had a few bits of silk fibre scattered through it. The paper called
granite or silurian has a quantity of colored threads mixed with the
pulp. In Switzerland blue and red threads were used, giving the paper a
slightly grayish tone. In Servia only red threads were used but in
sufficient quantity to make the paper appear a faint rose color.
Manila is a coarse buff paper made from manila fibre. It is generally
used for newspaper wrappers.
It will scarcely be necessary to say that paper is found in a great
variety of colors and that such colored paper has frequently been used
for stamps.
We cannot consider paper without treating of watermarks, since they are
made in the process of paper making and constitute an important feature
of stamp paper. Watermarks are designs impressed in the paper pulp. The
paper is slightly thinner in the lines of these designs and appears
lighter when held to the light. Of course you are all familiar with this
appearance from having noticed the watermarks in note paper. On rare
occasions the watermark is a thickening of the paper instead of a
thinning. In such a case the watermark appears more opaque than the
paper. Watermarks in paper used for stamps are, of course, intended as a
security against counterfeiting.
[Illustration: Watermark U.S.P. (mirrored letters)]
There are a great variety of watermarks; words, letters, figures,
heraldic devices, etc., etc. Sometimes the design covers the whole sheet
and at other times several stamps, but usually there is a separate
watermark for each stamp. The current stamps of the United States are
watermarked with the letters "U. S. P. S.", United States Postal
Service. This is so set up that the letters read in sequence from any
point and in any direction. At one time several of the British colonies
in Australia employed paper watermarked with a figure or word of the
value of the stamp intended to be printed on it. It can readily be
understood that these would sometimes get mixed and result in more of
those oddities in which philatelists delight.
[Illustration: Watermark, Crown with letters CC]
[Illustration: Watermark, Crown with letters CA]
[Illustration: Watermarks, Cross and Orb, Anchor, Elephant Head,
Pine-Apple, Castle]
[Illustration: Water Marks, Post Horn, Turtle, Geneva Cross]
Here are some well-known watermarks. The letters CC under the Crown
stand for "Crown Colonies." This was extensively used on stamps of the
British Colonies. It has been replaced by a similar design, lettered CA,
"Crown Agents for the Colonies," which is still in use. A great variety
of crowns have been used, as also of stars. The cross and orb are found
on stamps of Great Britain. The anchor belongs to the Cape of Good Hope,
the elephant to India, the pine-apple to Jamaica, the castle to Spain
(where else would we have castles if not in Spain?) the post horn to
Denmark, the turtle to Tonga. The Geneva cross belongs to Switzerland
but is not really a watermark, as it is impressed in the paper after the
stamps are printed. The pyramid and sun and the star and crescent both
belong to Egypt. The lion comes from Norway, the sun from the Argentine
Republic, the wreath of oak leaves from Hanover, the lotus flower from
Siam.
[Illustration: US. POD '99]
[Illustration: Double eagle]
[Illustration: Watermark, Pyramid, Moon and Star]
[Illustration: Watermark, Lion with Axe, Sun, Wreath, Flower]
Here is one from Travancore, it represents a shell sacred to the god
Vishnu. On the stamps of Shanghai we find these Chinese characters. They
read Kung Pu, literally labor board, otherwise Municipal Council, by
whose authority the stamps were issued.
[Illustration: Watermark, Shell]
[Illustration: Watermark, Chinese Characters]
The watermarks on the preceding page are from envelopes of the United
States and Russia. Of course there are many more watermarks than those
we show. On many sheets there are watermarked borders with the name of
the country, the word "postage," or other inscriptions.
There is much that is interesting in paper making. The best paper is
made from linen rags but many other substances are used, cotton rags,
esparto grass, straw, etc. Very common paper, such as that used for the
daily newspapers, is made from wood pulp. Paper is made in two ways, by
hand and by machinery.
