The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-10
STAMPS ARE BEAUTIES. >
PAN-AALERICAN STAMPS THE FIRST
EVER PRINTED IN TWO COLORs.

Il
EVER PRINTED IN TWO COLORs.
The first sheets OF the Pan-Amer1can
exposition stamps, upon which the bu-
reau Of engraving and printing at Wash
ington has been at work for four
months, have been finished. The stamps
are in two colors. The bureau of en-
craving and printing undertook the task
of conforming to the desire of the post
Office department in issuing the series in
two colors with many misgivings and
doubts. The obstacles in the way OF
producing stamps in two colors are ex-
ceedingly difficult to overcome. Before
the sheet receives the first impression it
is thoroughly dampened. After printing
1t is allowed to dry during which time It
has shrunk Before the second printing
the paper is again dampened, and when 1t
dries there is a further shrinking, al
though very slight. The beauty in tho
two-color stamp lies in the accuracy OF
register the close matching OF colors, or
the fitting of yignette into the frame.
When it Is taken into consideration that
each sheet Is placed upon the steel
plate containing the 200 vignettes or
borders by hand for both paintings and
that the variation Of n fraction OF
quarter of an inch is sufficient to ~hrow
the entire 200 pictures or borders off CEN
ter, the difficult task before the bureau
appears. Add to this the shrinking OF
the paper which is not uniform and the
plot thickenS.
If it were possible to print the stamps
Oh a steam press where the sheets would
be fed to a gauge, and the paper used
dry. the undertaking would be very
simple one However, only the best re-
suits are obtained by wetting the paper
and using the old fashioned hand press.
The stamps now being printed are or
the denomination of 2 cents. The CEN
trail design or vignette is printed in black
ink In all the denominations. the border
of the design being of the color of the
current series of stamps. The picture q
the 1-cent stamp shows q fine steamer,
representing fast lake navigation: the
2-cent stamp, an express train at full
speed, depicting land rapid transit; In
the Accent stamp, an up to date automo-
bile in front of the capitol in Washing
ton; the scent shows Niagara Falls In
all it's glory; the Scent splendid rep
resentation of the great canal locks at
Sault Ste Marie, showing vesse95 pass
ing through, and the Decent value
shows q magnificent ocean liner,
Although the pictures are exceedingly
small being only one-half by one-third
of an inch IN size, the designs show up
with wonderful clearness.
The department will be ready to sjiS1gy
requisitions several weeks prior to the
opening of the exposition. 1t is beli&sed
the demand win be very great and stamp
collectors throughout the world undoubt-
edly will use several millions Of the
stamps Journals devoted to the hobby Of
stamp collecting already are predicting
that the beauty Of the Buffalo stamps
will start a great multitude to collecting
stamps
The bureau has orders from the post
Office department to print the new
stamps in the following quantities: Ono
cent, q 100000; 2-cent. 100, Go; 4-cent,
5000, o0e; 5-cent, S0o0.OeO; Scent, 5000. 600;
1o-ccnt. 100000; total, 25I .0Oe. 900.