Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-11-28
JUNGLE SANS" STAMP MILL.
The Bureau Of Engraving Where Post.
age Stamps Are Made by the Experts

More than $500. 00O, 900 postage stamps
will be printed during the present cal.
endar year. says The Chicago Chroni.
Gle. The exact figures, as estimated
by the officials. will be 1864, SOC. 900. OF
this number 1871, O0O, 900 will be made
up Of one-cent stamps, 3,6c7 ,20O, 900 OF
twOs, and the remainder of the higher
denominations. The Bureau OF En-
craving and Printing strikes off 90
100000 stamps every day. This aver
age IS kept up for the 300 working days
in the year. The daily shipment OF
stamps to the 10000 or more post
offices throughout the United States
ter being the highest number ever sent
out in single day. About 100 900, 600
stamps are always kept on hand ready
for any emergency. why, SIR" said
the man in charge of the stamp di-
vision. a few days ago. I'VE count i'll
millions anG billions here. We can
tell without difficulty whether the
country is prospecting or fioundering in
the slough of adversely. In fact. the
order sheet for stamps is an accurate
barometer Of industrial conditions in
the United States. AS a political ar
gument nothing better can be ad-
vanced than the unusually heavy de-
mand for stamps during the last four
years. The calls upon us necessitate
constant activity. The sale Of stamps
has jumped with leaps and bounds
since 1900. In that year we shipped
3.9"S. 0OO.00o: in 1901. 4,270OO0, 900: in
1902. 5,l55. 100000. and in the present
year we hope to pass the 5000 000, 900.
Our best month is January. Bust
ness picks up in December as a result
OF the holiday season. but we reach
the flood in January. August is the
slack month, and February is counted
among the dull periods. The demand
in the first twenty days of every quar-
ter is unusually heavy and at such
times our daily shipments foot up mil
lions. The task Of printing and dis
tributing the little certificate that ap-
pears on the letters in the United
| States mails is tremendous one
Great skill is required in every branch
OF the work. The best plate printers
shat can be obtained in this country
are employed, and the women who ex-
anime and count the stamps are among
the most EXP ert of the small army en-
ployed in the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing.
while billions of stamps are printed
In a year. every detail of the big job is
done by force of 200 men and women.
CHI Of them is an expert in his or her
particular line of business. Only ont
mistake has been made in counting
the stamps during the last three years.
When it is considered that millions
| In, nl.. 80
| lions in a month and billions in Il
year. the proficiency Of the counters.
all Of whom are women. is readily APP
prcciated. There is another fact that
may be Of interest to those who ART
not advised of the rules governing the
national money factory where the
postage stamps are printed. In the
last three years only one sheet of
stamp paper has been lost. Four
hundred stamps are printed on a
sheet, which goes through the hands of
couple Of hundred employees. But it
is almost impossible for sheet of
PAPER or a single stamp to be lost or
mislaid. Every scrap must be ac-
counted for and checked up before the
employees leave the building. II a sheet
is reported missing. a search is made
for it. If it is not found, the loss
must be made good. Sometimes the
| foreman of the room in which the
sheet or stamp has disappeared pays
| for 1t or collection is taken up among
| the employees. Rut. as stated, the
losses are infrequent, and when they
do occur, they are small. only one in
the last three years, and only three or
four since 1885,"
The process Of turning out postage
starp is similar to that of printing
banknote. There is. however. more detail
in tn, printing Of the stamp. The cngrav
ing requires as much skill and some OF
the best men in the bureau are employed
In this class Of work. The design is sug-
gesied by some wise official in the Post
Office Department. 1t takes three months
to turn 1t out and then II it does not suit
the fancy of the department official II
must he done over again. The drying
process Of the stamp Is iabori GU, and r.
that appear in the stamp paper after 1t Is
printed and ready for perforation are due
to shrinkaRe. Every sheet OF stamp pa
per has The water mark u. 8. p. run
ring through every square inch of it. The
water mark is responsible for the shrink
age winch spoils many OF the stamp
shears The shoots which are not APP
proved by the examiner are run through a
press and cancelled and then destroyed.
The cumming of the stamps is on" of
the most important processes. Ii is done
in accordance with strictly scientific prin
eiplcs. The room in which the process r.
worked ont is kept as nearly az possible
at the same temperature summer and
winter. This is accomplished by means
of steam coils in winter and by perhaps
the most ella borate system of ventilation
in the United States with the possible ex-
ception OF rooms in the government Blu
reau of Standards. Experiments covering
a period of years were made with differ
ent gums. and it was long time before
the chemists were successful. They
finally evolved a composition which fills
complaint has been heard as to the ad-
hcsive quality of the postage stamps.
The basic constituent of this gum, which
the government manufactures. Is cassava
starch. II contains nothing that is de-
leterious to health and, In fact, Is pro
duced almost good enough to eat" II IL
manufactured with great care and clean
Illness.
The method of applying the gum to the
stamp sheets is entirely mechanical ex-
cent in the counting. The sheets are fed
into a hopper. where they pass between
rollers. the lower set Of which revoive In
a vat of melted gum. This vat is direct
Is over q heater, which In regulated aG-
toma tjcaIiy WITH scientific accuracy. Over
these gum rollers the stamps pass on
continuous chain. which carries them
through wooden compartments heated BY
hot water pipes When the sheets
o.,arcn az u,,,1 10 dry a nd they arc rendy |