Rhode Island Postal History - Cancel Varieties
Doane Cancel - Conimicut - June 14, 1906

In 1903 The United States Post Office produced a new type of rubber handstamp for use by the smaller fourth class post offices in an attempt to improve the legibility of their post marks. This type of cancel is called a Doane Cancel and is named for Edith R. Doane, the  postal historian who first made a study of these cancels during the 1950s. Edith published her research findings in 1978. 

For many years, Edith was not able to explain the use of the numeral within the killer. However, Richard W. Helbock in his book Postmarks on Postcards explained the correlation between the dollar amount of compensation for the year previous to the receipt of one of the new numeral postmark devices. The number within the bars refers to the Postmaster compensation for the year and in this case the number 1 indicates that the Conimicut Postmaster received less than $100 in compensation for 1905. 

(A numeral 2 would indicate compensation between $100-$200; a numeral 3 would indicate compensation between $200-$300, etc.)

Most of the Doane cancellation devices were issued to smaller post offices where the receipts did not exceed $500 in any one year. Some larger post offices also received these devices if specifically  requested by the postmaster.

The earliest known Conimicut Doane Cancel is June 9, 1906, thus the cancel above is a very early usage of this cancel, (5 days after first use). The number inside the bars is often difficult to see because of the green stamps in use at the time. 

The cancel on the Conimicut Cover shown above is a type 3 and contains the numeral 1 inside the bars. The USPS experimented with three different postmarking devices; (Type I, Type II and Type III), the first type used from April 1903 consisted of a cancellation section of five narrowly spaced thin bars with the numeral bisecting the middle three. Type 2, also used beginning in April 1903 consisted of twin open bars, more often contoured than straight at left and the numerals are shorter and thicker than those of type 1.  The twin bar type often became clogged with ink and a type 3 device replaced it at newly furnished post offices. The earliest known date for the type 3 is December 5, 1905. This device also had 4 bars, but these were solid and the numerals were bold.