The Stamps of Canada Part 23

When I was in Canada last July I made special enquiries about these labels, as there appeared to be some mystery about their use.

Everyone agreed that they were not placed upon _all_ letters opened at the Dead Letter Office and returned to their senders, and no two persons seemed to have quite the same theory as to the rules for their employment or non-employment in any particular case. Even gentlemen connected with the Post Office at Halifax, such as Mr.

King and others, could give me no definite information. I therefore determined to see what I could do at headquarters in Ottawa.

Fortunately, I was able, through a collector in an official position, to obtain an introduction to the Deputy Postmaster-General, who most kindly gave me the following particulars, which show that the employment of the _officially sealed_ labels is very restricted, thus accounting for their rarity.

Letters in Canada, as in the United States, very frequently have on the outside the well-known notice containing the address of the sender, and a request that the letter may be returned if not delivered within a certain time. These, of course, are not opened at the Dead Letter Office, and in fact, I think, are ordered not to be sent there, but are returned direct from the office to which they were originally addressed or from the head office of the district. On the other hand, those that have no indication of the address of the sender on the outside are sent to the Dead Letter Office, and there necessarily opened; but neither of these cla.s.ses thus properly dealt with is considered to require the _officially-sealed label._ It is only if one of the former cla.s.s, having the sender's name and address on the outside, is sent to the Dead Letter Office and there opened in _error_ that the _officially-sealed_ label is applied, to show that such letter has been opened officially, and not by any unauthorized person. Whether these pieces of gummed paper ever had a more extended use or not I cannot say, but I was a.s.sured that the above was the substance of the regulations as to their employment.

The Deputy Postmaster-General further stated that there had been so many requests for specimens of these labels that the Department had been obliged to make it a rule to turn a deaf ear to all of them.

In any case they are not _postage stamps_, properly speaking, at all. They indicate neither postage paid nor postage due, but simply that the letters to which they are attached have been opened by proper authority, and they at the same time afford a means of reclosing them.

About 1905 a label of new design was introduced, this, of course, being the work of the American Bank Note Company. These are larger than their predecessors and are very handsome labels. In the centre is an excellent portrait of Queen Victoria, adapted from the "Law Stamps" of 1897, with "CANADA" in heavy uncolored Roman capitals curved above, and, at the top, the words "OFFICIALLY SEALED" in letters so graded that the tops form a straight line, while the bottoms follow the curve of "CANADA".

Under the portrait the words "DEAD LETTER" are shown on a straight label which extends right across the stamp, while below this is the word "OFFICE" on a curved tablet. The s.p.a.ces at the sides and the bottom are filled with elaborate foliate ornaments and engine-turned work. These labels are also perforated 12 and exist on two kinds of paper. Until about 1907 the paper was of a pale blue color while subsequent printings have been on ordinary white paper.

_Reference List._

1879. Engraved and printed by the British American Bank Note Co.

(No value) deep brown.

1905-7. Engraved and printed by the American Bank Note Co.

(No value) black on blue paper.

(No value) black on white paper.

THE END.