The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-29

One Man Has n Monopoly of the Make
of Steel Dies.

Of land jutting out into the Yecons-
10 river. a tributary OF the Potomac.
is a manufacturing plant that is
worth millions Of dollars TO the own
er, who has declined all offers ~
form a rust Without the production
of that factory the r~eceiveing and
sending Of the United States mails
would come 10 a sudden halt
The isolated place is where all The
steel postal marks used by the gov
in the transacting OF its
postal business II manufactured.
and the secret process OF their man
ufacture is carefully guarded. 4
fear that the process would be dis
covered caused the owner, Benjamin
Chambers, TO seek the seciuSion Of
one Of the most desolate and out 81
the way points OF Northumberland
county, Virginia, and remove the
plant from the natianal capital,
where his father had carried on the
business. of furnishing the p~ostofice
department with stamp markers since
1885. barring four years Of the Sar.
when he was too old 10 look after the
manufacture. and his son, the pres
ent owner, was fighting for his coun-
try as a captain in the Second Perm
s~ylvania regiment During these
four years the contract was awarded
to the William Fairbank Company
of Connecticut, which was glad
enough to give up the contract, as il
was realized ina it could not de
liver the goods and the department
was paying fully five time more for
an inferior steel stamp. BENJAMIN
Chambers was awarded the contract
by he department in 1867, n has
held it continuously since. AT times
others have attmpted to break in on
the contract but 10 successful effort
has been made, and Mr.. Chambers
expresses the belief that he Will lie
able TO leave the plant and contract
to his sons, as they were left 10 him
by his father.
Il feel entirely safe with my Sc
cret here" said Mr.. Chambers, as he
sat surrounded by a number of his
WOrkmen. There is not Il man i'll
my employ who would be tempted
nor any sum of money to divulge
what he knows of the secret. | could
not trust the class of men | was
forced to empty in Washington; l
knew that the desperate efforts
were constantly made to find out the
secret process, and | determined to
get where my business and my men
would not be tempered with. That
is why l located here and employed
these native people to do my work.
To n nnp fhnr uya,,lI 1ia lnfnrn fhaX-
would give away anything touching
the business, and they take just as
much interest in my affairs as though
it was theirs.
Mr.. Chambers is willing and con-
tented to let we'll enough alone and
be satisfied with a living profit on
his product, even if it is a product
impossible to be obtained save from
himself. At the close of the civil
war the postiffice department was
paying $24 each for the larger stamp
and 1925 for the smaller. The price
of the former is now 1926 and the
letter $1.75 which is a slight in
crease owe the prices of previous
years, owing to the increased price o.
steel and other material. Increaser cost
of the stamps is due to a larger mum.
Der of letters and figures used, the
pOStOffice department now requiring
nc only for n hour but the minute
recorded by tie stamp. Each stamp
furnished must be guaranteed TO
serve for two years, and it is seldom
that one fails to se1ve its allotted
time occasionally some country
postmaster who uses a piece Of
gravelstone for an linking and stamp
ing slab will hammer the hard steel
types to ribbons in six months. First
class Offices where there are the right
kind of stamping tables wear out
fewer stamps than the roads
post offices. Last year Congress ap-
propriated $4,000 for postmarkins
and rating stamps and the present
appropriation of s45, 900, but not
all of this is expended for the Cham
bers stamps, his bills running to
something like s22, 600 annually.
There are rubber and other stamps
made of metal type which Cham
bers has on hand.
One can scarcely believe that the
making of these simple looking
stamps would require machinery suf-
ficient to build a locomotive, but it
uOtS anu the ldI &c UulluflS HtIt ID
crowded with machinery Of the finest
and most expensive make. Much Of
this machinery is of the invention Of
Mr.. Chambers father and much Of
it IS his own. Mr.. Chambers has
spent months of years and study in
trying to solve a certain points about
his invention which have simply rot
reached a stage of perfection, and he
feels hat everything connected with
the machinery and the manufacture
of the stamps is secure all pry-
ing intererences by men who would
give a fortune TO learn the secret
which has caused the government 10
pay Chamberses, father and son,
fully $1,250,0 900 during their con-
tracts Of sixty-eight years. There
are o almost 10000 postofices in
the United States Each and evs-!
must have 4 postmarking stamp, and
he conSeqr ence is that the stamp
factory here in this lonely spot OF
land aimos, surrounded by water, is