Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-11-22
STER. DAY COUNTY. SOUTH DAKOTA. NOVEMBER %, 1894
POSTAGE STAMP FAD.
1T BEGAN As A HARMLESS AMuSs-
MENT AND BECAME A MANIA.

of Paper That Have No Real yaiue-Some
of the Rare Specimens Fer which Fabu-
lous Prices Are Asked and Given.
The postage stamp mania is one of
the most curious of human fads, re-
marks a New York writer. A collection
OF coins is at the most worth the weight
Of the metal. Not so a collection of
stamps. The fashion may go ont as it
came in, and then the stamps will be
only so much waste paper.
The fad broke out in 1861 in the form
Of a few sporadic cases among school
boys and maiden ladies. 1t was not only
a harmless fad, but in the case of the
schoolboys it was even an educative
one. 1t proved the easiest, the pleasant
est and the most eficacious way of
driving knowledge of geography into
the adolescent mind.
But now that these first few sporadic
attacks have developed into something
a~larmingly like an epidemic one begins
to speculate whether the craze of the
philatelist is not a distinct bar to hu-
man progress, inasmuch as il
a large amount of brain force and vital
energy that might better be turned into
other and more useful channels of &C
tivity
In the United States alone there is an
organization called the American Phila-
telic association, which numbers 1,00L
members. But this represents only a
small fraction of the philatelists actual
ly in the country.
The greatest and most famous of liv-
ing philatelists - considered merely
from the philatelist point of VIEWS
NJ. Philippe de Ferrari, a dignified,
courteous and white haired old gentle
man who lives in Paris. He is a son of
the late Duchess de Galliera, who was
also a passionate lover Of stamps.
His collection is valued at $500, 900.
He has been known TO pay $500 for IN
album which contained only a single
stamp that he coveted. For more valu-
able collections he has never limited his
expenditures.
Next 70 the Ferrari collection comes
that of Baron Arthur de Rothschild,
which is so valuable that it's owner, with
the true jealousy Of the collector, re-
serves the pages containing his rarest
treasures for the delectation only of
himself and his most intimate friends.
Now, what constitutes the enormous
value of these collections? 1t is not the
number of the specimens. There are
more than 6, coo different varieties of
stamps now actually in existence. A
certain number can be obtained at COM
paratively light expense.
But the rarer ones command large
prices. Never mind whether the rarity
was created by age or accident.
The MacMahon stamp in France is
the blue rose, the unattainable ideal Of
the collector. When the marshal wa
president of France, his wife was anx.
ious to see his image set in stamps.
Designs were accordingly prepared,
but the postal commissioner rejected
them and adopted another design. New
ertheless there is a legend that some of
these MacMahon stamps got into circu-
lation. If a single specimen ever turns
up, it will be priceless.
AHDlllOI loSt plClto - ~ pOSNdSO stA
issued by the government of British
Guiana in 1856. 1t has disappeared from
the market, and specimens held IN the
hands Of private collectors are valued
at $3.50.
a set of four 1850 stamps also issued
in British Guiana bring anywhere from
s400 to $500, and a set of four 1852
Hawaiian stamps are valued at 81, 500.
The 10 and 80 cent reunion stamps
bring $500. The New Brunswick 5 cent
stamp, with the head of O'Connell, is
rarely parted with under $3.50.
Rare is also the black Canadian 12
penny stamp, valued at $125.
But the collector does not stop at le-
gitimate issues of stamps. He gives
fancy prices for varieties of shades, for
perforations, errors and watermarks.
At a recent stamp exhibition in Wen
ma an enthusiastic collector named Gil
webb displayed with pride the error
Of Franco stamp of 20 confines
printed in blue instead of black, the
terror of A~fghanistan and a stamp
with a missing ornament in a corner.
DR.. Mailman of Vienna had even
mere wondrous delights to unfold. for
he was the proud possessor of the two
rare errors" of the Cape of Good
Hope, stamps of l penny and A pence
respectively, which are blue instead of
red and red instead of blue.
Such errors fetch a very high
price, kept down only by the uneasiness
of creating new values" by wanting
m~isprinting.
No article on philately could be com.
plete without some notice of the 1.000,-
600 postage stamps myth. This still
survives in vague and uncertain forms
in the rural districts, where it is believ-
ed that some vast benefit, financial OF
other, will accrue to any n who col.
lects 1000, 900 stamps and forwards
them to the proper address. But the
proper address is nc-ar kerr.
The manuscripts of Tasso, which are
atiil preserved, are illegible from the
inanensc ianibcr of erasnres, changes
AMI omendations.
Bigamy il only a misdemeanor, nota