Evening star., 1933-07-09


birds.
United States adhesive postage
stamps were first Issued under the
act Of March 3, 1S47. They were placed
on sale at New York City. July. /. the
same year. Postal cards were author
lied by the act of June 8, 1872, and
were first issued May /. 1873. Books OF
stamps became available April 16, 1900
and coils February 18. 1908.
Stamped envelopes were provided fol-
were first issued in June. 1883. Printed
stamped envelopes followed in the
Spring Of 1865.
Newspaper wrappers were issued in
italy in October. 1861, under the act
Of February ~ Of that year.
The Osservatore Romano, ofiicial
Vatican newspaper. has been critical
Of the recent scent olympic Games
stamp. Complaining against the re-
production of the celebrated Greek
statue of the Discus Thrower," the
journal says the United States has been
guilty Of insulting childhood. deriding
adolescence. offending womanhood and
desecrating all the poetry Of life"
The government of Mexico In 1926
26 used stamps in fighting a plague
Of locusts or graSshoppers. The issue
was printed and sold to raise funds to
combat the pest, which was threatening
the food supply Of the country. All
letters were required to carry it as a
sign of the payment Of an additional
tax of one centavo (one-half cent?. 1t
has been known to collectors ever since
as "the grasshopper stamp"
c. Leonard Pfeiffer. writing in
Stamps. says: "On February 7, 1891. a
royal patent was granted by William
and Mary, authorizing Thomas Neale
to erect, settle and establish within
the chief parts OF their majesties'
colonies and plantations in America an
ONCE or ofiices for. the receiving and
dispatching of letters and pacquets and
to receive. send and deliver the same.
Post riders between Portsmouth, N H.,
and Virginia were dispatched weekly,
except during the Winter. when trips
were made fortnightly. The journey
required from four to eight weeks. de-
pending on weather and travelling con-
ditions. This was Americas first Or
ganiZed system Of communication"
About 1929 the franking privilege was
granted to Senators and members of
the House Of Representatives and to
postmasters in general The privilege,
it is said, promptly was abused A
classic example of extravagant misuse
still cited was that Of q Congressman
who rode his horse from New Jersey
to Washington and then franked the
animal home tied to mail coach.
One of the classic myths Of history is
countenanced by the 81 Columbian
stamp of 1893, Isabella Pledging Her
Jewels" Historians say that there is
not scrap Of evidence to support the
legend. 1t is retold with persistent fire.
quency. but the fact is that the queen
was under no necessity to make personal
sacrifices to finance the venture of Co.
lumbus. The total cost of his expedition
was small, and the money was obtained
without difficulty.
Weekly Philatelic Gossip prints the
following story: "A baker in st. Joseph.
Mo, knows his bread Recently he
sent parcel Of bread to the post ONCE
for shipment BY parcel post The post
of1lce called him in the evening and
told him that he hadn't put enough
stamps on the package In the morn
ing he went to the post Office and in
sisted that the parcel be weighed. The
scales showed that the postage had
been fully paid. During the night the
bread had dried out enough to reduce
the weight sufficiently"
There is a legend to the effect that
the young woman who posed for the
representation of the sower on the
stamps Of France died in abject poverty
few years after her portrait was rem
dered immortal by philatelic use.
The first two stamps issued by the
Chinese imperial government. 1878,
depict the dragon of Flu Hi, called Lung.
a fearful monster, emerging from the
waves and towering to the sky. TIE
beast is represented as guarding a pre-
cious stone. the Yehkuangchu. a gem
OF miraculous powers, always brilliant"
The earliest stamps Of Mongolia
1924. show the Lama scepter Of Indra
curious symbol of the universal
domination of matter, the triumph of
the Sangsara.' 1t is composed Of two
Dorje crosses emblematic of the SOW
ereign force and all might"
Thomas Burke. in City Of Encoun-
ters. writes: These people, I suppose,
are What Is called eccentric. but I can
not see that their behavior is any more
eccentric than that of other people
who pass as normal-people who collect
foreign postage stamps. snuff boxes. or
first editions, or who assert with their
money that one horse will run faster
than another horse"
1t has been announced that the
fourth prize in the doggie dinner phil
atelic contest has been awarded to Jan
Rus and Virginia Pennington. members
Of the John Quincy Adams School
Stamp Club. They will divide $50 worth
of collectors stamps.
Albert F. Kunze. leader Washington
Stamp Club of the Air Tuesday eve
ming at 6:45 o'clock from Station VOL
will discuss the 1-cent stamp of the
transmississippi series of 1898. Brought
out in connection with the Omaha EX-
position. June 10 of that year. this
production ran to 70.993, 400 copies.
manufactured from IA different plates.
The design includes supposed portrait
of Father Marquette. represented ad-
a.