The Athena press., April 30, 1909, Image 2

0S1AGE 5E4MPS 4HKEit SYSTEM
T I this country have varied e - , 1 " 'Za''
M in design. Their use was mrZ - -
IXCE the earliest years
the postage stamps of
this country have varied
In design. Their use was
sanctioned by an act of
Congress March 3, 1847.
A tentative Issue 1 had
been Issued at the postofflce of New
York and in St. Louis two years before,
In 1845, and In Rhode Island In 1846.
The first stamps issued were for 5 and
10 cents and bore the portraits of
Franklin and Washington. At various
times a complete series' varying In
price from 1 to 90 cents was issued.
The portraits used on the stamps were
those of Franklin, 1 cent; Jackson,
2-cent; Washington, 3-cent; Lincoln,
B-cent; Jefferson, 10-cent; Clay, 12-cent;
Webster, 15-cent; Scott, 24-cent; Ham
ilton, 80-cent ; Perry, 90-cent, and Stan
ton, 7-eent. Most of these portraits
were drawn from marbles, but Stanton
was reproduced from a photograph.
Rowland Hill of England was found
er of the modern postal system. Eng
land, accepting his scheme of postal
reform, was the first country to Intro
duce the system of delivering prepaid
letters carrying postage stamps. A story
has It that Sir Rowland was staying
at an Inn In northern England. While
there he saw the postman deliver to
his host's daughter a letter which she
returned unopened, as she had not a
hilling to pay for its delivery. Moved
to compassion by the lingering fondness
with which she turned the letter over
In her hands, carefully studying every
mark on Us exterior, Sir Rowland ten
dered a shilling to the postman, who
left the letter. Then the Innkeeper's
daughter, embarrassed by his kindness,
explained that it was unnecessary. She
and her brother, unable to pay postage,
had arranged a code of communication.
While she handled the letter she had
learned what lie wished her to know.
Whether this story be true or not,
Sir Rowland Hill, who was only Mr,
Hill at the time, as he was knighted
later, early realized the Inadequacy of
the postal system of England and ar
dently advocated his system, under
which postage should be prepaid.
This first governmental Issue of
stamped envelopes, stamped letter pa
per and adhesive labels or stamps In
England was In 1840. Three years be
fore, In 1837, stamped wrappers under
the name of "go-frees" had been used
experimentally and had been recom
mended to the chancellor of the ex
chequer for adoption by the govern
ment. In Dundee, a printer named
James Chalmers printed stamps from
ordinary type, washing their backs with
gum. He showed them to his neigh
bors, but made no public mention of
them until November, 1837, nine months
after Sir Rowland Hill had drawn the
attention of the commissioners of the
postofllce to the possibilities of using
such adhesive stamps when people
bought unstamped envelopes to the
postofflee.
The postal system derives Its very
name from the posts placed along Ro
man roads to mark points where couri
ers took dispatches. But the modern
postal system with Its prepaid postage,
with Its system of levying postal trib
ute on the basis of weight and not dis
tance, Its letter boxes, Its delivery of
parcels and newspapers and money or
ders, dates from Sir Rowland Hill.
The earliest official notice of a postal
service in the American colonies is
found in the records of the general
court of Massachusetts in 1639. The
house of Richard Fairbanks in Boston
was under the ruling of the court desig
nated as the place for all letters
brought from across the seas or to be
sent thither. He was allowed a penny
for every letter which he received or
sent. In Virginia, every planter was
required to provido a messenger to car
ry letters as they arrived at his plan
tation to the next one. He forfeited
a hogshead of tobacco should he fall
to do so. In 1672. the government of
New York established a monthly post
between New York and Boston. In 1092
the office of postmaster general for
America was created. Benjamin Frank
lin, who had been appointed postmaster
of Philadelphia in 1737, was given the
office in 1753. He visited all the lm
portant postofflces. Though his reforms
made the office bring in a clear rev
enue, he was removed by the king in
1774, but shortly after was appointed
to the same office by the Continental
Congress. The first postmaster of the
Lnited States of America was Samuel
Osgood. When he took charge of the
department the country had seventy-
five postofflces.
The charge for the delivery of letters
was based on distances covered and
varied from 6 cents for thirty miles to
25 cents for 450 miles. Until 1863, dis
tance was the basis of cost. In that
year a uniform rate of postage ignor
ing the distance was fixed at 3 cents.
Oct. 1, 1883, this was reduced to 3
cents. During the early days of Alas
kan development, every letter delivered
In Nome cost the government $1.
