Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1875 — How Postage Stamps Are Made and Distributed. [ARTICLE]

How Postage Stamps Are Made and Distributed.

Every United States postage stamp in use is made here in New York. The contract was held by the American BankNote Company from July 1, 1861, until the same day in 1878. That was for three terms of four years each. The Continental Bank-Note Company at that time offering to do it for one-half the amount required by the other company, the contract was awarded to them. The office of the Continental is at the comer of Greenwich and Liberty Btreets, but, as it was desirable to have the postage stamps made in a perfectly fire-proof building, the fifth story of the Equitable life Insurance building, on the comer of Broadway and Cedar street, was rented by the company for that purpose. Two passenger elevators run to the top of the building, and upon leaving them the only entrance to the postage rooms is by means of a door which is constantly locked and guarded by a janitor, who always sits inside to answer the bell, which is just outside. On the right hand side are the office and print-ing-room, and away to the left, at the front of the building, are the other rooms used in making the stamps. In printing steel plates are used, on which 200 stamps are engraved. Two men are kept hard at work covering them with the colored inks and passing them to a man and a girl, who are equally busy printing them with large rolling hand-presses. Three of these little squads are employed all the time, although ten* presses can be put into use in case of necessity. After the small sheets of paper upon which the 200 stamps are engraved have dried sufficiently they are sent to another room and gummed. The gum used for this purpose is a peculiar composition, made of the powder of dried potatoes and other vegetables mixed with water, which is better than other kinds—for instance, gum arabic, which cracks the paper badly. This paper is also of a peculiar texture, somewhat similar to that used for bank notes. After having been again dried, this time on little racks, which are fanned by steam power for about an hour, they are put between sheets of pasteboard and pressed in hydraulic presses, capable of applying a weight of 200 tons. The next thing is to cut the sheets in half; each sheet, of course, when cut, contains 100 stamps. This is done by a gij-1 with a large pair of shears, cutting by hand being preferred to that of machinery, which method would destroy too many stamps. They are then passed to two other squads, who in as many operations perforate the sheets between the stamps. Next they are {tressed once more, and then packed and abeled, and stowed away in another room, preparatory to being put into mail-bags for dispatching to fill orders. If a single stamp is torn, or in any way mutilated, the whole sheet of 100 is burned. About 500,000 are burned every week from, this cause. For the past twenty years not a single sheet has been lost, such care is taken in counting them. During the process of manufacturing the sheets are counted eleven times. There are 86,000 Postofflces throughout the country, and they use in the course of one year 700,000,000 postage stamps. A week or two since 64,000,000 finished and 87,000,000 unfinished stamps Were put into the safes. The New York Postoffice alone uses 120,000,000 a year, somewhat over one-sixth of the whole number used, dr equal to the amount required by 6,000 other offices. Four times a year the different Postoffices send an order for the number of. stamps they expect to have occasion to use during the coming three months. Of course, if they run out during that time they are at liberty to send for more. The office here in New York is supplied differently. Twice a month an order is sent for about 500,000 of various denominations. Threecent stamps are, of course, in much greater demand than those of any other value. In answer to the orders the stamps are made and sent to the offices, and there counted immediately in the presence of a witness. An accompanying blank receipt is filled up and sent to the Third Assistant Postmaster at Washington, who has charge of this branch of the Postoffice Department.— Nev> York Cor. Buffalo Express.