Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-11-30
THE CUMMING OF STAMPS.
care and Cleanliness Combined III '"e
Interesting Process

stamps il as mucn oi an -,
ne the building of the large guns a' Wv
Washington Navy yard. rms WIZ
,,k. that of practically all other slii'i'ai
kinds for the government Is uoiie a.
no bureau of engraving and printlhs'
ana 90 accurate is the process OF gum
ming stamps that when the worn
1,iebed the stamps are tested 10 us
over if the coating of mucilage on .'''
.beet varies as much as seven V"
thousandths of pound.
The room where the stamps are
,,un,med is airy and we'll lighteo' u 10
N hy 20 feet and contains at present
eight cumming machines. The stamps
after being printed. reach the gum
ming room from the examining roo"i
in sheets 1872 by % inches each CON
toininp 400 stamps The sheets 10 De
.ur,,nad are fed by women operatives
i, IN endless chain belt, held pS
rrinners. This chain belt passes under
:, glass cumming roller. which is auto
naticallv coated with the exact pro
nortion of mucilage to be received by
rho sheet. This mucilaSe is fed TO the
roller from Il small tank Just ABOVE.
The c,Immed sheets are then caIileu
Inv the endless chain belt into GOV
cred drying box - feet long "ri'i'
contains coils of steam pipes. which
nroduce a temperature of $50 degrees
Fahrenheit. The sheets of stamps
after a slow tourney of one minute,
emerre from the other end of the dry
ing box with the mucilage perfectly
dry. ,
The machine automatically delivers
the sheets on table TO lady opera
live. who, by passing her experienced
hand over the Eummed surface. deter
t7rmineS If the sheets are properly
.-un,n,ed and if they are running
through the machines at just the right
degree of speed to insure their pclns
oronerlv dried. The woman VINO re-
caives the gummed sheets can, IL de-
sired touch an electric button which
,o,agranhs To the operative feeding the
cheats to the machine at the other end
of the room telling her to increase OF
diminish the speed or the cnain pe'',
or she can signal by a prearranged
code in regard to any defect OF the
glmmed surface requiring immeoid'e
attention. In this connection IL nish'
be interesting to state that the AUTO
matte machines and chain belt are
operated by electric motors running
p. varying degrees of speed to SUIT the
VARYING conditions of the atmosphere'
as III, driving boxes will not dry the
u,,,nred sheets of stamps as rapidly
in damp as in dry weather
After being gummed the sheets are
rolled to take the curl out OF the
paper. and are again inspected to see
If there are any defects in the gum
ming. If they are found TO be perfect
they are then counted and pressed and
sent to the perforating room, the
process of perforating being IN Itself
an exceedingly interesting one.
The care taken TO insure perfect uni
forrnIty in the cumming of the stamps
is not the least interesting part of the
work. Every morning when the ma
chine pressmen report for duty they
are each given blank form which
they must fiji out during the day as
their work progresses. on this blank
is kept an accurate account of every
ounce of gum given to the pressmen
and of every sheet of stamps gummed
on each machine. The workmen are
also required to state on this blank
lust how many ounces of gum nave
been distributed on each 1000 sheets OF
stamps during the day. Each small
tank is filled by weight of 81 pounds OF
LIQUID gum. exactly enough TO gum
1000 sheets Of stamps. In this tank
there is a graduated scale which indi-
Gates at any moment just how much
gum has been used. \ record is also
kept on the blank form of the number
of printed sheets of stamps gummed
50 that the foreman. by glance at the
graduated scale and the number OF
printed sheets gummed. can tell at any
moment If each sheet is receiving its
exact proportion Of gum.
TO meet the different conditions Of
the seasons Of the year the quality OF
the gum is changed four times during
each year The winter or soft gum is
used during the months of Novem-
ner. December, January, February and
March. The summer or hard gum is
used during the months of June, July
August and September and the spring
and fall gums are used in October
April and May. The summer gum is
he hardest and best resistS the
humidity during tho hot months of
summer llheNiS preventing lut
sheets Of stamps sticking together in
the postof!CeS Of the country. The
winter gum is used to enable the
stamps to resist frosty weather. which
often causes the stamps to curl and
crack The intermediate gum Is used
to meet the conditions of half warm
and half cold weather.
OF course the most thorough pre-
cautions are taken. to begin with. in
procuring the very best quality of ad-
hesive postal gum. This gum is de-
rived from dextrine. a product Sc
cured in the process of making starch
from Dotatoes, corn and cassava root.
The starch obtained from the forego-
ing vegetables is treated by being
roasted at a temperature of about 300
degrees in it's early stages, when it
later turns to dextrine. which is later
converted into postal gum. If carried
further than postal gum it changes to
grape sugar or glucose The best postal
gum for stamps is that which contains
the least unconverted starch and little
If any. glucose.
The material used for the purpose of
making stamp gum looks very much
IKE honr except in color. and is nor
fectly clean and wholly yeee,a HE
W nen the postal e,,p, ;r ,,o,;,,a, a..