Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-05-04

it In the center, then stick one half to
the back Of the stamp, and the other
half to the page. This will allow the
stamp to be turned up and examined
for water marks, grillings, etc. It can
also be removed and another inserted
without injury.
Until a collection has reached five
hundred Or thousand varieties the
cheapest way to purchase stamps is in
packets. The duplicates obtained can
be disposed Of to advantage in trading.
They should be fastened with hinges in
small book, which should be carried
in the coat pocket, in order to be al
ways handy. An excellent way of buy
ing single stamps is from approval
sheets, which are sent out by nearly all
dealers. These give the buyer an OPP
portunlty to see the stamps and Judge
if they are good specimens before buy
ing. Some collectors, through the
medium of exchange columns, find cor
respondents in foreign countries for the
exchange Of stamps, and in this way
obtain many specimens which are diff
cult to get here.
One of the greatest evils in stamp
collecting is the large number of coun-
terfeit stamps manufactured and sold.
How to keep their albums clear of
these worthless limitations is question
that has troubled all collectors. There
is no rule that can be given by which
to tell bogus stamp. 1t is only those
who have handled hundreds of the
genuine article that can detect the spu-
rious, and even the most expert will at
times spend hours in looking up au-
thorities and comparing specimens be-
fore they can pass an opinion upon a
stamp. In purchasing, however, there
is one rule which in nearly ever case is
an infallible guide, that is, where
stamps are advertised for one-tenth or
one-twentieth Of their catalogue price,
they can be relied upon as being coun-
terfeits. Stamps, like any other COM
modify, have commercial value, and
while competition may induce one
dealer to undersell another, he cannot
sell stamp catalogued at 81 for or
10 cents. Young collectors often
think that because the stamps they
have purchased are cancelled and have
paper on the backs they are genuine;
but it is an easy matter to give stamp
genuine-looking cancellation mark
by using a cork, and as for the paper
on the back, that is simply put on to
mislead the unwary.
There are two ways of collecting
stamps. One is to get together large
number of stamps and arrange them in
an album without knowing anything in
regard to their history or peculiarities.
The one who collects in this way may
be stamp-collector, but he is not a
philatelist. The philatelist is one who
studies his stamps. This remark may
lead some to wonder what can be
learned by a study of those bits of pa
per. There is much more than can be
seen by casual examination. A study
of his stamps will show the collector
that they are issued unperforated, per-
forated, double perforated, and rou-
letted. He will find that some have a
water-mark in the paper, and others
bear different devices, Some are
printed on thin paper and others on
thick, on dull and plated, water
marked and plain. 1t will appear that
the stamps of some countries are
printed from. wood blocks, some from
ivory, while others are masterpieces Of
the steel engraver's art.
When the collector studies his stamps
in this way he will begin to taste the
real pleasure to be obtained in the pur.
suit, and he will then begin to collect
varieties. He will notice particularly
in the United States stamps that nearly
all of the colors appear in number Of
shades, some of them in as many as
six. The 1861 and 1870 issues appear
with grilling on the backs, while hun
dreds of minor differences can be de-
tected by one who gives the subject
proper study; and as the boys mind i'd
enlarged through continued applica-
tion to his books, SO every hour spent
in the study ofyour stamps will add to
your store of knowledge, until your al.
bum becomes not only a collection of
stamps, we'll arranged and valuable,
but msmento of untiring researches
and q never-failing pleasure. -Harpe1's
Yoataag People.
IT CAME HONE 70 ROOST.
He was the proud father of four
growing daughters. and he was accus-
toned to keep them and their mother
in proper state of humility by saying
| "Feminine mind!" whenever their in