Mohave County miner. [volume] (Mineral Park, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1882-1918, 1917-03-03
THE HISTORY OF THE
POSTAGE STAMP AS
RELATED BY A STAMP


a stamp could have a tale to tell, but
most likely such thing has never be-
fore come to your attention.
1 do not think l am boasting when
I say that we, the postage stamp fam
lily, are a vital necessity not only in
social but in business communications.
This is proved by the great number
of US used today.
There are II ,OOO,OOO,OOO of US used
in the United States each year, which
is one-third of the number used in the
world and making an average of 1000
for every man, woman or child. We
have become such an everyday article,
that the question of "How did the first
postage stamp originator" is rarely
ever asked.
You might like to hear something in
regard to our origin, so 1 am going to
tell you part of the history of my
forefathers.
I'm till the year 1887, stamps were
not known to England or America and
very few were used in any part Of the
world. The mail was not paid for by
the sender, but by the receiver. When
the letter reached its destination, the
distance it had Travelled was figured
up and the party receiving the mail
paid accordingly.
At one time in England about 1887
the amount of money paid for mail
was decreasing, while the quantity of
mail was increasing and this could not
be accounted for. The reason for this
was discovered by Rowland Hill to
whom we, the postage stamps, owe
our existence.
Mr.. Hill was stopping at country
inn on one of his trips through north
ern England, when the postman ar
rived with letter for the daughter of
the inn keeper. She was given the let
ter and after she had looked it over
she inquired the amount due and was
told a shillings. She gave the letter
back with the excuse that she did
not have the money. At this state
ment Mr.. Hill stepped forward and
paid for the letter.
A short time afterward the girl told
Mr.. Hill she was sorry he had paid for
the letter, as she and her lover had a
code which they used to write their
messages to each other on the outside
of the envelope. In that way they
sent letters back and forth without
paying the charges due, by letting the
postal official destroy them after they
had looked them over and refused to
accept them.
1t was later found this deception
had been practiced in many parts of
England. Mr.. Hill, with the aid of
the government, began to try and find
a way to put stop to this practice,
and the result was the sender should
pay instead of the receiver.
With the beginning of this new
method of sending mail my ancestors
we're first introduced into the world
and later became valuable assistants
TO all. Ever since then our number
mas been growing and our use increas-
ing.
have cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces
and nephews as well as many brothers
md sisters. My relatives all have diff
ierent values, ranging from one cent
% five dollars, and each and everyone
# US has different work to do and
ravel in different directions. We are
Ilways waiting at attention for orders
rom those we work for.
Some of us are used on business let
ers that only travel few miles but ,
re the means Of transacting business
eals that are many times valued at
hundreds of dollars. Others of our ..
amily often have to travel great dis /,
ances. 1 can name many that have
o go as far as from San Francisco to
he extreme southern portion of Afri-
a to accompany letter of news per-
APPS from a sister to a brother who
5 a missionary there and whom it
axes more than month to reach.
After we reach our destination very
ften we are destroyed, but sometimes
re live for many years, the letter we
ave travelled on having been thrown
4 an old trunk and stored in an attic,
r put somewhere where it is for
often.
Frequently a letter will not reach
ne place for which it is intended be-
ause Of incorrect address. In this way
ONE Of our family are unable to full &.
III their mission, but we all try to do =.
VI best.
Do those Of you who may read this
tory not feel thankful that you do not
ave to pay for the mail when you re-
1--WE it instead of when you send it?
hink, for instance, of paying for let