Though the use of adhesive postage
stamps was authorized in 1847, prepay
ment by stamps was not made compuls
ory until 1856. A uniform free deliv
ery system was not instituted until
1863, though the penny post existed in
a number of cities In 1862, the carriers
remunerating themselves by the collec
tion of a voluntary fee of from 1 to '2
cents for each piece of mall delivered.
A convention held in Paris in 1878
made various Improvements in the reg
ulations and provided for a postal con
gress to consider revision of all pend
ing rules at least every five years. The
International Postal Union thus effect
ed works constantly for the simplifi
cation and Identification of postal sys
tems. The rate fixed by the first con
vention, of 5 cents for each half unit
of weight for ordinary letters still pre
vails, save that recently special conven
tions reducing It to 2 cents have been
arranged between this country and
England and this country and Germany.
M. Lncrolx, a member of the French
Academy of Sciences, read a paper be
fore that learned society on the manu
facture of sapphires. He has dlscov
tred practically the composition of the
precious stone, and has succeeded lu
obtaining some spec-linens which almost
resemble the real stone. It can not be
laid that M. Lacrolx has yet dlscov
ired the exact process, for those which
he has obtained would not Impose upon
a skilled lapidary who subjected them
to a severe test
The climbing perch (Anabas Scan
Hens), of which six examples have re
cently been received at the London
Zoological Gardens, Is an interesting
case of a fish which Is able to spend a
considerable time out of Its native ele
ment. The climbing perch is able to
make some progress on land by the
movement of Its pectoral and ventral
Bns. It Is even able to climb trees, and
has been found In a palm tree several
feet from the ground. It Is difficult to
ret It to display these peculiarities In
confinement.
The little black people of Africa, so
dramatically described by Stanley, are
not the only pygmies produced by that
wonderful continent. In Liberia and
Sierra Leone are found pygmy hippo
potamus, some specimens of which have
recently been sent to England. These
animals are described as being more
like pigs lu their habits than like their
gigantic relatives. A. good mud-hole Is
suite suttlclent for them. They seem to
prefer solitude In their native haunts,
going about singly, and when two are
eon in company they almost Invariably
consist of a mother and her calf.
President Schurman of Cornell Uni
versity calls attention to the need of
the development of a type of engineer
specially skilled In everything relating
to hydraulics. Water, he remarks. Is
destined from now on to play a great
part In the economic development of the
United States. It Is hereafter to be
used ou a vast scale for power and for
Irrigation, as well as for navigation.
The maximum benefit to be got from
the use of water will be sought In the
East from navigation and power, and
In the Weet from Irrigation and power.
One of the- unexplained phenomena
.of what Prof. T. G. lUmney calls the
"world's Ice mantle," Is the alternate
advance and retreat of the glaciers. U
present, says lrf. Uonney, only In
Jfcaudiuaviu, and perhaps at Mount St
Ellas, are the glaciers beginning to ad
vanee In notable numbers. In the Alps
a general retreat of the glaciers began
about 1861. At first it was rapid, but
the rate afterward slackened. Toward
the end of the nineteenth oenturv a ela-
cler here and there slightly retraced its
steps, but the majority are still either
slowly shrinking or stationary.
The remarkable fact that the earliest
known ancestor, or primitive tvne. of
the modern whala bore heavy armor on
Its back, In the form of strong, bony
plates has recently been sot forth by
the German paleontologist. Dr. Abel.
The plates occasionally found associ
ated with the remains of the primeval
form of whale have generally been re
garded as having belonged to gigantic
turtles, but the German Investigations
show that they were part of the skele
ton itself. They resemble in their char
acter the Impenetrable bony shells of
the huge glyptodonts that formerlv In-
habited South America. The suggestion
is made that at the time when thev
carried armor whales were amphibious
creatures, living on the coasts and
needing special protection from break
ers and from sharks.
Seeing- and Listening.
"Here's a sort of queer thin." said
a nearsighted man. "I am very near
sighted. Strong glasses are lndlsnensa-
ble to me for ordinary, general seeing
In my goings about, 'but when I alt
down to read I take off my glasses
and bring the print up to within the
natural focus of the eye. It seems to
me that reading with the natural eve I
can read with a more Intimate and a
clearer understanding.
"So much for my reading without
spectacles, and now here Is the thing
that Is queer to me. If when I am
reading thus, with my glasses off,
somebody comes along to speak to me,
why, tlen,vto get a clear understand
ing of that question I must have on
my spectacles.
"So I say, or I would say If this hap
pened at home where I know the peo
ple, 'Walt a minute till I get on my
spectacles.' and I would put them on
and then say, 'Now go ahead,' and real
ly, with my sectaries on. with mv
power of seeing at Its best, with the
sharpest definition of, things In general
to the eye. I get the clearest apprehen
sion of things said to me.
