Evening star., 1934-06-17
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.
Postmaster General James A. Far
ley announced Friday that the Ma
tional Parks stamps will go on first
day sale coincidentally in both the
parks and Washington.
The first Of the series to be released
will be the 1-cent value, green,
showing FL Captain, Yosemite Valley.
1t will be available at park post Of
flee Monday, July 16, and at the
Washington City Post Ofice on the
same date.
Mr.. Farley's ruling will apply to the
entire series. But he wished it to
be understood that the Post Office
Department is making no distinction
between first-day covers bearing
Washington cancellations and first
day covers Cancelled elsewhere. He
made it clear that his decision was
based on a desire to accommodate the
National Parks Service and collectors
in general, and that he had been
guided entirely by his conception OF
what both the Parks Service and COL
lectors wanted, not by any personal
or official prediction Of his own.
Reports to the contrary notwith-
standing, there is a post Office in
Mount Rainier National Park. Wash.
1t bears the name of Longnire, and
occupies a niche in tourists hotel
just inside the southern boundary of
the reservation.
Representative Charles H. Martin
Of Oregon is credited in the Portland
press with having persuaded the Post
Office Department to include Crater
Lake in the National Parks series.
The new Scent airmail stamp, ne
cessitated by the change of rate re-
Gently authorized by Congress, prob
ably will 60 on first-day sale in Wash.
ington July l. the date on which the
change is scheduled to take place
Alvin w. Hall, director of the Bureau
Of Engraving and Printing, has re-
ceived the order for the correction oi
the old Scent plates, and actua
printing probably will be started thi.
week.
Wisconsin stamp and cover dealer!
are said to have assured the Post OF.
fee Department that they will b
content with f1rst-day sale at Greer
Bay only, providing Washington i.
barred" But many collectors hav'
indicated their intention to regarc
first-day sale at Washington as tht
only official f1rst-day.
California club women are agitat-
ing for a stamp in tribute to the
memory of Junipero Sierra, Franciscan
coloniZer.
Both the Boy Scouts and the Cir
Scouts have asked for stamps, and il
is rumored that their petitions art
being given friendly consideration By
Post once Department officials. The
Santa Claus stamp, which Mr.. Far
ley suggested as a joke, also is on the
list-it has caught the imagination ol
a large public, and it may be author.
lied in Difference to the wishes Of
those who say they want it for USE
on Christmas mail.
Dedication day cachets at the Ben
jamin Franklin Post Office. June II
reached an unexpected total of %. 900
The department and all individuals
concerned deserve a vote of thanks
for the fine efficiency of the service
on this special occasion. Cachet i'm
pressionS were clear and neatly ap-
piled, and cancellations were distinct
blIt not too heavv
A letter from Hans Halls, one oi
the most eminent philatelists oi
Sweden, contains a protest against
the careless canceling of United
States stamps on transatlantic let.
ters. Inclosed with his communica.
ton is a cover, mailed at Washing.
ton May II, bearing two Mothers day
stamps, each Of which is smearee
with black ink so that the design Il
almost completely blotted out.
1t would seem that Post Office De.
| partment regulations should be re.
, vised to penalize in some drastically
effective way those clerks who violat,
the Injunction calling for clean ane
neat cancellations. The matter ha!
been agitated for many years, bu
nothing in the line of the necessary
correction has resulted. No Other
postal system in the world is so oper
to criticism on this score.
A recent count of 1000 stamps
taken from a random lot of CORE.
spondence from different sections oi
the country, showed only 43 speci.
mems worthy of philatelic use.
The whole subject merits new con.
sideration at the hands of department
officials. Every stamp is of potentia
value to collectors, and that fact
should guide the Postmaster Genera
and his assistants in their decision
Great Britain, Germany, France
Italy, Switzerland and many othel
countries had the same problem, anc
solved 1t successfully long ago.
OF the Mothers day stamp, 49,
100000 were printed on fiat-bed
presses. 200, 100000 on rotary presses
1t follows that the fiat-bed type
stamps are about 13 times as de-
sirabie for collection purposes as the
more common variety.
The relatively small cost of printing
United States stamps is shown by the
following figures: George Rogers Clark
81 900 per million; Morse American
$3.50: Yorktown, $685.; Pilgrim Ter
centenary, $l72; N. r. A., $50; Century
Of Progress, perforated, $50, imper-
forate. $315; Mothers day, $l72.
President Roosevelt Is reported tc
be interested in the plan for q ma
tional philatelic museum in Wash.
ington. The project has been undel
consideration for many months, ant
we're the Nations leading stamp col.
lector to indorse 1t the dream might
come true.
! As outlined by Its sponsors, ther,