A Of Topical Interest By Kent B. Stiles LTHOUGH newspaper dispatches business, especially for use by large mailfrom Washington have touched order concerns. The Department is urgwith more than usual detail on the ing postmasters to encourage the use of new series of United States stamps, the the smallest number of stamps that will stories did not carry in full the complete cover the postage on any parcel, so as to statement of W. Irving Glover, Third save both in cost of manufacture and in Assistant Postmaster General, issued by the work of canceling and examining the Post Office Department's “Informa- stamps after the parcel has been mailed tion Service" on Oct. 2. As a matter both of record and of information, Mr. Glover's announcement reads: "A new 11-cent postage stamp of peacock blue color with the portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes will be placed on sale October 4, at Fremont, Ohio, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the former President's birth. "The new issue will be of special interest in Ohio, where celebrations of the anniversary have been arranged. The stamps will also be available on that date to stamp collectors at the Philatelic Stamp Agency, Division of Stamps, Post Office Department. "This is the first postage stamp to be placed on sale of the complete new series planned by the Post Office Department. The new 5-cent Roosevelt stamp will be available on October 27th, the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt. One reason for the selection of Roosevelt's portrait for the 5-cent stamp was the fact that this denomination is most widely used on letters to foreign countries, where the President's fame was believed to be more universal than that of any other. "It is planned to place on sale the new 50-cent stamp with a picture of the Arlington Amphitheatre and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Armistice Day, November 11th. The remaining denominations of the series will be placed on sale as promptly as the engraving and preparation of the plates are completed. "In the new series of denominations, the 13-cent stamp has been dropped, and 14-cent and 25-cent stamps have been added. The 13-cent stamp was found useful only for payment of combined postage and registration fee, during the war period when the ordinary letter postage rate was 3 cents. There is a demand for the added items in parcel post "The portraits and other devices for the entire new series have been finally decided on. They are as follows: "The subjects of the designs have not been selected without careful regard for their suitability. The portraits include Washington and Jefferson as fathers of our institutions, Franklin as the First Postmaster General, Martha Washington to commemorate the pioneer womanhood of America, Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley as 'the martyr Presidents,' Monroe to mark the foreign policy associated with his name, with Grant, Hayes, Cleveland and Roosevelt carrying on the historical line to a recent day. "The devices adopted for the higher denominations together stand for America as it might be viewed by a newly arriving immigrant. The stranger's first thought is of the primitive dwellers in the land, the aboriginal Indians, but on arrival the Statue of Liberty greets him, the symbol of a new civilization; the nat ural wonders opening to his view in this new world are represented by the Yosemite and Niagara, and its differing forms of animal life by the Buffalo; from these the alien's thoughts are supposed to turn to the deeds of men who lived and died to build and preserve the Nation, and this idea is marked by the Arlington Amphitheatre and the Lincoln Memorial; from these his mind turns to the Capitol itself as the center of national tradition and Government, and so to his vision of America, the final picture. "Careful consideration was given to the many splendid suggestions for subjects to be used on the new issue of stamps and it was with regret that the Department was forced to eliminate many of them, due to the fact that justice could not be done to the picture in the small space allotted in a postage stamp for engraving pictures of national interest. Crater Lake, Giants Sequoia, Canyon of Colorado and scenes of Yellowstone Park were some of the interesting suggestions outlined and were eliminated because of this fact. "In accordance with instructions of Postmaster General Work that the new series of postage stamps be entirely distinctive and outstanding in so far as numerals and subject are concerned, as well as distinctive and prominent colors, whereby the postal clerks may promptly detect short-paid mail matter, and thereby expedite delivery of mail, Director Louis A. Hill of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has personally directed the engraving of these new stamps and it is his promise that the American public will be given a series of postage stamps in keeping with the highest art of engraving which should be expected from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. From the die-proofs prepared from the master dies of the new postage stamps, on which the engraving has been completed, the Department can sustain the excellent judgment of Director Hill's a practical engraver. progress as fact, the Department is prodigiously pleased at the splendid cooperation of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and Postmaster General Work has expressed his gratitude to Director Hill for his splendid achievements." In The official description of the 11-cent as issued to the various postmasters reads: "The stamp is the same shape and size -75/100 by 87/100 inch-as the present series of stamps, and is printed in peacock-blue ink. The central design is a portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes within an oval, and is partly inclosed in a panel which is supported on either side by acanthus scrolls. Above the portrait in a curved line appear the words 'United States Postage' in white roman letters. On a ribbon below the oval is the name 'Hayes' and under this, at the bottom of the stamp, appears the word 'Cents.' In both lower corners within ovals with dark backgrounds are the white numerals '11.' The entire stamp is inclosed within a cross-line border with small triangular ornaments in both upper corners." Mr. Glover says in the same announcement that it is "for the benefit of stamp collectors and dealers" that stocks of the 11-cent have been placed on sale at the Philatelic Stamp Agency in Washington. Also, he notifies the postmasters, the various post offices will not get supplies of the 11-cent until stocks of the current 11-cent have been exhausted. Hayes, Cleveland and Roosevelt are the newcomers to the portraiture of American philately. When the Department's statement was issued nothing was said about colors except regarding the 11 and 5 cent denominations. Nor was it announced whether the stamps with the pictures would be larger than those containing the portraits. The portrait values, at least, will be the same size as the current low values. They will be perforated and on unwatermarked paper. |