Evening star., 1938-07-17
By James Waldo Fawcen.

~
A fervent plea for beauty in stamps
marked the apex Of an address by
Joachim c. Benzing before the Wash
ington Philatelic Society, Hotel Carl
ton, Wednesday evening.
The speaker, vignette engraver in
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
for 80 years, now head of the engrav-
ing department of the largest en-
craving institution of the world"
traced the evolution of steel engraving
as q distinctively American form Of
art. He paid tribute to the genius OF
Jacob Perkins, Gideon Fairman and
the Heath family, printers of the first
British postage stamps, and said that
their work has never been excelled by
so-called modern methods.
"Steel engraving" Mr.. Benzing ex-
planned, "centers in the magnifcence
and loveliness of the engraved line.
Art is beauty, but beauty is a. matter
of opinion and cannot be perfectly de-
fined to everybody's satisfaction. The
purpose of art, however, Is to awaken
emotion, and we all know that the
emotions of kindliness. hope and
faith are good. Art awakens these
feelings, when it really is art. There
fore, we can believe that we do have
certain standards for judging differ
ent artists and different schools of
art. A monstrosity does not awaken
desirable feelings. On the contrary,
the reaction Is unpleasant.
THE beauty of some stamps I have
seen is like great music. We have to
be educated to appreciate it. but once
we have learned how to see and to un-
derstand fine engraving we never can
forget"
Machine engraving, Mr.. BenZing
declared. cannot match competent
handicraft. Il appeal to you to give
intelligent consideration to stamps
from hand-engraved steel plates. Our
process is a product of native Ameri-
can ingenuity-a very wonderful
method of making lovely things"
Among stamps engraved by the
speaker exhibited during the evening
were: Sc, Mothers Day; Sc, Maryland;
Sc, Connecticut; Sc, Byrd; 1c, SC and
7c, National Parks; SC, Kosciusko;
soc, 65c, sl30 and $3.50, Graf zeppe-
lin; SC, Winged Globe airpoet; &c,
Aeronautic Conference: SC. Morse
American; 15c and zoe, Parcel Post
In recognition of his services to art
and to philately a large American flag
was presetned to Mr.. Benzng by the
society at. the close of the meeting.
Those attending included Alvin r.
Meissner, William B. Wells, William
K. Schrage, Clyde v. De Binder, Mrs
Catherine L. Manning, Miss Irene M,
Pistorio, Miss Dorothy Fisk, Mr.. and
Mrs Edward B. Martin, Philip Simms
Warren, DR.. Ellis Haworth, John r.
Ewell, J. Michael Brown, M. o. Cooper,
Gerard Ten Eyck Beeckman, Dr. NJ
G. Skinner, William A. Verhas, Col
Joseph Hyde Pratt, Robert Bills
borough, Alden H. Whitney, Theodore
Forbes, David D. Caldwell, DR.. Louis
Colors and sources of portraits used
in the new presidential regular series
of postage stamps have been listed by
the Post Office Department as follows:
1ac, Benjamin Franklin, orange, statue
by Earle Fraser, Franklin Insti-
tute, Philadelphia; 1c. George Wash
ington, green, bust by Jean Antoine
Houdon now at.Mount Vernon; 11se,
Mrs. L. Macdonald F1eeth in posses
sion Of the Daughters of the American
Revolution; &c, John Adams, red, bust
by Daniel Chester French now in
Senate Gallery; Sc, Thomas Jefferson,
purple, bust by Houdon in Library of
Congress; &c. James Madison, pink,
bust by F. William sievers in State
Capitol at Richmond, 4l2c, White
House, ebony gray, photograph made
by Bureau of Engraving and Printing;
SC, James Monroe, blue, medal fur
nshed by United States Mint; &c,
John Quincy Adams, red orange, bust
by John Cruckshanks King now in
Capitol; 7c, Andrew jackson, sepia,
bust by Belle Kinney in Hall of Fame,
New York University; &c, Martin Van
Buren, olive, bust by U. S. j. Dunbar
in Senate Gallery; &c, William Henry
Harrison, light pink, bust by Chester
Beach in State Capitol at Richmond,
and 81, Woodrow Wilson, voilet border
and black center, medal furnished
by United States Mint.
AlrpoSt service will be inaugurated
between Vancouver. British Columbia,
and White Horse, NJ Y, via Williams
Lake, Quesnel, Prince George and Fort
St. John, on or about August A. Ten
separate and distinct cachets will be