Hand made paper is made by means of a mould and a deckle. A mould is a
piece of fine wire gauze, tightly stretched on a wooden frame. If the
paper is to be laid, coarser lines are woven in the gauze. If it is to
be watermarked, the designs, made of wire bent in the desired shape or
of bits of metal, are fastened to the surface. A deckle is a narrow
wooden frame which fits on and around the sides of the mould. The deckle
is movable, in order that it may be used with more than one mould. The
mould is dipped in paper pulp and a quantity taken upon it. It is then
shaken, to make the pulp cover the whole surface evenly and rid it of
water. The edges of the resulting sheet are, naturally, rough and
irregular and are called deckle edges.
To make the paper pulp the rags are first boiled with soda and lime, to
rid them of dirt and grease. They are then macerated in a vat, through
which fresh water continually flows. When thoroughly ground the pulp is
treated with a bleaching fluid which removes all color. It is then
pressed and is ready for use. When about to be used the pulp is mixed
with water and color is added if desired. When the paper is to be made
by machinery the pulp is allowed to flow slowly from the vat upon a
wide, endless band, usually made of fine wire gauze but occasionally of
canvas or other form of cloth. This band is stretched upon rollers and
travels slowly forward while, at the same time, it is shaken from side
to side to distribute the pulp. Two narrow bands of India rubber are
stretched lengthwise of the gauze band and resting upon it. They serve
to confine the pulp and regulate the width of the paper. These bands are
also called deckles and produce the same edge as the frame used in
making hand-made paper.
As the pulp moves along with the gauze band it passes under a roller
called the "dandy roll." The covering of this roll determines the
character of the paper. When the paper is to be wove, it is covered with
wire gauze. If it is to be watermarked the designs are attached to the
surface of the roll and duly pressed into the paper. To make laid paper
the surface of the roll is covered with longitudinal wires, with spaces
the width of a wire between them. Rings of wire pass around the roll at
regular intervals and hold the longitudinal wires in place. For
_batonné_ paper, there are thick longitudinal wires at intervals and
between them either smaller wires or gauze, as the paper is to be laid
_batonné_ or wove _batonné_. After passing the dandy roll the paper goes
over a number of rollers covered with felt and cylinders heated by
steam, until it is dry. It is then sized, dried again, pressed between
heavy rollers, to give it a surface, and the edges trimmed by revolving
cutters. It is then wound up in a roll or cut into sheets, as may be
required.
Having duly considered the design, printing and paper of stamps, the
next thing to attract our attention is the gum. Most gums are prepared
from potato starch, dextrin or gum arabic. Gelatin is sometimes added to
supply body and glycerine to give smoothness. Gum varies much in
thickness and color. The first three cent stamp of the Danish West
Indies furnishes an instance of this. The stamps were sent from Denmark
without gum, as is frequently done with stamps for tropical countries.
When they reached the islands the stamps were given to two druggists to
be gummed. One used gum of good quality and, light color, while the
other used poor material and of so dark color as to stain the paper and
even darken the ink of the stamps. In Hanover rose-colored gum was used
for a number of issues. Some of the earliest local prints of the South
African Republic were made upon paper sent out ready gummed from
Germany. The paper was much wrinkled by the gum and the effect may be
seen in the wavy and broken lines of the ink.
The stamps of the first issue of Reunion were sold ungummed and were
affixed to letters in any way that pleased the writers. Some were
fastened by wafers and some even were pinned on.
Formerly, sheets of stamps to be gummed were fastened in a frame and the
gum applied by hand with a large brush. They were then sent to the
drying room and hung up to dry. Now the process is entirely mechanical.
The sheets are fed into a machine in which they first pass under a
gummed roller. Then they are carried on an endless chain through a long
box filled with steam pipes and emerge at the further end dry and ready
to be pressed and perforated.
The subject of perforations is also worthy of some brief attention. The
first stamps were imperforate, necessitating the use of scissors or
other instrument in separating them. This was a manifest inconvenience.
In 1847, Henry Archer, an Irishman, began experimenting with machines
for perforating stamps. After a number of attempts he succeeded in
making a machine which was accepted by the English government and for
which, in 1852, he was allowed a compensation of £4,000. James M. Napier
greatly improved on this machine and adapted it for steam power.
