, and Connecticut is
fifth with $1.SO. The States ranking
lowest in this regard are South Caro-
lima. with 25 cents per capita; Missis-
sippi, with "a cents; Alabama, with 35
cents; Arkansas, with 81 cents; and
North Carolina, with Al cents.