The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-08-26
s BLOCKS SINGLES 2 ~ ~ WHAT'S DOING IN = |p The n
 s WORLD OF PHILATELy s

this now with advice on securing stamps of this description which are rather rare in the average mans daily mail, yet can be found in great supplies at the proper places. As Mir Platt says the ma jority of precancels are used on parcel post mail and business houses usually are the proper places for the ardent precancel collector to visit if he wants to in- crease his collection. Incidentally MT Platt's offer of 25 different pre- cancels for all applicants still holds good as long as his duplicate aup- plies hold out. @
 Variations
 So many variations, terrors, etc, have been found in the current George Washington Bicentennial issue that a collector could just spend his time on these stamps and he well occupied. Just glance at the varieties that the stamp week lies list, not to mention the offers of the dealers to supply you with perfect specimens. If the Wash ington Bicentennials did nothing they enlisted many new collectors and stirred up the tagging enthuis- asm of hundreds of others.
 Cachets Received.
 Cachets received by this depart ment in the past week included two celebrating the inclusion of Providence on air mail route AM I. New York to Boston. One was applied by the Postmaster, the other by the Chamber of Com merce. The date was August The first of the twelve cachets being applied at the recreated Fed eral hall in Bryant Park, New York city. by the Washington Bicenten- nial commission was applied August 2. It commemorated the date on which Washington signed the act creating the Northwest Territory Commission in 178o The Hand anniversary of the U. s. Coast Guard was observed at Sec. tion Base 21. St Petersburg, Flori- da, with an appropriate cachet and enclosure giving the history of this famous branch of government naval service. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored 1t and the date applied was August ....
 Total Eclipse.
 On August 31 there will be a total eclipse of the sun. The path of totality crosses Cape Cod, New Hampshire, a bit of Maine, and northeastern Vermont, passing thence into Canada. Other points in New England and the rest of the nation will observe this natural phenomenon as a partial eclipse. Doesn't this suggest something to avid cover collectors. Are there 0 xSx tAx ksx hA NR or better still what principal cities and towns lie in the path of the eclipse? There, no doubt. are many obliging postmasters all along this route.
 Mercier Issue.
 Belgium's Cardinal Mercier com. memorative issue Is most interest ing. For those interested we are printing the values of design. From printed illustrations they seem most striking. They are 10c. deep purple, full face portrait of Cardinal; soc, lilac, same as 10c: 75c, brown, same portrait; fir, red, same portrait; 1.75 fir, blue Car dinal protecting old men, women, and children: 2.50 fir brown. Car- dinal as professor at Louvain: 8 fir green, same as 1.75fr; 5fr, viole. same as 2.50fr; 10 fir, reddish brown. full length portrait of Car dinal.
 Can't Outdo Him
 When Linn's Weekly stamp News boomed Roosevelt for pres- ident because of his membership in philateltic circles 1t stirred up a tempest. Indignant readers pro- tested the joining of politics anI stamp collecting. Mir Linn replied that it was his right to support any candidate hs chose and if Governor Roosevelt happened to be q stamp collector and he could capitalize on 1t he certainly would. Now dis patches from Washington show President Hoover pictured with members of the Society of Phila- teiic Americans at their recent convention and telling them that the Hoover family has always bean a collector of stamps.