The general principle of all perforating machines is a series of hollow
needles, which remove rows of small disks of the paper from between the
stamps, and thus fit them to be readily torn apart. For convenience of
reference and description philatelists have adopted, as a standard of
measurement, the space of two centimetres. The gauge of a perforation is
determined by the number of holes in this distance. Scales have been
prepared for measuring perforations but it would be superfluous to
attempt to describe them here. One of the largest perforations that has
been used for stamps has seven holes in two centimetres. This was used
on the stamps of France by Susse Freres, a firm of stationers. It was
done for the convenience of themselves and their customers. Some of the
stamps of Mexico have a still larger perforation gauging 5½. The
finest gauge is about 19. This is an unofficial perforation and was
applied to some of the early stamps of Tasmania.
[Illustration: Perforation]
[Illustration: Perforation]
[Illustration: Perforation]
[Illustration: Perforation]
We show you here a variety of perforations. The first two are ordinary
perforations of different gauges, 9½ and 14. The third shows a
perforation in square holes instead of round. The next is an example of
pin perforation, the holes being far apart and small. Two sides of the
stamp show the holes before the stamps have been torn apart and a third
side shows the ragged effect produced by separating them. Another form
of pin perforation is made by needles which are not hollow and merely
prick holes in the paper without removing any of it. This sort of
perforation has sometimes been made by a sewing machine with an
unthreaded needle.
[Illustration: Perforation]
The last form of perforation shown is called lozenge. In this the
machine removes small diamond shaped pieces from the paper. The effect
before the separation is shown between the pair of stamps, while the
outer edges show the appearance of single copies.
[Illustration: Perforation]
A variety of machines are used in perforating stamps. One perforates
only a single row of holes at a time. This is known as the guillotine
machine because its action suggests that unpleasant instrument. Another
machine is called the comb machine because the needles are arranged to
perforate across the top of a row of stamps and at the same time between
the stamps of that row. This arrangement somewhat resembles a comb. It
will be seen that the first application perforates the stamps of one
row on three sides. The application of the machine to the next row below
completes the fourth side. In the best perforating machines the needles
are arranged in circles around a spindle. The sheets pass under this
roller and are perforated in one direction. A similar machine makes the
perforations in the other direction.
There is another form of separation called rouletting, from the French
"roulette", a little wheel, its simplest form being produced by a small
wheel with an edge of sharp points. By this process a series of small
cuts is made between the stamps but none of the paper is removed.
[Illustration: Rouletting, Large Gauge]
[Illustration: Rouletting, Small Gauge]
In these two illustrations are shown roulettes of large and small gauge.
The same result is also obtained by setting printers rules which have a
notched edge between the _clichés_ which compose the plate. These rules
are set a trifle higher than the _clichés_ so that, when the sheet of
paper is pressed against the plate in printing, the points of the rules
are forced through it. These points receive ink the same as other parts
of the surface of the plate and the effect thus produced is called
rouletting in colored lines.
[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]
[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]
There are a number of systems which produce the effect of rouletting in
a variety of fancy forms. One is called _percé en arc_. This produces a
series of arches on one stamp and a series of scallops on the adjacent
one. Here is an example of this rouletting, in a small gauge. A similar
form is called serpentine perforation. It is here shown.
[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]
[Illustration: Rouletting Forms]
Still another form leaves the edges of the stamps in sharp points. This
is called _percé en scie_ or saw-tooth perforation. When this
perforation is very fine it is called serrate. There is still another
form of rouletting, which we also show you. It is called rouletting in
oblique parallel cuts and consists of a row of short cuts placed
obliquely and parallel to each other. Stamps thus rouletted have a very
ragged edge when torn apart. This roulette was only used in Tasmania and
was a private production.
