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 assured 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 spaces 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.

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