============================================================== NO. OF | NO. OF | DESCRIPTION. | DUTY MANIFEST. | PACKAGE. | | PAYABLE. ----------+-------------+---------------------+-------+------- | | | $ | cts. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- E. 14. ................_Collector_. In its September, 1888, number the _Halifax Philatelist_ notes that the blank address side has been supplied with three dotted lines for the address, and inscriptions reading, in the upper left corner, "_Advice Note_", and in the upper right corner, "_Free, by order of the Post Master General_." One further official variety is somewhat unusual. The _American Philatelist_ for September, 1889,[247] says:-- "We are indebted to Donald A. King ... for information concerning what is certainly a novelty in the postal line, namely, an unpaid letter stamped envelope. When a letter is returned from the dead-letter office the sender is required to pay the regular postage and these envelopes have been prepared of various values. The only one we have seen is the 3 cent value. It is about 175 × 120 mm., and is made of manila paper. In the place for the stamp is a figure 3 about 23 mm. high. In the left hand upper corner RETURNED DEAD LETTER; in the lower corner-- POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CANADA, DEAD LETTER OFFICE. On the reverse, _The enclosed Dead Letter is returned by order of the Postmaster-General for the reasons thereon assigned_. The following values are said to exist: 3 cents, black on manila. 6 " " " ? 9 " " " ? 12 " " " ? 18 " " " ? We have no further information concerning them. [247] =American Philatelist=, III: 350. CHAPTER XXVI PRECANCELLATIONS AND PERMITS As a matter of record and without any attempt at lists of varieties, which would prove futile, we deem it interesting and important to give such information as is at hand concerning the precancellation of stamps for use on large quantities of identical mail matter, and of the more recent substitute for the precancelled stamp which is known as the "permit". Both ideas were of course borrowed from the United States, which was the originator of this form of labor saving expedient. The _London Philatelist_ for April, 1892, quoted a letter from Mr. L. Gibb of Montreal which enclosed "a specimen used on the letter, but with the obliteration on the stamp only, and also portions of sheets gummed and unsevered, but neatly postmarked with horizontal wavy lines." Mr. Gibb wrote:[248]--