The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-11-20
Uncle Sam Makes 700 Miles
of Postage Stamps Every Day
Joseph Ralph York Times Amazing Facts About
Work OF the Bureau of Engraving a nd Printing

| rcau none of It's employees has ever
| engaged i'm Cuuntorleiting.
when il is determined To issue "A
new stamp the matter is discussed by
the officials having charge of the sew
oral branches of the service involved,
ana the conclusions reached are en-
bodied in a model made 10y a trained
designer, which is submitted for the
criticisms of the officers who discussed
the matter in the first place. The
model is then modified in accordance
with their criticisms, and is finally
approved 10y the postmaster general.
The approved design is placed i'm the
hands of the cngravers, who cut 1t
upon a small piece of anncaled steel
After the approval of proof of this
cnSraying. it is heated Ycd-hot in cy-
anidc of potassium ana hardened by
suddenly dipping 1t into oil and water
This single engraved subject is du-
plCated 100 times upon the large plates
that the stamps are printed from by
means of the transfer process.
This is method of reproducing en-
craving devised many Years ago by
Jacob Perkins. an inventive American
who may bc considered the father of
the present method of duplicating
hanknotcs and stamp plates. 1t con-
sists of making a reversed duplicate
or mold OF the original engraving Ivy
rolling soft annealed steel roll upon
it in thc transfer press Being ac-
curately guided and held 10y the mech
antSm of this press, continued rolling
under high pressure. forces the soft
steel of the roll into the engraved line
Of the original design and forms an
cyact counterpart, in relief. of it This
roll, being hardened, is used To dupli-
cate the engraving. 10y the same pro,
cess. upon soft steel plate, which il
will dc a great number of times be-
fore wearing out, rcscrvng the orig
inal engraving, or die as it is called
Tor making additional rolls. The orig
Inal engraving is never printed from
except To- make what is known as die
proofs
No Two Sheets Alike.
The paper required for the mauurac-
turc of the postage stamps for the
fiscal year just ended amounted to
10000 pounds, and to make this pa
per l,500 spruce trees Wcrc ground to
pulp. These trees were cut on the
mountains of western North Carolina,
and covered an area of sixty acres,
Had the trees been converted into
lumber over fifty well appointed bun
galows could have been built. and the
paper itself would make an edition of
over l,50o000 twcnty-pagc sCvcn-cil-
ANN newspapers.
About i0U men are engaged in the
pulp mill in which the pulp is made in
North Carolina. aud the same number
are employed in the paper mills at
Hamilton, ohio. i'm which the finished
paper is produced. Sin hundred men
and women find employ mcnt in the
bureau in the manufacture of stamps,
So you will see that n small sized army
is daily engaged in getting them ready
for the consumer.
Collectors delight In ana require
specimens Ia have equally perforated
margins of blank paper-to he per-
fectly ccntcicd-and wonder why all
of our stamps are not perfect. If they
could follow the spruce log from the
time il IT, cut from the mountainside