The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-15
(ALL RESERVEDI
FAIRY TALES OF SCIENCE
81 POSTAGE STAMPS AS ILUSTRA TIONS
OF EUROPEAN HISTORY

with its curious arms In 1889 Austria was /
driven out of Lombardy. and the peoples
of the duchies and legations voted for /
union with Sardinia. So i'm spite of anathe- /
mas the Pope lost (viD Romagna. After /
Garibaldi's expedition 0S60), appeared first /
the stamps of the provisional government /
and then the new stamps of the Neapolitan |
provinces with head of Victor Emmanuel, /
not unlike those of Sardinia, but Inscribed |
in Grana. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel was
crowned King of Italy in Turin, and soon
appeared the new stamp of Italy. now a
country. no longer a mere geographical |
expression" In 1866 Austria ceded (viiD |
Venetia to Italy through Napoleon. The
stamps of the Gx) States of the Church.
with the crossed keys of Heaven and He'll.
were in use till 1870. when the Italian troops
entered Rome. q
San Marine, a tiny state near the Adri-
attic. and Monaco, just 10 the west of Italy,
are still independent.
The Eastern question is still unsolved.
For it's history we must look back TO 1893.
when Constantinople was taken by the
Turks. The forces now acting are the de-
cay of Turkish power, the difficulty of in
ternal communication, the variety of lam
guages, races and religions and the jeal-
ousies of other European powers. The star
and crescent now floats over a smaller part
of the Balkan peninsula than it used TO.
and in contrast to Italy we see in Turkey
the decay of empire. The people of Monte
negro boast that they were never in bond
age. Greece has been independent since
1929; and Mercury. once telegraph boy to
the gods on Olympus. is now in the en-
ploy of that government. In 1861 Roumania
was formed by the union of Moldavia and
Wallachia. Servia was independent in 1862.
The Russo-Turkish war of 1877 was fol-
lowed by the treaty of Berlin in 1878. Bull
garia got home rule and stamps with ram
pant lion. The Austrian arms appeared on
the stamps of Bosnia. Eastern Roumelia
allowed a separate stamp. but Emp
Ottoman was printed across ii in token of
submission. This stamp is no longer in use
as in 1885 Eastern Roumeia quietly Joined
Bulgaria. This was contrary to the treaty
but no one wished to risk war to enforce il.
By a secret treaty with Turkey, in 1873,
England allowed to occupy Cyprus,
not, indeed, until the Greek kalends come
but for so long Russia extends south of
| the Caucasus. The first stamps of the
| Provisional Joint Administration of Crete
| by France, Great Britain, Italy and Rus
| STA date from 1898. Their design and in
| scription are Greek, not Turkish, and may
| typify the future allegiance OF the island
The separate stamps of Livonia and Po-
| land have given way, too, and the Finland
| stamps have become more like those of
| Russia, on which we meet new alphabet
several letters resembling the Greek The
same head, King Oscar appears on the
stamps of Norway and Sweden, two gov
| ernments united by the one golden link of
| the crown. The Iceland stamps closely re-
semble those of Denmark, and the good
feeling with Norway is indicated by similar
| ity of design. The currency convention of
the Scandinavian countries is attested un-
| der various spellings (ore aur). In spite of
inviting offers, Luxembourg retains it's own
stamp. Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and
| Portugal are the remaining European
states.
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY.
Let no one suppose that these pages are
written to encourage the waste of pocket
Money on packets of assorted stamps. STU
| pendous bargains, rare, Obsolete unused
and guaranteed absolutely genuine But
let those who have made collections see
how much interest they may yield. And
TO those who still collect one suggestion
| may be made. Instead of trying to get
complete sets of stamps, be content with
one stamp type for each set, and try
to make a collection which shall have some
special interest of it's own. Better fifty
years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay,'
wrote the poet Let us paraphase-better
type collection illustrating European his
tory than a complete set of japanese ''tele-
graphs" Beware lest stamp collecting
grow upon you like the drink, and lest you
find your weakness traded on. The United
States government calculated that the new
Columbus issue would bring i'm an extra
revenue of perhaps million dollars. The
Emperor of Brazil, coming from the con-
tinent of republics and revolutions, was
once taken round an electrical exhibition
They showed him a dynamo running 1.5OC
revolutions a minute. "Ah," he said THAT
is worse than it is at home" Bankrupt
governments have found that they car
raise money by issuing new stamps, and the
states of South America rely on stamr
collectors paying part cost of their revolu-
tons.
Before long new series of British STAMPS
must be issued with the Kings portrait
| And yet we are loath to let the Queen
head go. Is ii too much TO hope that one
stamp might still be kept for auld lane
syne? There can be no precedent for it al
home because the Queens reign began be
fore stamps were used. But the United
States portray their Presidents, and oul
oldest colony of Newfoundland shows sew
eral members of the royal family Their
through the dim vista of the centuries on
stamp issue might become a national por
trait gallery of our sovereigns.
\ collection of historical European
stamps gives us vivid picture Of a stat.
of continual fiux and change. Wars anC
treaties, revolutions and plebiscites hav,
happened before and may happen again
5 THE parliament of man. the federation o
4 the world" seems very far away, but tn
Postal Union has already arranged a uni
= form letter tariff between all civiize,
countries. Collectors will look forwar,
: with interest to the problems of the future
: How long will the French republic last
| Will Spain remain a monarchy? How
strong is the link binding Norway an,
e Sweden? What will happen when the En-
e peror OF Austria dies? Who will get Con
stantinople if the Turk cannot keep il?
PRACTICAL HINTS