The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-13
JUNGLE SANS. STAMP MILL.
me bureau of Engraving, where
Postage Stamps Are Made
by the Exnerfs
From the New York Trihune

by the Experts.
From the New York Tribune.
More than 65OO,OO0,O0O postage
stamps viii be printed during the pres
ent calendar year, says the Chicago
Chronicle. The exact figures, as esti-
mated by the officials, will be 1864
100000. OF this number 1871 900 900
will be made up of one-cent stamps,
S6zi 100000 of twos. and the remainder
or the higher denominations. The Blu
reau OF Engraving and Printing strikes
on 2O,SOO.O00 stamps every day This
average 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
runs from 10,000,000 to 10000. O0O the
latter being the highest number ever
sent out in single day. About 100,-
OJOOOO 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, 1--WE count
in millions and billions here. We can
tell without difficulty whether the
country is prospecting or floundering 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 advanced
than the unusually heavy demand for
stamps during the last four years The
calls upon us necessitate constant ac-
tivity. The sales of stamps has jump
ed with leaps and bounds since 1900.
In that year we shipped 1855, 900 600;
in 1901, APO, 900, 900; in 1902, 5,135 $780,
900, and in the present year we hope
to pass the 5000, 900.
Our best month is January. Bust
ness picks I'D in December, as a re-
suit 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 mill
lions. The task of printing and dis
tributing the little certificate that APP
pears on the letters in the United
States mails is a 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 ex-
anime and count the stamps are among
the most expert of the small army en-
ployed in the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing.
while billions of stamps are print
ed in a year. every detail of the big
job is done by a force of 200 men and
women. Each of them is an expert in
his or her particular line of business. 4
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 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 advised of the rules gov
erning 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 a
couple of hundred employees. But it is
almost impossible Cor a sheet of paper
or single stamp to be lost or mis-
laid. Every scrap must be accounted
for and checked w before the en-
pioyes leave the building. If 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 it or a
collection is taken up among the en-
ployes. But, as stated the losses are