Show How Postage Stamps Are Made As soon as they emerge from the hydraulic press postage stamps are gummed The paste is made from clear starch or rather its dex trine which is acted upon chemically and then boiled forming a clear smooth slightly I sweet mixture Each sheet of stamps is taken separately placed upon a flat board I and its edges covered with a light metal Frame Thou the pasta is smeared on with a wide whitewash brush and the sheet is laid between l too wire i racks and placed on a pile with others to dry Great earn is taken in tile manufacture of this paste which is perfectly per-fectly harmlass This gratifying fact has been conclusively proved by an analysis mado by an eminent chemist I After tho gumming another pressing in tho hydraulic press follows Then another I counting in fact stamps are counted less than thirteen times during the process of manufacture The shcsts are then cut in I half each portion containing 100 stumps this I being clone by girls with ordinary hand i shears Next follows tho perforation which is done by machinery The perforations are first made in a perpendicular hue and afterward I after-ward in a horizontal line Another pressing followsthis time to get rid of the raised edges on the back of tho stamps made by the dies and this ends the I manufacture A separate apartment is devoted de-voted to the picking and sending off the stamps to different postoffices It will bo seen by this account that any absurd rumor concerning the poisonous or unclean properties proper-ties of postage stamps is utterly without foun datiou Chicago Herald |