Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-08-18
POSTAGE STAMPS
INCREASE In PRICE

, called the stamps and destroyed them.
The next issue bore the queens head.
But. at the same time Mr.. Cornell had a
sweet revenge, as his stamps are no"
worth 800 each.
From what has been said It is easy
to see that stamp collections may De
worth fabulous amounts and this IS m
deed the case. In Chicago the most val
liable collection is said to be owned by
w. F. Gurley, who would not sell 1t ror
80 COO Still he would look cheap alongside
of r. ]. Crocker, the San Francisco mill
ionaire, whose stamps are valued at close
upon a million dollars. His United states
collection alone is worth 100000 while MS
Hawaiians are put at $1,000 and his Jap
anese at 5000.
But If not exceptionally valuable, sew
eral Chicago collections are interesting. j.
]. Oesch, for instance, has every German
stanp ever issued Recently when he
thought he had finished an almost lie
long task, a complete new issue was or
dered, comprising $40 stamps, and In or
der to keep up with the times Mr.. Oesch
had TO buv them all. Now he has over
1000 German stamps altogether and his
collection is valued at between 1900
and $500, or about $50 per stamp.
A collection of 400 Persians in the posses
sion of r. F. Robinson Of this city cat
aloguc at an average of nearly 81 apiece,
| his COllGCIlOn DelnE WOIln WV.
Not every one is familiar with the treas
ures of the post, however, and philatelic
| dealers could unfold many romance II
| is only matter Of days since, crumbled
and torn, a stamp changed hands in Chi
| cago for cents. Within a week 1t had
been repaired and cleaned and sold again
for 500. In another case the same dealer
was the fortunate victim of fraud. Like
| most Of his class he does large mail or
der business. sending out sheets on ap-
| prevail Last week a sheet came back ap-
parently untouched but on close examina-
! tion Il was found that two stamps had
been taken OFF and others substituted for
them One of the changelings was worth
$3.50. and in consequence the dealer alb
stained from prosecuting the offender, but
sent him more stamps instead.
The craze for stamp collecting appears
to be rapidly increasing and is by no
means confined to any one class OF So
ciety In Chicago and other big cities
regular philatelic auctions are held, and
at a recent one in this city the bidders
included an office boy, two mail carriers,
a doctor, a money changer, a lawyer, a
parson. several bankers. a newspaper
man, and a saloon keeper, combination
which seems to put the boasted republic
| of letters much in the shade. Most OF
| these men are members of the chicago
| Philatelic society. which has rooms In the
| Merchants block, ana now NUMBERS 30
| active members, all of whom spend much
time and some money on the acquisition
of stamps.
All collectors do not rely on purchases
! anu free gifts of friends. however. many
| indeed. making a rule never to buy
| stamp. There was an English schoolboy
| who tried a novel scheme during the
| Chino-Japanese war. His album yearned
for Japanese stamps, so he wrote and told
| the Marquis Ito then the Nikado's minis
ter for war how much he would appre-
ciate a gift. and how much he admired
| the brave Japs, who were doing Such
great things in battle. He got his stamps.
! 1t might be added that 1t is useless Tor
/ American schoolboys to follow his lead.
! as the marquis and most other prominent
4 men have since been wearied to the point
| Of refusal by the frequency with which
similar requests have rained in upon
! them.
Another neat dodge was inaugurated In
J Australia and earned for itself the title
OIL the SNOWFALL scheme" The collector
| simply addressed a letter to some one IN
! some other country, asking him TO for
ward a few stamps and send the letter on
to any one he liked in still another coun-
try. Thus it gradually Travelled round the
wcrld till it reached its Australian home
again. The best Of this scheme was that