Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-12-04
NOVEL STAMPS FOR 1907.

NOVEL STAMPS FOR 1907.
They Will Bear the Names Of Cite,
and States.
A number Of reasons have been sug.
gested to explain the fact that all the
United States postage stamps for 1s0i
to be issued from the 5000 presidential.
postofices will bear each the name Of
the state and city in which the postof.
fee is situated. Twenty-six of the
5000 postoffices will have these
names engraved upon their stamps
while in the case Of the other postof.
fees the names will be printed across
the face of the stamps after they have
been engraved.
The chief reason for the change Is
said to be the belief that 1t will help tc
do away with the big postoffice rob.
berries and make It much easier tc
trace the criminals. The postofice rob-
berry in Chicago few years ago IL @
good example Of the case with which
stolen postage stamps can be disposed
of. for no trace Of the perpetrators was
ever discovered, although stamps
worth nearly a hundred thousand dol
lars were stolen, and these mostly Of
small denominations.
At one time the authorities thought
they had found a clue to the robbers
A Chicago mail order house a couple
If years after the robbery received q
$4,000 mail order in payment Of which
was rendered a package containing that
amount of one and two cent postage
stamps. The order being so unusual ir
character. the head Of the firm in
formed the United States authorities
and efforts were made to find out from
whom the order had come, but without
avail. It was regarded as fairly cer-
tain that these stamps were part OF
those taken from the Chicago post
office, but there was no way Of proving
1t.
But this is only one Of the purposes
the change is expected to serve, say
stamp authorities. Another Is to ena-
BILE the postoffice department to deter
mine the amount Of business done by
the different postoffices.
A great deal of complaint has been
made In the past on the ground thai
certain offices were doing a very much
greater volume Of business than they
were credited with doing and post
masters have had more or less trouble
in showing that they needed increased
facilities for handling their mails, as
In the opinion Of the congressional com.
mittees having the matter In charge
the receipts from the sale Of stamps
did not warrant the increase.
"It ls-no exaggeration to say thai
New York city's postoffice does millions
Of dollars worth Of business every yeai
for which it gets absolutely no credit
that Is, as far as the sale Of stamps is
concerned" said Joseph 8. Rich, an au-
thority on stamps. Hundreds Of mail
order houses each day receive from
out Of town points thousands Of dol
lars worth Of stamps. all Of which are
bought at interior postofices.
These stamps remain right here In
the city and are transferred to smaller
houses in part payment, and soon af-
terward the stamps are doing duty on
mail sent through the New York office,
but for which that office gets not
cent in revenue.
Chicago suffers in the same way,
as do most Of the offices in the larger
cities where extensive mail order bus
mess Is done. .f
"By this means the government will
be able to find out just how much
business is being done in certain min
or Offices where the postmasters sal
AIRY depends upon the amount Of stamps
he sells. and there Is still another use
to which they now plan they can be
nut. r
There are many small places having
postoffices to which they are not enti-
tied by the amount Of mail matter that
passes through the office. For instance,
take a small cluster Of houses located
not far from the city. Say they have
n postmaster, and the number Of let
ters passing through each day is
small.
well. along comes a postal inspec-
tor, looks the receipts and records over,
md comes to the conclusion that the
business done does not justify the
maintenance Of postofflce. Then he
tells the postmaster that there is a pos
sibility Of putting the settlement on the
rural delivery list.
"The postmaster goes to one Of the
prominent residents and tells him OF
the likelihood Of losing the postoffice.
Now he says. you use a couple
Of dollars worth of stamps each day In
your business in the city. Suppose
that instead of getting them there you
purchase them Of me. will get credit
for the sale, and the postal business
here will appear to be picking up
This Is a reasonable proposition;
the resident doesn't care to be deprived
Of the convenience Of nearby office,
so he falls in with the plan.
1.-The same proposition is made to
two or three other residents Of the
place. They also agree.
THE result Is that the. next time the
inspector comes around he finds that a
material increase has taken place in
the sale Of stamps, and will then say
to himself: Well, this little place
seems to be growing. I'll just wait and
see about that rural delivery idea
1.-The postmaster goes from one res
ident to another and induces each to
buy from him all the stamps he uses
BY this manoeuvre he assures the per-
manence of the post office at that par
ticular village, although there has not
been the slightest increase Of business
to justify 1t.
But some large postoffice will han
die the mail matter, and when the
postmaster of the large office asks for
a greater allowance owing to the grow
ing business, he is told that the ap-
husiness done as told by his