"So In reading I do best with mv
glasses off. but In understanding things
said to me, In listening, I do best with
my glasses on. There Is one modifica
tion to thiswhere there Is no light as
lu a dark room, where I can't see, I
cau understand equally well with or
without glasses." New York Sua.
HOW BABY FOOLED NURSES.
A Bora' Village.
In Westchester County, Nv. v York,
overlooking the Hudson river, a col
ony of 3C0 boys has been gathered.
They are lads who have- tripped or
been tumbled into the rough places of
the world; their sense of self-respect
cruelly neglected amid dirty city streets
and all sorts of misery. Put under
military discipline and given tasks of
work and study, the boys are housed,
clothed and fed In attractive, spacious
cottages. The grounds and buildings
cost over $1,500,000, and the boys' vil
lage Is a model place In every respect.
So far ns possible the young fellows
are given work that accords with their
tastes. Some work out of doors' in the
gardens and among the farm animals,
while others learn trades in the shops.
Each lad stays in the village until
he reaches the age of 21, when he. is
given $150 to start him out In the
world, equipped with knowledge en
abling him to earn his livelihood. Ev
ery effort Is made to Inspire the boys
with hope, courage, integrity and a
desire to win respected places in the
towns and cities to which they may go.
Some- of the graduates are now In the
Western, States, where they have
gained positions of public trust. Some
of tliem admit that they are more for
tunate than they might have been had
they been born of rfch parents.
teraer Measures Necessary.
"Really," said Nervey, "I want you
to be my wife. Come, now, don't say
"Mr. Nervey," replied the heiress, "I
wouldn't think of saying 'No' to you "
"Ah t"
"It wouldn't have any effect on you,
so I thjnk the best thing I can do It
to yell for the police." -The Catholic
Standard and Times.
Out Xfm h om To
To p&nT old
Iriole 1KaT know
him
Cheap Board.
New Curate Can any of you tell me
how much It costs to board an automo
bile here? -
Old Resident About thirty dollars,
I think.
Young M. D. But It only costs twen
ty-five to board a horse.
Mtsa Stenographer And It only costs
five cents to board a trolley. Success
Magaxlne.
The Oaljr Oae.
"You say your son Is hard to manage,
Mr. Jims. Does he display any natural
beutr
"Yes, I think he Is going to be a
crook." Baltimore American.
When a man goes to town to visit
It Is thought funny If he remains two
days, but a woman la expected to re
main at least two mouths, and have
parties given In her honor.
The fools are not all dead yet and,
what Is more, .they uever will be. '
A Confession.
Dear little boy, with wondering eyes
That for the light of knowledge yearn,
Who have such faith that I am wise
And know the things that you would
learn,
Though oft I shake my head and smile
To hear your childish questions flow,
I must not meet your faith with guile :
I cannot tell; I do not know.
Dear little boy, with eager heart,
Forever on the quest of truth,
Tour riddles oft are past my art
To answer to your tender youth.
But some day you will understand
The things that now I cannot say,
When life shall take you by the hand
And lead you on its wondrous way. '
Dear little boy, with hand in mine,
Together through the world wa fare,
Where much that I would fain divine
I have not yet the strength to bear. .
There are many things I may not ask;
Like you, I hold another hand,
.nd haply, when I do my task,
I, too, shall understand.
Mar Be Read Both Wars.
Palindromes are words or sentences
which read the same way, whether
they are spelled backwards or for
wards. Here are a number of good ex
amples of this curious orthographical
phenomenon:
Madam I'm Adam (Adam Introduces
himself to Eve).
Able was 1 ere I saw Elba (Napo
leon reflecting on his exile).
Name no one man.
Red root put up to order. (Sign for
a drug store window. Reads the same
from the inside as from the outside.)
Draw pupil's Up upward. (Direction
to visiting school nurses.)
No, It Is opposition.
No, it Is opposed; art sees trade'
opposition. (Sentence from a debate.)
Yreka Bakery. (Sign over a baker's
hop In Yreka, Cal.)
In the Latin language palindromes
are not Infrequent But if yon. believe
they occur often In English, try the
experiment ; see if you can discover any.
Baths at 110 Degree.
