The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-10-16
UNCLE SANS STAMP MILL.
From the Chicago Chronicle

More than $500, 600 900 postage stamps
will be printed during the present cal
endar year. The exact figures, as es-
timated by the officials, will be 6,964,
| 100000 OF this number 1,791 000, O0C
will be made up of 1-cent stamps, g.
| 627,2 900 of 2's, and the remainder OF
the higher denominations. The bureau
! of engraving and printing strikes OFF
900 stamps every day. This aver
age is kept up for the 306 working
days in the year.
The daily shipment of stamps to
the 10000 or more postoffices through
out the United States runs from TO-
100000 to 70,000000, the latter being the
| highest number ever sent out in a
single day. About 100O0O,000 stamps
are always kept on hand ready for
any emergency.
"Why, SIR said the man in charge
of the stamp division a few days ago,
I'VE count in millions and billions here,
We can tell without difficulty whether
the country is prospecting or laundering
in the slough of adversely. In fact,
the order sheet for stamps is an ac-
curate barometer of Industrial con-
ditions in the United States. AS a
political argument nothing better can
be advanced than the unusually heavy
demand for stamps during the last four
years. The calls upon us necessitate
constant activity. The sales Of stamps
has jumped with leaps and bounds
since 1900. In that year we shipped
1858 900, 900; in 1901, 27O,OOO,OOO in 1902.
5,1S5, 1870, 900 and in the present year we
hope to pass the 6,OOO,OOO,OOO mark.
busiest Month Is January.
our best month is January. Busi-
ness picks up in December as g. result
of the holiday season, but we reach
the flood in January. August is the
slack month, and February is count
ed among the dull periods The de-
mand in the first twenty days of every
quarter is unusually heavy, and at
such times our daily shipments foot
up millions.
"Tho task of printing and distribute
ing the little certificate that appears
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 that
can be obtained In this country are
employed, and the women who exam
inc and count the stamps are among
the most expert of the army employed
in the Bureau of Engraving and Print
ing.
while billions OF stamps are printed
In a year, every detail of the big Sob
is done by a force of 200 men and
women. Each of them is an expert In
his or her particular line Of business.
Only one mistake has been made In
counting the stamps during the last
three years. When It is considered
that millions are counted In a day
hundreds of millions in a month and
billions In a year the proficiency of
the counters, all Of whom are women,
is readily appreciated.
"There is another fact that may be
Of interest to those who are not adj
vised Of the rules governing the ma
tional money factory where the post
age 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 a couple Of
hundred employees. But il is almost
impossible for a sheet OF paper or a
single stamp to be lost or mislaid. Ev-
cry scrap must be accounted for and
checked up before the employees leave
the building.
Make Good All Losses.
"If a sheet is reported missing a
search is made or It. II It Is not
found the loss must be made good i.
Sometimes the foreman of the room In
which the sheet or stamp has disap-
peared pays for IL or collection is
taken up among the employees. But,
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 1S9S."
The process of turning out a post
age stamp is similar to that Of printing
bank note. There Is, however, more
detail in the printing Of the stamp.
The engraving requires as much skill
and some OF the best men in the bureau
are employed In this class Of work.
The design is suggested by some wise
official in the postofIice department. IL
takes three months to turn II out, and
then II II does not suit the fancy OF
the department official 1t must be done
over again.
The drying process Of the stamp is
laborious and requires great skill. Most
OF the defects that appear In the stamp
paper after II Is printed and ready
for perforation are due to shrinkage.
Every sheet Of stamp paper has the
water mark, ~. s. p" running
through every square inch OF II. The
water mark Is responsible for the
shrlnkage which spells many Of the
stamp sheets. The sheets which are
not approved by the examiner are run
through press and Cancelled and then
30 Scientific Cumming.
The cumming OF the stamps IL ono OF
/ the most important processes. IL II
| done IN accordance with strictly sol
/ 8ntihc principles. The room IN which
/ tho process A. worked out IL kept a.
! nearly as possible az the same temper