The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-11

The new "190e series" Of postage stamps will be placed on sale next Monday. The first United States post age stamps issued came out in lS4f. sixty-one years ago. Since then there have been hundreds of designs but none of them has possessed the artistic merit which is claimed for the new ones.
 It takes over nine billion stamps of one kind and another to supply the demands of the American letter writer and other users of the mails, notwtth- standing the fact that the bulk or Inc mail-the second class matter-goes without stamps. Of the total number of stamps two million are one-centers four and A quarter billion are of the two-cent kind eight hundred million are postal cards. and one and half billion are stamped envelopes and wrappers
 The ordinary stamp user has never seen one of the fve-dollar kind, yet lL500 of them were sold last year, and nearly S0.O0O of the one-dollar kind passed through stamp windows. The sales of stamps. including postal cards wrappers, and stamped envelopes. dur- ing the last fiscal year amounted to upwards of 1000 per. capita. No other nation on aarth can come near 10 reaching this record.
 stamps issued by the government m the past have ranged in value rom one cent to one hundred dollars The latter was a newspaper stamp, anu was never seen by the public. It was placeI on a book in the ofiice or the dispaching postmaster, and can celled. It was discontinued years ago, along with the other newspaper stamps At present the highest denomination There Is also a two-dollar stamp but ahher the present supply Is exhausted there will be none higher in value enan the one dollar denomination.
 The stamp collectors will have to take pot luck in getting the new stamps. In days gone by the collector who was able to get the first stamp of any series issued had treasure. It assumed a value thousand times In excess of its face value. But under the present order of things the new clamps will be placed on sale simulta- neousIy in all the biz postofnces. and If any collector Is able to prove he bought the first one sold he will be a wonder.worker.
 There will be no specimen stamps issued this time. For years and years itw as the custom of the lHG pOSlOnkC0 0pVaa hAtAOAf~s "tA~at- e~~Na Ing a new series, to have thousands of sets made with the word s'specinen" written on them. These ware for gratuitous distribution to those who had a friend of influence enough to get A set or possessed that influence themselves. The practice continued to grow until it got to be something of a nuisance. At last the stamps got such a wide circulation that they fell into the hands of thoaa who used them for postage. Postmasters everywhere tound them on the mall. An fFivestiga- ton was made, the result of which was the diaeontinuance of the practice of Issuing the specimen stamps So 1t Is even chance for everybody now.
 The spostofice department has done many things for the convenience of big users of the mails. Big business houses hnva felt the loss from the petty grating of stamps of ofaee boys and some d little higher up.." To pro- vide means of idntifcation so as to protect the buyers of large duanti- ties. 1t has been provided that stamps may be perforated with numbers or letters. SO long as these are not over half inch square, do not hide possible -cancellati tions, and are not made by tba use of ink or other coloring matter Tt is also provided that this perforat- ing of the stamps shall not be used Tor advertising purposes. Yet so frequent" lv do big advertisers seek to take advantage of every possible chance 10 adevtrise. that 1t takes constant watch fuIness to prevent the violation Of this feature of the order. Many firm has found the innovation a great saver or stamp money.
 nffan heinz awamped is the one providing for the nre-cancellation of stamps. Here is a biz firm for instance, that mails oo'- 0o0 calendars. Each of these is in. roll. If the firm placed stamp on each one and took 1t to the postomce in inc ordinary way that ofiice would h. awamped. No device has yet been found which will act as canceiling machine for rolls. So all the postaI clerks can do is topress into serVlcs the old hand stamp.
 Then comes the asserting into state 9roups. a job of no small dimenslons' finder the new order the mailing nrm will be provided with the pre-can- celIed stamps by the postmaster, unoer suitable restrictions. Some are aniXeo +o tho rolls. which are in turn assorted for inc different states before peIhs n,,+ ir the mail. When the postornce ests the calendars under this order, s1l that remains to be done is to send them to the proper trains. There !s room for abuse of this privilege, put the eagle eye of postofnce lnspee'ors ts aIwavs upon those who use IT, so .S,oe no trouble has been experienced.
 Another order that has resulted Tn great saving of expense and trouble to the postoface department. and to tS' his users of the mail, is the privi-