Evening star., 1925-10-04
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Half a century aco the Post Office
Departmen nj had not found an effective
method of cancelinS stamps in a man
ner to prevent their repeated use. In
The Star of
Cancellation of september 30,
Postage Stamps. owing on The
subject:
Human ingenuity has as vet failed
to produce an ink 10 he used for can
ceiling postage stamps which possesses
all the properties required by the
Post Office Department. An official of
that department estimates the loss 10
the Government yearly from The use
of wa aShed stamped which have done
prior service at 81 900. 600. The est-
mate may he too high but there can
>he no doubt that The amount of loss
Is conSidera hle. Ordinary ink can he
washed from the stamps with simple
soap and water. and ink possessing
the indelihle property nf csustic can
NOT he used because of the injury II
would do 70 the hands of the stemper
PerforatinS stamps have been recon-
mended. hut they are considered oh
iectionable because they are liable
10 injure the contents Of letters and
for the reason that constant use soon
renders them dull and ineffective.
Still another suggestion is that the
stamp itself he made Of poor quality
OF paper Of a porous character which
would thoroughly absorb ordinary ink
and render the removal of the latter
impossible without the destruction Of
the stamp. The great problem yet to
he solved is. can an indelible ink be
made which does not contain camstic
in any form? Until some device more
effective than the present one IL found
the Government must lose a large
amount Of revenue annually through
the cupidity of petty thieves.
y
A protest against the slowness OF
the mails from New York TO Wa shine-
ton. printed in The
c, W., Star of October ,. 1875.
oio~ MAIL shows the leisurely man
ner in which the rail
oei'ice. roads handled the post
80 years ago:
The arrangement by which the
mails are now delivered in this city
at 2:4a pm. daily was vast i'm
provement over the old one. but there
is still room for increased celebrity In
the service. Under the present ar
rangemsnt Philadelphia derives the
full measure Of benefit Of the fast
mail train leaving New York at $40
am. while Baltimore and Washington
do not. as the following facts show.
The limited. otherwise fast mail. 1eav-
ing New York in the morning reaches
Phila delphia at 7:10 am. Here, Of
course. the Baltimore and Washington
mails are transferred to the Philadel-
phia. Wilmington & Baltimore road,
but instead Of being immediate tely dis
patched to their destination are held
over | hour and 90 minutes, when
they are taken mp by local train
which proceeds leisurely along toward
Baltimore at the rate of 20 miles an
hour. making frequent stops and ar
riving in the city named at I:15 pm.
The fast train between New York and
Philadelphia runs at the moderate
rate Of 33.S3 miles per hour. and II
President Hinckley could take the
mails Immediately on their arrival At
Philadelphia and carry them on a
train going at the same rate Of speed
they could he delivered in Baltimore
at a few minutes past 2 O'Clock every
morning and in this city before noon
daily. Even allowing the detention
Of nearly one hour and half in Phila-
delphia. II the train over the PhiladeI.
phia. Wilmington and Baltimore road
would run al the rate nf 33.s3 miles
per hour. Baltimore would get her
mail at few minutes past 10 o'clock
and Washington At or about noon,