[Illustration: Burelage]
[Illustration: Control Number, 70]
[Illustration: Moirée Pattern]
One of the nightmares of every government is the fear that its
securities will be counterfeited or tampered with. I have several times
mentioned precautions against such abuses in the shape of fine
engraving, watermarks, enameled paper, sensitive inks, etc. There are
numerous other devices which have been used with the same end in view.
The patterns here shown were printed on the backs of the stamps in blue
ink. The first is a band of interlaced lines, called a _burelage_. The
second is a sort of control number. The number differs for each stamp on
the sheet. The third resembles the lines in watered silk and is called
_moirée_. It covers the entire back of the sheet. Sometimes the stamps
are covered with a network which only becomes visible on the application
of certain chemicals. In this country the experiment has been tried of
breaking the fibre of the paper by pressing into the stamps a group of
tiny pyramids, called a grill. The idea was that the cancelling ink
would penetrate the broken paper and could not be removed.
We cannot finish our study of the material side of stamps without
reference to another feature, i.e., surcharges. Correctly speaking, a
surcharge is an added charge, but in philately the term is applied to a
variety of overprints, the majority of which indicate a reduction rather
than an increase in value. Years ago the word surcharge usually
suggested a makeshift, something of a temporary nature prepared to meet
an emergency and, therefore, interesting and likely to become valuable.
But our little weaknesses are now well understood by those who are
exploiting the commercial side of postage stamps and we have reason to
fear that many recent surcharges were made for revenue only and not from
any real necessity. The majority of surcharges are made to supply a
value which has been temporarily exhausted. For example, many of the
British Colonies obtained their supplies of stamps in London. It may
happen that an order is not placed early enough or there is delay in
filling it and delivering the stamps. Owing to this, the values most in
use may be exhausted. Under such circumstances, it is customary to
provide a temporary supply by printing the needed value on some other
stamp, usually one of higher value. To use a lower value would tempt the
counterfeiting of the surcharge, for the profit to be made through the
increased value.
[Illustration: Stamp, "Mauritius", surcharged 4 cents]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Gibraltar", surcharged 5 centimos]
There are, however, a variety of other surcharges, a few of which may
interest you. The first two stamps indicate a change in the form of the
currency of the country, from pence to cents in Mauritius and from the
English half penny to its Spanish equivalent in Gibraltar. The
Seychelles stamp was prepared to meet a change in the rate for letters
to countries in the International Postal Union.
[Illustration: Stamp, "Seychelles", surcharged 8 cents]
[Illustration: Stamp, "St. Helena", surcharged 1 penny]
The first stamp made in St. Helena was a six pence. For a long time no
other value was engraved but the six pence stamps were printed in a
variety of colors and surcharged with the desired values. The Ceylon
stamp has been made available for revenue purposes, as well as postal.
The last stamp shown is from Shanghai. Its original value was 100 cash.
This was overprinted "20 cash" and the equivalent Chinese characters in
a double-lined frame, and again surcharged "100 cash."
[Illustration: Stamp, "Ceylon", 15 cents, surcharged 5 cents, Postage,
Revenue]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Shanghai LPO", 100 cash, surcharged 20 cash,
surcharged again 100 cash]
There is an interesting bit of history connected with these surcharges.
The supply of 20 cash stamps was exhausted and the postmaster surcharged
that value on eight hundred of the 100 cash stamps. A tourist, learning
this and knowing that the regular 20 cash stamps were expected to arrive
at any moment, bought the entire lot. But the expected stamps failed to
arrive and the postmaster made a second lot of surcharges but on the 80
cash this time. When the tourist learned this he wished to return the
stamps he had bought. The postmaster refused to take them back but,
pressure being brought through the Municipal Council, finally consented.
In the mean time the 20 cash stamps had arrived and, not needing
provisionals of that value, he restored them to their original value by
the second surcharge, "100 cash."