The Japanese are fond of bathing in
extremely hot water. They are. In
fact, the most cleanly, according to our
Western notion, of any of the Eastern
peoples. Their bath la taken as fre
quently as twice a day, often at a tem
perature of about 110 degrees Fahren
heit An odd description has been given of
the amphibious Uvea, half In water and
aOOf out, Uke frogs, led by the vial tori
at a health resort where there are
warm mineral springs. In the heart of
the Japanese mountains. Patients at
this sanitarium often remain in the
water for a month at a time. At
night they put a stone on their laps
to keep them from floating down
stream. And if it should be objected
that this is an unhealthy method of
conducting a health resort, reference
has only to be made to the caretaker
of the establishment, a hearty old man
over 80 years of age, who frequently
remains In the bath all winter, direct
ing the business of the place from a
station waist-deep In the warm, flow
ing water.
NO SLEEP IN THE GRAVE.
Archdeacon Colley Thinks the So
Called Dead Are Still Alive.
Of humankind there are no dead,
says Archdeacon Colley, rector of
Stockton, Rugby, England, In the De
lineator. Man Is man because he Is,
as the Sanskrit "mann" suggests, the
"thinker," or one that has conscious
ness of his being, which consciousness
survives the change called "death,"
which is but as sleep to wakefulness.
The worn physical of this life ma
chine the body, falls off, as In slumber,
from the psychical that Indwells with
It (body abode) and keeps the wheel
work ("we are fearfully and wonder
fully made") on the go, and there Is
scarcely a moment's hiatus' as the
changing sentinels of the oxygen and
hydrogen and carbon and other ele
ments composing it, departing, whisper
the password to the even more volatile
arriving atoms of the soul. Hence, in
the falling In of the outer man upon
the Inner and the blending of the
twain, mortality Is swallowed up of life
with no Jar, Jolt or any cessation of
being, since complete Insensibility or
unconsciousness has no part In the
transaction.
More alive, indeed, than ever Is the
condition Immediately consequent on
the failure of the heart's systolic act
Ions and the involutions and convolu
tions of the gray matter of the
brain, no longer Vibrant to the motions
of thought playing Its reminiscences of
earth memories now transposed to life's
higher clef and the beat of perfected
rhythmic harmonies.
For true is the Latin statement,
mors Janua vita?, death is the gate of
life. Hence continuous and Immediate
and conscious being, with no sleeping
In the grave ; for, as the burial service
of the Church of England says, "The
souls of the faithful after they are de-
livered from the burden of the flesh
are In Joy and felicity."
This I know, not from credal or ec
clesiastical affirmation, or even from
logical Induction of this life's being a
hateful ghastly blunder, if not a curse,
but from the teachings of many years'
experience and close personal acquaint
ance with those who have lived in this
world, now dead and buried as to their
earthly body, returning time and again
In a reconcreted, wonderfully abnormal.
corporeal form to company with me
and others meeting together in domestic
worship with praise and prayer to give
them welcome back for an hour to
learn of the higher life they have at
tained. From whom, by many indis
putable prooofs, visible, audible, tan
gible, I and those with me have appre
hended there can be no gainsaying the
fact that the so-called "dead" are alive.
Growing; Old a Habit.
Not long ago the former secretary
of a Justice of the New York supreme
court committed suicide on his 70th
birthday.
"The Statute of Limitations; a Brief
Essay on the Osier Theory of Life,"
was found beside the. dead body. It
read, in part:
"Threescore and ten this is the
Scriptural statute of limitations. After
that active work for man ceases; his
time on earth has expired. , . .
"I am seventy threescore and ten
and I am fit only for the chimney cor
ner . . .
This man had dwelt so long on the
so-called Osier theory that a man Is
practically useless and only a burden
to himself and the world after sixty
and the Biblical limitation or life to
threescore years and ten, that he made
np his mind he would end it all on his
70th birthday.
Leaving aside Dr. Osier's theory,
there is no doubt that the acceptance
In a strictly literal sense of the Biblical
life limit has proved a decided injury
to the race. We are powerfully Influ
enced by our self-imposed limitations
and convictions, and it is well known
that many people die very near the
limit they set for themselves. Yet
there Is no probability that the Psalm
ist had any idea of setting a limit to
the life period, or that he had any
authority whatever for so doing. Many
of the sayings in the Bible which peo
ple take so literally are merely figures
of speech to illustrate an idea. So far
as the Bible is concerned, there is just
as much reason for setting the life
limit at one hundred and twenty or
even at Methuselah's age (nine hun
dred and sixty-nine) as at seventy or
eighty. There Is no evidence in the
Scriptures that even suggests the ex
istence of an age limit beyond which
man was not supposed or allowed to
pass. In fact, the whole spirit of the
Bible is to encourage long life througt
sane and healthful living. Orison
SweU Mirdea, 1a Success Magazine,
THE GOLD INDUSTRY.
An Illustration Which Glvea Some
Idea of Its Immensity In America.
