Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1905-05-18
THE POSTAGE STAMP
HOW 1T is MADE BY UNCLE SANS
EXPERT WORkMeN.
The Manufacturing Process From
the Engraving Of the Steel Die to
the Finished Gummed, Pressed and
Perforated Printed Sheet

manufacture OF Il postage stamp is the
cutting, or engraving, of the die. This
is piece of steel of the finest quality,
on the polished surface of which IA man
slowly and patiently cuts, line by line,
the portrait or other emblem which
has been adopted for this particular
stamp. \ steel engraving is what is
called an incised plate--that is, every
line which is to show in the finished
print is cut into the surface instead Of
being left in relief as i'll wood engrav-
ing.
The die which the engrayer cuts is Il
"negative;" in other words Il reversal
OF the design which the stamp will
show The reason for this soon be
comes apparent
When the die is finished and proofs
show it to be satisfactory it is hard
ened and fixed in the bed OF a powerful
press. Over it is then passed steel
roller, the circumference of which is
several times, perhaps four times. the
diameter Of the die. Immense pressure
Is applied, so that every line on the
surface of the die is impressed upon
the surface of the roller as many times
as the circumference of the roller is
larger than the area of the die. In this
way four perfect copies Of the die are
reproduced on the roller, but reversed.
| Each Of these impressions is a posi-
tive"
This roller is now hardened in turn
in order that it may transmit the i'm
pressions once more, this time to the
plate from which the actual printing
is to be made. This plate is also Of
steel The size is sufficient to print a
whole sheet of stamps-from 200 to 800
lat a single impression.
Into the surface Of this plate the inn
preston on the roller is forced by great
pressure, once for each stamp in the
subsequent sheet. and then the plate
Is hardened These impressions are
negatives. SO that the prints from them
the stamps themselves-will be posi-
tives.
The reason for all this preliminary
work is most interesting. In the first
place, printing could not be done from
a single die because Of the vast guam
titles OF stamps required. In the sec
ond place. it could not be done from
the roller, because Oh that the lines are
In relief instead of being incised, and
In the third place, it would not be
! feasible to have several dies or a large
number of them engraved both be
cause the expense would be prohibit
! tive and because no two would then be
absolutely alike. The present system
makes 1t certain that every stamp Of
a certain lot is exactly like every 9th
er Of the same lot-a great safeguard
against counterfeiting
When three printing plates have been
made they are all fastened to the bed
of a special printing press. When the
machinery is started the first plate is
linked, then automatically wiped until
1t is like a mirror The wiping removes
all the ink except what clpgs III the
lines Of the 200 duplicate engravings
which dot the surface
Over the plate Is laid sheet Of
dampened paper, the plate is slightly
warmed in order to permit the ink to
swell and heavy pressure is applied
Meanwhile the second plate is receiv-
ing its ink. and then the third comes
into play. SO that. although all three
are on the same press, each is at a
given moment undergoing different
process from either of the other two.
This has wrought great saving of
time over the old process Of printing
by hand. When the printed sheets are
dry they go to the cumming machine,
In which they pass between dry
roller on one side and one mostened
with mucilage on the other. From
these rollers they are cast out, wet
side up, upon an endless web, which
carries them through a steam heated
box.
They come out dry, ready for the
c lperforations. which permit them to be
e torn apart easily These are very east
7 ~ made by passing the sheets between
:. / one cylinder studded with steel pins
and another perforated with holes to
. match the pins. The two together act
= Ike the jaws Of a conductors puacli
G The last process is pressing the sheets
C by hydraulic power to counterfeit the
c tendency to curl, which is impaired by
c the muclage
The printing Of stamps like the print
ing Of gold and silver certificates and
bank notes. is subject to the most care
full and constant inspection.
Every sheet Of paper is counted be-
fore it Is delivered to the printer, and
! before he goes home at night he must
lsreturn exactly the same number of
\ sheets, either of perfect stamps or
/lspoiled paper. and no seconds or
!, lsamples are given away to visitors
Sll Edward Williston Frentn In Youths
Companion.
~ The Elephants Eye.
! !: To my mind two things strike the
<Iobseryer wildly when standing close
ITO wild elephants in their native