by the
perforators too insignificant to be considered, and were accordingly
much surprised to learn that the sheets again have to be smoothed out,
under great pressure, to reduce their bulk and remove the "burr" caused
by the perforation.

After inspecting the final process of making up the stamps into
packages, to be mailed to the postmasters all over the country, the
children were taken by their father to the office of the chief of the
bureau. Here they received a cordial welcome, and learned many
interesting and curious details about stamps and stamp-making. About
3,000,000,000 stamps are annually furnished the Post-office Department
by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, at the rate of five cents a
thousand. Ninety per cent. of these are the two-cent stamps, and
according to the last Post-office report the revenue from the sale of
stamps is a little over $6,000,000 a month.

"By-the-way," observed the chief, "you young people should be very much
interested in the Report of the Third Assistant Postmaster-General for
1893, which contains a carefully prepared and elaborately descriptive
list of every stamp and postal card issued by the United States
government. It must seem hard to you stamp collectors that the most
beautiful stamps issued--the newspaper and periodical stamps--are not
permitted to be sold to the public. One of the chief reasons for this is
that the values of these small squares of paper run up to such high
figures, viz., $24, $36, $48, and $60, that they would offer a great
field in counterfeiters if generally circulated. There are some queer
denominations among these stamps, notably the $1.92 stamp, which is
about to be discontinued, and some very pretty colors. That reminds
me--did they show you our ink-mills in your tour of inspection?"

Mr. Copeland explained that they had not seen the mills, so the children
had the pleasure of being escorted by the chief himself into the grimy
region which is seldom penetrated by the public. Here they saw the
colors ground and mixed in small mills, from which the workmen--smeared
from top to toe in a rainbow of colors--gathered the thick greasy ink by
the bucketful. About one hundred thousand pounds of dry color is used
annually for the two-cent stamps alone, the color being mixed with an
equal quantity of burnt linseed oil, making two hundred thousand pounds
of ink. Of course a large percentage of this color is lost in inking and
polishing the plate.

The