Evening star., 1942-04-05
AMONG THE STAMP COLLECTORS
of the Phlateic World Its Interests and PeopeRevew
the Stamp Press-List of Local Meetings.
Rv lanes Waldo Faacceff.


dive extraction" hoax should be laid
by the authoritative pronouncement
of the man most notably qualified to
lay it. Alvin w. Hall, director of
the Bureau of Engraving and Print
ing, largest stamp manufacturing
plant in the world, has discussed the
whole subject with painstaking
thoroughneSs in a letter to Horace
Walker, executive secretary of the
District Salvage Committee, as fol-
lows:
"A careful survey of recovering
dye from Cancelled postage stamps
discloses that approximately five
pounds of ink are used in the pro-
duction of 1000 sheets of 400 stamps
each and of the five pounds of ink.
the percentage of dye present will
vary from to 6 per cent.
Assuming recovery of this type
to be practical, it is of course con-
taminated with the cancellation ink
which is comprised of carbon black
and other deleterious substances,
which means elaborate filtration
methods would have to be devised
for the removal of the cancellation
ink.
TT may be well also to point out
that in most of the postage stamps
produced by this bureau, three dis
tinct types of dyes or lakes are in
corporated in the ink formulation,
this being necessary to produce the
shades desired. So that on the as
sumption that a maximum of 0.30
of pound of dye could be reclaimed
from each five pounds of ink, there
would be present in the dye from
two to three different types of dyes,
practical means for the separation
of which are unknown to this bu-
reau. There are produced from each
1000 sheets 100000 individual stamps
and to reclaim one pound of dye,
the cost of which is approximately
$1.10 pound, 100000 postage
stamps would have to be processed.
obviously, the cost involved in
forwarding such a number of stamps
to any central point for the recovery
of the dye would greatly exceed the
actual cost of the dye itself The
peculiar nature of inks used in the
intaglio process of printing is such
that oxidation and polymerization
of the linSeed oil, which is used as
a vehicle, entrapS the dye, making it
impossible to release other than a
very small percentage of it even
%1oNI,nIo
ther, the cost of these solvents would
probably exceed the cost of the dye,
even though the solvents were re-
covered by distillation, filtration, or
separation by centrifugal means.
In summary, this bureau heartily
agrees with your point of view as to
the impracticability of the recovery
of dyes used in the production of
United States postage stamps. This
matter has been given serious con-
sideration by the bureau ond extern
Sive research work has already been
performed on the subject. not how
ever, taking into account the re-
covery of dyes from the stamps but
from waste inks and inks transferred
to the wiping paper. For each
pound Of ink actually placed on
postage stamps. pproXimately 18
pounds are transferred to the Wiping
paper. From this you may see that
the most profitable source for re-
covery would be from the wiping
paper itself rather than from the
postage stamps Experiments car
ried on along this line show that the
recovery of the dyes from the wip-
ing paper and waste inks is uneco-
nomical.
ITO maintain the high standard
of quality in the production of
United States securities and reve-
INCREASING instruments of various
sorts, only dry colors and dyes of the
highest purity are employed. There
fore, we could not use reclaimed ma
terials unless it was impossible to
obtain anything else"
An official Post Office Department
publicity release says: Pursuant to
the provisions of the Second War
Powers Act, relative to the send
ing Of letters by the armed forces
of the United States through the
United States mails free of post
age, Postmaster General Frank G.
Walker on March 81 announced the
following amendments to the postal
laws and regulations which have
been prescribed by the Post Office
Department in carrying out the free
mailing provisions of the act:
"'Any first-clasS letter mail mat
ter admissible to the mails as ordi-
nary mail matter which is sent by
a member of the military or naval
forces of the United States in-
cluding the United States Coast
Guard, while on active duty or in
the active military or naval service
OF the United States. to any per-
son in the United States, including
the Territories and Possessions
thereof, shall be transmitted in the
mails free of postage, subject to
such rules and regulations as the
Postmaster General shall prescribe.
(Act of March 81, 1942, Sec 9O1,
Public No. 5O7, Seventy
Congress)
Letters sent by members of the
military or naval forces of the
United States, to be mailed free of
postage under the conditions set
forth in the aforementioned para
graph, shall bear in the upper right
corner the word free" and in the
upper left corner the name of the
sender together with his rank or
rating and the designation of the
service to which he belongs, as, for
example, Pvt. John Doe, United
States Army, or John Doe, (seaman,
second clash, United States Navy,
or Pvt. John Doe, United States
Marine Corps, or John Doe (seaman,
second class, United States Coast
Guard. Such letters shall be so ac-
cepted when deposited in the mails
in the United States or its Posses
SlonS or at any place outside the
continental United States where the
STAMPS AND COINS.
Macarthur Patriotic Covers
Two designs, each by well-known phila-
telic artist, mailed to you April 18th from
Macarthur, West Virginia. F. D. The