[Illustration: Stamp, 1 penny, surcharged "Cyprus", 30 paras]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Antigua", surcharged "Montserrat"]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Bermuda", surcharged "Gilbraltar"]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Straits Settlement", surcharged "Perak"]
This group illustrates stamps of one country or state surcharged for use
in another. For a long time Cyprus was supplied by overprinting the
stamps of Great Britain. In like manner Montserrat was surcharged on
Antigua stamps, Gibraltar on Bermuda and Perak on the Straits
Settlements. In the case of Gibraltar some of the stamps were printed in
other colors than were used in Bermuda. The colony of Eritrea has always
been supplied by overprinting the Italian stamps.
[Illustration: Fives]
In 1883 a large quantity of stamps were stolen in Cuba and to prevent
their being used the remaining stock were overprinted with the devices
shown here. These were the _clichés_ used to print the control numbers
on the tickets of the Havana lottery.
[Illustration: Stamp, "Z. Afr. Republiek", 1 penny, surcharged "Transvaal"]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Transvaal Postage", 6 pence, surcharged "Z.A.R",
2 pence]
Sometimes surcharges are the outcome of historic events or are at least
suggestive of such. The first stamp in this group is one of the crude
products of the South African Republic, which was surcharged during the
British occupation of the country. The second is a stamp issued during
the same occupation and surcharged after the Boers again came into
power. The Chilian coat of arms on the stamps of Peru tells its own
story of war and invasion. Lastly we have a stamp of Fiji on which the
initials "C.R.", Cakambau Rex, are overprinted with the "V.R." of the
Queen of England.
[Illustration: Stamp, "Correos del Peru", 1 centavo]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Stamp, "Fiji", surcharched "V.R."]
During the Carlist insurrection in Spain, the stamps of France,
surcharged with a _fleur de lys_ surrounded by a five-rayed star, were
used by Don Carlos to frank his correspondence across the frontier into
France. These stamps were in use for only a brief period, pending the
preparation and issue of the Carlist stamps.
[Illustration: Stamp, Poland]
It may be remarked that there are many suggestions of history in stamps
that are not surcharged. The succession of portraits and other devices
in the issues of a country is often eloquent of the march of great
events, and there is a touch of pathos in Poland's solitary stamp.
Finally, I wish to call your attention to a few stamps which tell most
interesting stones, and which have a touch of mysticism and symbolism,
which is not of to-day.
[Illustration: Stamp, "Correos Mexico", ½ real]
The coat of arms of Mexico has its origin in the distant past. General
Lew Wallace says in his historical romance the _Fair God_: "The site of
the city of Tenochtitlan was chosen by the gods. In the south-western
border of Lake Tezcuco, one morning in 1300, a wandering tribe of Aztecs
saw an eagle perched, with outspread wings, upon a cactus, and holding a
serpent in its talons. At a word from their priests, they took
possession of the marsh and there stayed their migration and founded the
city; such is the tradition. As men love to trace their descent back to
some stoned greatness, nations delight to associate the gods with their
origin."
[Illustration: Stamp, Persia]
Many stamps of Persia bear the lion and the sun, the arms of the country
and the insignia of its highest order of nobility. It is the lion of
Iran, holding in its paw the sceptre of the Khorassan while behind it
shines the sun of Darius. There is a legend concerning the latter symbol
to the effect that Darius, hunting in the desert, threw his spear at a
lion and missed. The beast crouched to spring, when the sun, shining on
a talisman on Darius' breast, so overpowered it that it came fawning to
his feet and followed him back to the city. And for this reason the sun
became part of the arms of the kingdom. But I think we may look further
than this and find in it a relic of the ancient fire worship and of
oriental pretentions to power over heaven and earth.
[Illustration: Stamp, Egypt, 5 para]
How much of Egypt's myths and splendors are here depicted; the temple
column called Pompey's pillar, the obelisk of Luxor, the mighty
pyramids, last of all the sphynx, that fabled creature with the face of
a woman, the body of a tigress and the heart of both. In fancy we can
see her, crouched on a rock beside the great highway to Thebes,
propounding her fatal riddle to the bewildered passers by, till Oedipus
shall come.
[Illustration: Stamp, Turkey]