Evening star., 1935-11-24


Also 300r single for the Sample Fair
and another of the same denomina-
tion for the centenary of Cayru.
The new post Office at Houlton, Me,
will be dedicated on or about De-
cember l.
Enrico Caruso, the famous Metro
politan Opera tenor, was, as every
BODY knows, keen and loyal
philatelist. He specialized in mint
COPIES. but did not limit his interest
to any single country. Notable Sec
tions of his albums were: Argentine,
Australia, Bahamas, Cameroons, Can
ada, Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon,
Falkland Islands, Finland, German
offices in Turkey, Gibraltar, Gold
Coast, Great Britain, Hawaii, Hong
kong, India, Kiauchau, Marshall
Islands, North Nigeria, Rhodesia, st.
Vincent, Sierre Leone, Turkey and
Zanzibar.
When the Arthur Hind 1c British
Guiana, known as ''the most precious
stamp in the world" was offered at
auction in London, there was no bid
der above the reserve price of f7,500.
The treasure will be submitted Tor
sale again shortly.
In Belgium, precanceling began
with the parliamentary election cam
paign of october, 1894. The postal
authorities expected a flood OF party
literature Just prior to the ballotlng
and prepared quantity OF marked
stamps for the occasion. Brussels LED
with the novelty, then came Antwerp,
Ghent and Liege in the order named.
The service was proclaimed to be per-
manent in 1895, and was of distinct
advantage to newspaper publishers
rushing late editions to post office
sorting tables for dispatch to out-of-
town readers.
The so-called Sturt commemorative
of Australia are a philatelic tribute 10
Sir Charles Sturt of the British army,
explorer of the Murray Valley and dis
coverer of the Darling River. APP
pointed surveyor general of South Aus
tralia in 1898, he led three expedi-
tions into the unknown interior and,
through his findings, contributed
vastly to the development of the en-
tire continent. But he paid for his
labors with his eyeSight and his last
years were spent in darkness which
terminated only with his death, June
Is, 1869.
Issued in 1880, the stamps of the
Sturt set are of identic design (Scott' S
type AID, values 1l2p, dark red, and
3p, dark blue.
The designer of the first postage
stamp ever issued was Henry Cor
bould, F. S. A., an artist in water
colors of exceptional delicacy and de-
tail" He was commissioned by the
firm of Perkins, Bacon & Petch.
bank note engravers, who had been
granted the contract for the British
postal labels of 1840 For IL guineas
Approximately s63), he prepared q
wash drawing based on Wyon's city
medal of Queen Victoria, and the re-
production soon became "the most
widely famous portrait in the world" ="
Corbould also designed the Britannia
stamps of Mauritius, Barbados and
Trinidad and the N"Queen Enthroned"
stamps of Victoria.
Referring to the celebrated scent
Alexandria postmasters stamp Of 1845,
Capt. A. c. Townsend has written:
1.-The first copy was found when I was
living in Washington, about 1895. A
bishop there went to call on mem
ber OF his church. He rang the bell
and got no reply. Then rang again
and was just going away, when the
lady came hurrying to the door, hold
ing up her apron with a lot of papers
in it. She told the bishop that when
he rang she was up in the attic get
ting ready to destroy some old letters,
and she asked him to sit down a
minute while she emptied her apron
into the fire.
He told her he knew little about
stamps, but was sure that they had
some value So the apron was emptied
on the top of a table and not into the
stove-and among the papers was the
first Alexandria local!
LAS the tale was told to me, the
bishop sold the stamp for the owner,
getting $4,000 for it"
"The postage stamp" said Lord
Burnham, owner of the London Tele-
graph, "is the common currency of
human affection"
Harlow Ross, writing in Weekly
Philatelic Gossip, recommends Z
power jewelers. loupe for use in ex-
amining stamps for detail variations
Presumably, any optical supply dealer
can explain what the device is, how
it may be employed and what 1t costs
Secretary of the Interior IckeS has
added to his collection some interest
ing blocks of the first stamps OF the
Confederate States-Scott's Type Al
scent, green, imperf.
Correcting topographic error last
Sunday, post offices bearing the name
of Madison are to be found in Ala
bama, Arkansas, California, Connecti-
cut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota
Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire
New Jersey, New York, North Caro-
lima, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Caro-
lima, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vr-
ginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
For Monroe there are post Offices in
Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa
Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missis-
sippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina
Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsyl.
vania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah
Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin
The Reading, Pa, Stamp Collec-
tors Club, Eugene Klein announces
has indorsed the first American Phila.
telic Congress, to be held at the Ritz
Carlton Hotel, Philadelphia, Friday
~ nn