The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-08
POSTAGE STAMPS
The Story of Their Making Is an
 Interesting One.
ENGRAVING THE STEEL DIES

ENGRAVING THE STEEL DIES. How This Delicate Work 10 Done and
 the Processes by Which the Desisns
 Arc Transferred to the Piates-Print-
 ing and Cumming the Sheets.
 The manufacture of postage stamps involves process not altogether sim pie. There is 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 1t is printed Only steel of the finest quality is used for the purpose. and upon this the engrav- CTS 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 negative" ]" for the reason that it 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 a press of great power. Then steel roller whose circumference is several times the diameter of the die is pass ed over it. 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 impres- sions "positives."
 The next step is to harden the roller in order that 1t 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 POO to 800. at 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. It follows. of course. that such impres- sions are negatives" and that the prints obtained from them-the stamps themselves-are ''positives."
 It 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 'incised." Furthermore. it would not be practicable to employ several dies or a great number of them engraved. The expense would be too great. and no two stamps would be absolutely alike.
 When the workmen have obtained three satisfactory printing plates these are fastened to the bed of a special kind of printing press. Peculiar care is exercised in the process of mixing. Upon the starting of the machinery the first plate is inked 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 300 engravings.
 The printers lay over the plate sheet of dampened paper, slight degree of heat is applied to the plate in order that the ink may swell" and then more pressure is applied. During all 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 plates are on the same press, each one of them is at a given moment undergoing a different process from it's fellows.
 When the printed sheets have been properly dried they are sent to a gum ming machine. In this they are passed between a dry roller on one side and a roller moistened with mucilage on the other. From the rollers they emerge. wet side up. on to an endless web that conveys them through a steam heated box.
 From this box they reappear to re- ceive the perforations. which are made by passing the sheets between cylin- der provided with steel pins and cyl finder perforated with holes to match the pins.
 The last step in the manufacture of the stamp is the pressing of the sheets to overcome their tendency to curl by reason of the mucilage used. This pressing is accomplished by hydraulic power.
 The stamps are now ready for the postmaster.-Harper's Weekly.
 Eating Ones Boots.
 "Rawhide or even leather. if boiled for hours. will make nutritious soup."