Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-03-29
POSTAGE STAMPS
The Story Of Their Making Is an
Interesting One.

The manufacture OF postage stamps
involves process not altogether sim
pie. There * much labor given to the
making of the little waters with which
everybody Is so familiar. The first
step toward the production Of the
stamp Is. Of course. the engraving of
the die with which It Is printed Only
steel Of the finest quality is used for
the purpose. and upon this the engrav-
ers slowly and laboriously cut line by
line the portrait or the emblem that
the government has selected for the
particular stamp in hand.
Engravers call this die a negative
for the reason that II Is a reversal OF
the design that the stamp will exhibit.
Upon the completion Of the die
proofs are pulled" Should these
prove satisfactory the die is then
hardened and fixed in the bed of
press Of great power. Then a steel
roller whose circumference is several
times the diameter OF the die Is pass
ed over il. immense pressure being
applied. so that every line cut on the
surface Of the die may be impressed
upon that Of the roller as many
times as the circumference Of the
roller is larger than the area Of the
die. The result is that there are re-
produced on the roller four perfect
copies Of the die. but copies that are
reversed. Engravers call these impress
sions ''positives'
The next step is to harden the roller
in order that IL may give the impress
sions once more. this time TO the plate
from which the real printing is TO be
obtained. This plate, which Is also OF
the finest steel. Is OF a size large
enough to print a sheet Of stamps.
numbering from 200 TO 800. at a single
impression. Great pressure is brought
TO bear upon the surface Of this plate.
once for each stamp in the subsequent
sheet. and then the plate is hardened
II follows. OF course. that such impress
sions are negatives" and that the
prints obtained from them-the stamps
themselves-are "positives."
1t should be stated at this point that
the reason why the printing is done In
this way instead OF from a single die
lies in the fact that such enormous
numbers OF stamps are required. Then.
too. the printing could not be done from
the roller. inasmuch as on the roller the
lines are in relief instead Of being
''iEcised." Furthermore. 1t would not
be practicable to employ several dies
or great number of them engraved.
The expense would be too great. aud
no two stamps would be absolutely
alike.
When the workmen have obtained
three satisfactory printing plates these
are fastened to the bed OF q special
kind OF printing press. Peculiar care Is
exercised IN the process 0f linking.
Upon the starting Of the machinery the
first plate is linked and wiped automat-
ically until the plate fairly shines. This
wiping takes away all the ink except
that which clings to the lines of the
200 or 800 engravlngs.
The printers lay over the plate a sheet
VI dampened paper. a slight degree OF
heat is applied to the plate In orde'
that the ink may swell" and theu
more pressure is applied. During al
this time the second plate has been re
ceiving its ink, and subsequently the
third is brought into action. with the
result that. although all three plate:
are on the same press. each one OF
them is at a given moment undergoing
n different process from its fellows.
When the printed sheets have beer
properly dried they are sent to a gum
ming machine. In this they are passed
between a dry roller on one side and &
roller moistened with mucilage on the
other From the rollers they emerge
wet side up. on 10 an endless web thai
conveys them through a steam heated
box.
From this box they reappear to re
ceive the perforations. which are mad,
by passing the sheets between a cylin
der provided with steel pins and a cyl
inder perforated with holes to mattel
the pins.
The last step m the manufacture o.
the stamp is the pressing of the sheeti
10 overcome their tendency 20 curl b,
reason OF the mucilage used. Thi