Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-11-02
POSTAGE STAMPS.
Great Pains Are Taken to Make
Them Adhesive

perhaps sometimes when yuu moist
en- the back OF postage stamp and Try
10 attach IT to II letter you will find
that II fails to adhere az desired. IT ii
docs u Is not the fault Of the govern
ment. II there is one thing above an
other which the United States has
brought down to an exact science il Il,
the cumming OF adhesive stamps. Tho
WORK Is done at the bureau OF cngraN 81
ing and printing. which is now In
charge Of Capt William NJ Meredith
The precautions taken al the bureau
20 secure "A uniform coating ~ gum on
the back OF postage stamps approat hes
the marvellous. When the stamps are
gummcd they are tested to establish
II the coating varies on sheets on"
| Een-thousandth Of a pound
Inc cumming room. 10 which the
| printed sheets Of stamps are sent for
their coating Of gum on the reverse
side, is in charge Of Fred j. Crockcr
| who mas spent all of his waking hours
| IN IN" last r. years handling gums and
cumming devices for the government.
| tn" stamps after being printed come
to him In sheets each containing 400
stamps. The cumming room was built
| especially for tn. work which is done
in IL. Pipes lead into 1t conveying the
| gum in a heated ANA melted state to
small watts into which il ~ slowly
| dropped as needed From these watts
| II is allowed TO ouze slowly onto roll
eds. The sheets Of stamps pass under
the rollers. receiving u thin coating of
| gum, ana then drop onto q continuous
| chain or belt. The belt carries them
J into watts which contain coils ~ steam
| pipe 20 feet long Tn" slow passage I'll
| the freshly gumm,d stamp sheets
through the watts dries them N h.n
! they reach the other .nd Of the watts
they are dry enough ~ ~ I4lrd one
| upon another. counted. tested anI
! packed ready tOr shipment
| Thu pr"o lions taken l." iuSur' uni
| formity N the cumming alr thc most
| interesting part of ~" work. Each
morning when thu ~nrknrH report tur
| duty thty .,rr given I. s-titH uC blanks
0hich they must fli uut during me ANY
a. thrir .v"rk pr"grcs.r~- III. govern
f, m"uJ keeps Il most ,a'.Iul .'couut e.!
every ounce - gum given to them ana
~ rtIy hcyt NJ STAMPS h.ch th".
h.uII. Th- system l~ au absolute
!
signed I, ln~ur" tAe u-. ~ til" proper
stamp sheets
When the WORK starts up IN thr
morning each N TIL. tu.n ~ ,narg,d w
with l,~.p sheets NJ stamps ans ~
pounds ~ gum HI must spread that {
amount ~ gum OYER IN" given number
Of sheets Exhaustive experiments
Ia.
determined the proportion ~ gun! ana
paper Rigid Anl continuous insrgo
zion ana thu keeping NJ u runnin. a,-
count with each operator IN the gum
ming room makes II almost iinroSsibl" Z
To neglect any sheet or to dispose Of
the gum except By spreading u WIFI +
ahsolutv uniformity over thu sheets 4
Tn. It'll. watts which hang w Xxi ~"
rollers contain doitrat" instruments \
which show the Temperature" A. which
the gum il kept andit- specific gravity. .
From time so tim" Nj. Croker passes .
along the row OF operators and inSp.-ct9
thnS" instruments. II" requires An ah- .
snlutc temperature ~ - degrees ANA Y .
sptciii, gravity Of -.
Moisture in the atmosphere pre-, Mt .
The greatest problem to n" "l'' rat"rs I
TN cumming room Many "XperI-
.uruts have shown that The worst part
~ Ihv United states IN furnish stamps
~ w TIM Mississippi valley. fo- there
;hr In"isiur,. attacks III" stamp sheets
summer and winter. bureau experts
declare that a stamp which gives sat
srl,t ton i'm the Mississippi valley VIII
stand ihc climate Or almost any ror-
ton NJ till globe Thr quality " thr
gum varies with TN seasons. nv
12ur,S just given being tpr the sum
rler gum which is ro@- being used.
There is also q winter gum and "r
"lntr, mediate" gum. TIM Rather h"iu-,
ls,d in tho spring ana f,N-
IN. summer gum Is thc hardest NJ hen
applied To the stamps b., aus" ~ the
Danger uf III" sheets STRIKING together.
aui the quality of tho winter gum is
determined with q view IA prcvenUnc
! jh, rolling" MI TN sheets I'M rnn
tIu,tiun. st thy. present time III TAKES
100000 pounds NJ gum rer annum I"
ircrjrr the stamps f"l thc country.
In an "iSht-hoUr day the cumming
iooW use" Son pounds ol material. Just
Rom thn amount has boon Increased ~
IN unusual demands NJ increasing
business throughout the country.
Il" secure Inc desired results Il Is not
'pl- nee, ssaTy for the rmn'"y,s a. hc
carefully wutched. hu: thc actual at
nosrhcric conditions in which they
work arr carefully regulated. \ hIg
chart ut nnr Ndc va thc room IL Used
ana tNcry hour TESTS ar- made tx deter
mine its Temperature" ana humidity.
Tie results are posted on thr charts
and used as y basis toy valrulati un /
ana o. regulate both Tho temperature I
is kent al 50 ANA the. humidity hit ~. /!
AS stated tn" room Was sret tally com
structed with view Ia ita peculiar !
use. There are douhl" windows and |.
doors. Each of the windows is divided |
into small swinging sashcs and just /
below tn" ceiling there ave oddly /
shaped yrntilating hoods Th- hourly |
tests result III the hourly adjustment |
OF this NcutilHtinG apparatus. and rs
near absolute uniformity rs Is possible /
Is secured
Carefully placed steam coils and /
cold-air blast are also i part OF the |
equipment. Whcr. the tsumned sheets |
emerge from tn" drying watts 9oun. wu-