Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-10-11


however, we're not actually mailed
until after her forced landing on this
side Of the ocean.
Rev. Father John F. O'Hurley and
william A. Verhas are newly-elected
members of the Washington Philatelic
Society.
A treasure in the collection OF
c. H. Fargo e. Co.. 116 Market street,
Chicago, mailed at Pleasant Plain,
Iowa, May %, 1890. and inscribed by
rubber stamp neatly applied: From
mail pouch stolen at Wyanet June,
Ill. night of May 2Sth and recovered
by P. o. Inspectors June 18TH
Albert F. KunZe, leader of the
Washington Stamp Club of the Air,
speaking over Station VOL Mon
day evening. said, in part: AT the
Omaha convention several topics Of
national interest in the stamp world
came up for consideration and action.
The question arose as to whether the
American Philatelic Society should
support the National Philatelic Week
propaganda. The Resolutions COM
mittee recommended against partlcl-
patton and the membership supported
the committee on the theory. no
doubt, that stamp collecting Is an in
dividual hobby. to be followed py
those naturally interested, and needs
no circus ballyhoo. Serious collectors
look with miSgiving on the recent
p. T. Barnum type of publicity local
ized to current issues of the United
States. The national society went on
record also as being opposed 10 a
much discussed plan for censorlng
speculative issues of stamps said 10
have been released solely Tor the
enrichment of the issuing gov
ernments.
with the possible exception OF the
formal banquet at the close OF the
convention, the high spot OF the
annual gathering was the luncneon
of the philatelic press, over which l
had the privilege of presiding. All
of the principal journals were repre-
scented. The 'get-together' was appro-
priately christened the Phllatehc
Frying-Pan' by Mrs Eveleen w.
Severn of Mekeel's Weekly Stamp
News-a right good name for these
spontaneous 'outbursts' on the part
of the literary flrebrands OF philately
The problem of obtaining news
information from the Post Office De-
partment came in for criticism. One
writer from Chicago referred to the
fact that he had not received recent
press releases and admitted that he
does not expect to receive any as long
as his chief is on the anti-Farley
political bandwagon.' Another writer
from a different section of the country
followed with the statement that he,
too, was being penalized by the de-
partment in the matter of press re-
leases, while persons who were willing
to print without comment almost any
thing handed out by the department
succeeded in obtaining that informa-
ton even before public releases were
passed out to other papers, and all
of this, he claimed, was due to his
having written some things that were
not as complimentary to the
postal administration as they might
have been.
when an issue of stamps is with
drawn from public sale because OF
the depletion of stock or for any other
reason, the philatelic market gen.
orally steps up considerably. This
certainly was true in the case of the
recent TipeX issue. The market value
OF the stamps increased more than a
hundred per cent in less than a month
after the stamps Unexpectedly were
removed from public sale. Informa-
ton as to just when these spurts in
market values may occur, the press
representatives at Omaha felt, should
not be restricted to the few undis-
closed governmental representatives
who now decide behind closed doors
when an issue is to be removed from
sale. Such star chamber proceedings
came in for heated comment, one of
the speakers going so far as to state
that so long as postal officials con-
tinue TO hold within their own closed
circle information of such strategic
and pertinent financial value, they
cannot expect to rid themselves of an
uncomfortable suspicion.
Michael l.. Eidsness, jr., former
superintendent of the Division of
Stamps and father of the Philatelic
Agency attended the meeting in the
capacity of Washington correspondent
OF Stamps Magazine. He discussed
recent agency sales and declared that
they have not been truly represent
alive OF philatelic interest alone. He
pointed to extensive purchases by
business firms through Washington
agents, with the result that the reve-
nues of local postmasters throughout
the country declined. The original
purpose of the agency, he said, was