St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-22

VOL. XV.-NO. II.
STAMPS WITH A HISTORY. !.
fvo 1ass 0pssansas Prsssnesa - ~
Natisaal A0os1n. L
There have lately come into posses
sion Of the National Nusoan Two arti-
cles which are Of great interest to every
American, and Of particular value 70
every student Of American history.
These arc nothing moro NOR less than
two Il the original stamps engraved In
England for use in the American colo
nies in accordance with the provisions
Of tho Stamp act Of February, 170&
This was the act which caused snch N
uproar among the colonies. and which
was one Of the main causes oe al the
trouble Immediately preceding and load
Ing up TO tho revolution. II was in
tended that the revenue to b raised BY
the Stamp act should come from Tie sale
Of stamped paper and stamps which
were required to b placed upon sll
paper used in commercial Transactions,
suits ut Law. publications. transfers Of
real estato. inheritancea. and marriage
licenses.
Thus tax was placed upon the colo
MES without their consent, and the
money derived from this tax was 10 b
used for the support Of standing army,
which In turn was expected to enforce
the payment Of the tax. Apparently NO
Englishmsn dreamed Of any resistanoe
70 the act. and it Is said that Grenvillo.
the Minister under whom the aot was
passed. afterward made tho statement
that he would have staked his Mfe on
the obedience Of the colonies 70 the
measure. OF course. however. there
was . decided resistance. as every
American knows, which led to tho re.
peal Of the act in March l766, under the
Rockingham Ministry. Tho stamps
themselves were handsomely engraved
and ran in value from halfcpenny M
to several pounds The two stamps now
IN the museum Arc Of the value Of
half-penny and penny. They arc un-
cancelled and arc two Of eight which
were preserved BY the heirs Of Hon.
Welbore Ellis. who was commissioner
Of internal revenue for Great Britain
In the year HISS After his death they
came into the possession Of his con
Welbore Ellis, Jr., who was . partner
In the famous banking house OF
Walker. Maltby, Everett 4 Ellis, which
failed in tho great financial panic Of
1897 These two stamps remained in
the Ellis family mp to . few years ago,
when they were given to Mr.. E J.
Walker. Of Newcastle-on-Tyne, by his
grandfather, the senior member Of tho
aforementioned banking firm, who was
interested In antiques and curiosities.
A short time ago the two stamps were
given by Mr.. E J. Walker to Mr.. John
A. Brill, Of Philadelphia. Very soon
after the stamps came into his posses-
sion Mr.. Brill received An offer Of SlO
from IN English collector for the two,
but declined IL 1t once, whereupon tho
Englishman cabled him an Offer several
times as large, which was also de-
clined. Mr.. Brill came TO tho conclu-
sion that IL the stamps were Of that
much value to IN Englishman they
would b Of much moro interest to an
American museum Of historical relics,
and he promptly presented them to the
National Museum here, where they will
Be appreciated and properly preserved.
They will b installed in . handsome
frame, which will have pictures sud
proper legends that will help to tell the
story Of the causes that led to the Amer
lean nrevolution.-washington Star,
An Ola Maa q the Neaatai..
Another ''old man Of the mountains
has been discovered in the White Mount
ain region BY J. n. Jerow. an artist Of
Portland. Me-, who has been taking
Photographic views Of tho picturesque
scenes near Sawycr's river. The most
curious circumstance Of the discovery il
the fact that the artist who took the
view Of the gigantic crag from which tho
huge stone profile Of . man stands out
in well-ddhned lines did mot discover the
statuesque head until IL was pointed out
to him BY George Payne, who happened
to take MP the Photograph. The like
ness Of . gigantic human face, which the
picture displayed to the eyes Of the
astonishod artist - soon - his attention
was directed to 1t by Mr.. Payne, was 50
strikingly accursfe that an excursion
was at once made to the spot whence tho
picture was taken, and then, for the
first time, the stern features Of tho
Hermit Of the Gulch" were revealed TO
mortal eyes. It is such .. palpab1e
semb1ance Of the human face that the
dullest eye can not fail to discern every
feature Of well-deAned pro1le.-CAi-
cago Herald. .{
AFtiAeisl LlgAeniag In War.
'sThis 10 the ago Of patent new inven-
tions for killing bodies and for saving
souls" is what Byron wrote nearly
century ago. There il . man over in
Trenton who comes forward to-day with
, scheme for killing bodies which, he
thinks, when duly patented, will revo- y
lutionize modern warfare. Unless be il
In error, the plan will certainly serve to
put IN end to battles, because the IN
ventor will BY this ingenious device kill
whole armies in day. The mans name
d Grinneel. He Is Jerseyman. and
leels little anxious to know what the
sfFect Of his plan will be before getting
} patent on it He wants it used oolv
IN case it would put N end 10 warn. The
Derseyman. you will see. is . kind-heart-
ID destroyer. His invention resides in
he power to produce lightning BY arti.
icial means. BY the use Of . small
lynamo Grinnell has already killed the
Lies In . 30x20 room, and BY . little
work In perfecting his scheme he ex-
pects to b able TO kill IN army any fais
Law In tho weak Tha act ~ whnIasaIn