The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-19
QUEER THINGS ABOUT STAMPS.
How a German Firm Cheated the Home
POstOfiice.


The tiny squares of colored paper
which the governments of the world
atfix to the letters that travel from
town to town and country to country
and hemisphere to hemisphere of the
terrestrial globe are an invariable
source of interest to grown-up people
as well as to children with an ever in
satiable desire for collections, constant
~ demanding more, like little voracious
Oliver Twists
The stamp craze has attacked the
high as we'll as the low, the man in
authority as well as the man forced TO
obey. One of the most interchangeable of
philatelists was the lately deceased au-
thor. Harold Frederic. His collection
number great many exceedingly rare
and interesting stamps and was recent
ly disposed of at auction in London
producing a total that closely approx
mated $425. Among the rarities of the
gathering were Trinidad set, the CEN
tenary complete set from Canada,
gathering from British Honduras and
the complete Columbian set of the ex-
position year in the United States.
There were, as we'll, valuable stamps
from Switzerland and Mecklenberg-
Schwerin. Some of the collections were
j very curious and were disposed of at
"lldt III oHt tHbt duSLlbuSeE
declared to be shocking price. One
thousand Great Britain stamps CORE
spending in value to American Scent,
S1a-cent and 10-cent stamps realized
about so cents. One thousand United
States stamps of 1890, of Accent value
and brown in color, were appraised at
$125. A bundle of 1900 stamps from
South Australia, all of them obsolete,
were knocked down to buyer at about
81. while paper bag containing gal
lon of damaged stamps of various sorts
was disposed of for SS.25, a sum that
| may have purchased in the miscella
neous assembly some rare and valuable
single specimen of philltely.
In reference to stamps Henniker Hea-
ton, a member of the English parlia-
ment, recently stated that "A German
firm the other day economical about
$293 80 on 1000 letters for India by send
ing them in a parcel to England, and
having them stamped there" If this was
really SO and the letters were forwarded
from Germany to England, merely need
ing stamping, then the action must be
described as a fraud on the Engl sh
postoffice and an infraction of the GUS
toms regulations of Great Britain. The
Importation of letters into the United
Kingdom other than in the customary
form is strictly forbidden, all letters
found on board import ships, including
also all letters found in the baggage Of
passengers, excepting only letters CT
credit or letters of personal Introduce on,
are to be forwarded to the postoftlce
Immediately, and such letters, either
from the United Kingdom to places be
yond the sea or from places beyond the
sea to the United Kingdom, are charged
at the postoffice at the regulated for
eign rate. The master of every ship ar
irving in British port from lands out
side the British dominiOns is obliged to
sign declaration that he has delivered
at the postoffice all the letters that We're
on board his ship, or else he must swear
there are none on board, the law pro
claiming that "the master. officer crew
or passengers of any ship retaining let
tiers after the delivery of the. ships let