The Washington herald., 1912-12-17


Of state. Among the insignia worn py
the King is the order OF the Indian En-
pire. in the representation OF which
diminutive figure of an elephant Is
shown. On the majority OF the stamps
there is no room for doubt as to the
animal intended to represent, but on the
two annas and three annas stamps the
elephant is poorly executed. and bears
remarkable resemblance. not to the
stately lord of the jungle, but to the
humble pig. This fact did not pass un-
recognized by the vast Mohammedan
population of East India, by whom the
porker is regarded as ''unclean, strict
ly forbidden by the Koran ana abhorred
by. all true Moslems.
The affront TO their religious prejudices,
arising from the necessity of applying
their tongues TO this profane image
caused an outcry among the native fol-
lowers of Mohammed, who declined to
have anything to do with the despised
stamps. and as a concession TO their
| scruples II was decided that the offend
ing stamps should be called In, and a
fresh printing made with the elephant
correctly delneated.
A similar case was that Of the first
issue OF Sudanese postage stamps under
the Anglo-Egyptian rule, with its Ia
miliar figure OF a native camel postman:
The paper upon which these stamps was
first printed was watermarked with
curious device known to architects as q.
quartrefaIl-a cruciform flower. charac-
tcristic of the Gothic style: but its near
relationship TO the Maltese cross ap-
parently passed unobserved by those re-
| sponsible for the issue or they failed
| to appreciate its dangerous significance
in a MOhammedan country.
The first attempt at introducing West
ern methods, as exemplified by the ubiq-
u!tous postage stamp into the hermit
kingdom Of Korea, in the year 1884. was
| fraUght with disaster, being followed by
severe anti-foreign outbreak attended
with blOodshed and incendiarism. While
banquet, given by the postmaster gen.
eTal in honor of the newly erected gen.
| eIal post-Office in Seoul, was being held,
an anti-progressive riot broke out among
the populace and an attempt was made
to assassinate the Kings agent. The dis
order continued several days, the post
Office being burned TO the ground, the
postmaster shot, and the stock or stamps
| In readiness for the inauguration OF. a ma
t!onal postal service scattered through
the streets. Peace was at length restored.
! but nearly ten years elapsed before
further effort was made to establish
pOst-OffiC in Korea
An outbreak OF hostiltles between the
rival republics of Santo Domingo. and
Haiti was avoided by the timely destruc-
ton of a series of postage stamps issued
by the Dominican Republic in 1900 The
stamps in question bore a map OF the
island Of Santo Domingo. comprising the
two countries but in their anxiety 10
demonstrate to the world at large the
importance Of the "RepubliCa Domini-
cara by means Of this stamp map. the
ingenious DOminiCans overstepped the
boundary line, and appeared to have an
rexed a considerable portion OF Haitian
territory This quite naturally was re-
gaTded as a grave affrOnt by the sus-
ceptible negro republic, which made
strong diplomatic representations on the
subject, and went so far as to mobilize
troops on the Dominican border ere the
authors of this fragrant libel were in
duced TO make the "amende honorable.
Diplomatic rupture between Spain and
the South American republic OF Columbia
arose out OF the design OF one OF the
stamps issued by Columbia in 1910 TO
mark the centenary Of her freedom
from the Spanish yoke. On the ten CEN
tavos registration stamp was depicted
an incident in the Country's history,
when a number OF citizens OF Carthegena
were publicly executed by order of the
Spanish Governor. under circumstances
savoring of treachery. number of the
inhabitants having made good their es-
cape to the hills, when the Spaniards
finally occupied Carthegena after pro-
longed siege. Morillo. the Spanish leader.
erticed them back into the town under
promise of a general amnesty. Returning
they were seized and shot in body on
February "a 1916. Naturally, the Span
i:;h government did not relish this rak-
ing up OF past grievances, and threatened
TO recall the Spanish Minister from BO-
gotta unless the issue was suppressed.
This accordingly was done.
During the recent political upheaval in
China the postal service. by mutual con-
sent was treated as neutral by both
lcombatants and permitted TO exercise its
functions unmolested. But the over
printing of the current Chinese postage
stamps with syllable characters. signify
irg provisional Neutrality at the in
stance of the imperial government. pend
ing the granting of the constitution. was
resented by the leaders Of the military
re public of China, who demanded their
instant withdrawal, on the grounds that
the wording of the overprint was pref
JUDICIAL to the national repute.'
The stamps were called in. after being
On sale at a single pOst-office for pc
rod of three days only. The preparation
Of a series of stamp designs on behalf OF
the Chinese government cost one un-
fortunate his life. through an unwilling
breach of the rigid etiquette of the &C.
IestiaI court. r. A. de Wizard. an art
ist. occupying a high position in the i'm
periaI customs service in 1894, was COM
missioned to execute the designs for a
series Of stamps to be issued In COM
memoration of the slXtieth birthday a
the Dowager Empress
On submitting his designs, however, he
incurred severe Censure for having en-
ployed the abbreviation Imp. Chin.
Post on certain Of the stamps, in place
OF the fun inscription OF Imperial
Chinese Post" Chinese custom not per-
mitting of any abbreviation of an official
title. More serious still In official eyes,
was his crime OF using imperial purple
in his color scheme. the employment of
purple beng strictly forbidden in China,
except nv members of the imperial court.
For some time the fate Of the hapless
n rtist trembled in the balance, and 1t
was a question whether or not he would
be beheaded for his unconscious insult to
the throne Ultimately he was dis
Matched upon a forlorn mission to the
heart of Tibet, amounting practically to
a sentence of death, since nothing more
has been heard OF him.
In much ofthe recent writing on hered-
ity and eugenics reference is made to the
..IJsnsbur,- lin as an example of a WE'LL