This circular seems to have had the desired effect, at least in good measure, for the stamp accounts in the Reports for succeeding years showed an average issue to postmasters of approximately 400,000 1/2 cent stamps, being a reduction of two-thirds. Finally, on the 19th May, 1909, an amendment[182] to the Post Office Act was passed which repealed the provision granting the 1/2 cent rate to newspapers and periodicals weighing less than one ounce, when posted singly. This placed them in the one cent per ounce class and sounded the death knell of the 1/2 cent stamp. The stamp accounts in the 1910 Report show 1,700 1/2 cent stamps on hand April 1, 1909, and 600,000 more received from the manufacturers. These were all issued to postmasters and a foot-note finishes the story: "Discontinued June 10, 1909." [182] 8-9 Edward VII, Chap. 30. Just why the 1/2 cent stamp never was issued in the King's head type cannot be stated. All the other values then in use in Canada had made their appearance in this design, the 20 cent and 50 cent even having delayed their advent until the stock of previous types had been exhausted; but the 1/2 cent Queen's Head with numerals was regularly received from the printers and distributed to postmasters down to the middle of 1909, six years after the King's Heads first made their appearance. With the end of its usefulness at that time, of course, disappeared all hope of ever seeing it in the King's Head set. In the issue for October 10, 1908, _Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News_ published the following editorial:-- We are enabled to report the existence of the two-cent Canada, current issue, imperforate, a reader having-shown us a sheet of one hundred of these varieties bearing the plate number 18. This is a discovery of momentous interest which must attract much attention not alone from specialists but from collectors, as we may say for the sake of distinction, as well. The fact that the pane bears so early a plate number removes it from any inclusion in the theory that the Canadian authorities propose to issue stamps in imperforate sheets in the manner that has been employed by the United States. Without doubt, the sheet under notice was regularly prepared for issue in the accepted way and it is the belief from information at hand that a sheet of four hundred of the stamps was printed and reached the public. This announcement created some comment and was made the subject of enquiry of the Post Office Department at Ottawa. The officials repudiated the idea that any such irregularity could have happened, but finally took steps to authenticate the report. In the issue of February 20, 1909, of the paper already quoted, is the full story of the "find", which has a peculiar interest, as will be seen later.