An eagle, a $10 gold piece, Is Just
about one inch In diameter. Imagine a
glittering yellow ribbon of 10 gold
pieces, lying edge to edge, beginning at
ban Francisco and extending eastward
through the Sacramento Valley of Cali
fornia, across the lofty Sierra Nevada
mountains, spanning the Great Ameri
can Desert in Nevada and Utah, over
the prairies of Wyoming and Nebraska,
across the green fields of Iowa and Illi
nois, over Indiana and Ohio and Massa
chusetts, half way to the British Isles
Imagine this continuous string of golden
eagles edge to edge, without break or
Interruption, over this vast stretch of
land and sea a distance which con.
sumes at least eight days in the swift
est express train and ocean steamers
and you will be. able to form some con
ception of the amount of gold that has
been produced Jn the United State.
It requires some such Illustration as
this to grasp the Immensity of the gold
Industry, to form some dennlte Idea of
the Importance and magnitude of the
gold production of the North American
continent. w '
The profits from the gold Industry
are magnificent. They are greater than
In any other department of commercial
activity. The figures of the world's
production are enormous. In 1907 the
output of the gold mines of the earth
amounted to nearly $500,000,000. Of this
vf.st sum about one-half, or more than
$200,000,000. was net profit- No other .
industry can make such a showing as
this. This gold was found in America,
In Mexico, In South Africa, in Australia
and elsewhere.
This huge sum of profits, more than
$200,000,000, was distributed to scores
of thousands of people. :
Tramp Ludy, I'm near perishing
from exposure ! Lady Are you a Con
gressman or a Senator ?-Town Topics.
"Doesn't she ever stop talking?" "Oh,
yes, when she is breaking In a fresh
piece of gum." Washington (D. C.)
Herald. '
"Is that woman rich?" "Rich 7 I
should say so! Why, she can even af
ford to be a kleptomaniac," Baltimore
American.
"She's not handsome, is she?" "Lord,
no! "Say, if there was a tax on beau
ty, she'd be entitled to a pension."
Cleveland Leader.
"The first time he went out in his
new auto he ran across a few friends,
and " "Did they leave families?
Baltimore American.
"Now, then, look pleasant please."
"Not at all ; this is to send to my wife
at the seashore. She would come home
at once!" Fllegende Blatter.
"Was your father college bred?"
"Yes, but we never mentioned It The
college he went to had a rotten foot
ball, team." Chicago Record-Herald.
She Are you good at guessing wom
en's ages? He You are not over 25.
She How do you know? He No
woman over 25 ever asks that ques
tion. '.
John I've Just lost a thousand dol
lars. Julia Well, it is better that ;t
should have happened to you than to
some Door beeisar on the street The
Club Fellow.
"It takes a heap o' . determination,
son," said Uncle Eben, "to hav yob.
own way In dls life, an' a heap o'
brains to know what to do wif It after
you gits It" Washington Star.
Harlemlte If you wrote yesterday
morning, : I don't see why I only got
your note this evening. Downtownlte
I do. I affixed a special delivery
stamp to the letter. New York Times.
"Ponsonby is the. laziest man I ever
saw." "What's the matter now?" "He
wants a safety razor that can be op
erated by a storage battery concealed
in the handle." Birmingham Age-Herald.
Mrs. Subbubs (engaging cook) Have
you any male friends? I can't have any
men banging around the place. Mandy
Snowball None, 'crept mah husban',
an' he don't come aroun' 'cept on pay
day. Philadelphia Record.
Terrible Child Will you please play
something for me, on the violin, Mr.
Jones? Jones But I don't know how,
Bobby. T. C. Oh. yes, you do, Mr.
Jones, I heard mamma say you played
second fiddle to Mrs. Jones.
Mrs: O'Toole Shure, 'tis bad man
ners yer goat has, Mrs. O'Fllnn. 01
found him In me cabbage patch this
marnin'. Mrs. Fllnn Shure, thin, tis
not bad manners that do bother the
darlln". 01 call it blame poor taste!
Fluffy Young Thing I'd like to pre
pay the express on this package. Ex
press Company's Agent What's the
value? Fluffy Youug Thing Nothing,
sir. It's a buudle of letters. , I'm
sending them back to him. Chicago
Tribune.
Caller (on crutches and with a band
age over one eye) I have come, sir, to
make application for the amount due
on my accident insuran.ee policy. I fell
down a long flight of stairs the other
evening and sustained damages that
will disable me for a month to come.
Manager of Company Young man, I
have taken the trouble to Investigate
your case, and 1 find you are not en
titled to anything. It could not Toe
called an accident You certainly knew
the young lady's father was at home.
Stray Stories. - . ;