Evening star., 1942-10-11
Among the Stamp Collectors
Neas of the PhHateHc World Its Interests and PEOPLE
By James Waldo Fayceff.

According to World Wide Service
advices from London: Even the
less indulgent of his fellow ofieers
express measure of sympathy
when Second 1t. Erwin Boettcher
speaks nostalgically of the good OLD
years-17 of them-in the Chicago
post office. 1t. Boettcher is second
in command at the American head
quarters post Office and lost 80
pounds in four months. The chief
Capt. L. S. Fogarty of Guthrie,
Okla, hasn't lost weight appre-
ciably, but he comedies 'there's
never dull moment. around this
place
The tremendous job of getting
the mail service going for the bene-
fit of the United States soldiers and
sirmen is, for the most part, in the
hands of experienced postal en-
ployes now on active duty.
Since this branch of the Ameri-
can Army post office in Britain
opened early in May more than
100000 V-mail, or airgraph, letters
have been dispatched and the aver
age daily volume is now running
between $500 and 5000. Ordinary
mail averages about 1000 pounds
some As letters to the pound-each
day.
"Money-order business is volumi-
nous and increasing. Capt. Fogarty
said that the average daily total
was between $1,000 and $4,000.
"'These sums, he explained,
represent mainly payments to rela-
tives by soldiers who either have not
made allotments or by those who
wish to make added contributions
to their dependents. There is al
ways terrific rush for the money
order windows after pay day. The
men send back home an eXtraordi-
nary amount of their money
THE parcel post end of the work
Is relatively slight because of the
British restrictions on shipping mer-
chandise out of the country. In
coming packages are numerous,
however, and provide some of the
most cheerful moments in the
soldiers lives.
The boys really look for those
packages 1t. Boettcher said. They
get their extra candy, cigarettes,
small parcels of food, even a few
items of clothing this way, and
think lot of the fellows are hap
pier when packages arrive for them
than they are when pay day rolls
around
Mail service for the United States
has been almost consistently good,
letters from most sections being de-
livered usually a week to 10 days
after posting"
Duell, Sloan & Pearce. New
York, have published a new geo.
graphic manual which should be in
valuable to stamp collectors-"New
World Horizons: Geography for the
Air Age" edited by Chester St.
Lawrence with colored maps by Ray
Ramsey. The text runs to only 90
pages, but a careful study of it has
a revolutionary effect on the stu
dents conceptions of the planet in
which, somewhat perilously, he lives.
For example, consider this excerpt:
Jules Verne's hero set an imagin-
ary world record in 1872 when he
travelled around the world in 80
days This breathless exploit was
supposedly accomplished in about
one-thirteenth the time required bv
Magellan's expedition to sail around
the world in 1922. Magellan spent
almost three years, or .083 DAYS. on
his globe-girdling voyage. In 1929
German airship went around the
world In 20 days and 4 hours, one
fourth of the time taken by Verne's
hero. In 1888 Howard Hughes flew
l4,624-mile course around the
world in less than 90 hours, one-fifth
OF the German airships time. In
1912 bomber, flying at 800 miles
per hour, can make the trip in about
45 flying hours. Thus Magellan's
world was 5l8 times larger than the
world OF today, Jules Verne's world
was SO times larger and even the
world of Howard Hughes in 1888 was
twice as large"
AN increase of more than 172 per
cent in the volume of outgoing "
mail during September has been
disclosed in a report of the Sec
1etary of War. There also of
course. has been tremendous ex-
pansion of ordinary postal COM
munlcation with troops overseas
Plans for an international stamn
exhibition, to be held in New York
during 1947, are being discussed bv
members of the Association of
Stamp Exhibitions on the chance
that peace may have been restored
by that date.
Inc second part-Volume 2-of
the SCOTS Standard Postage Stamp
Catalogue for 1943, edited by Mr.
and Mrs. Hugh M. Scott, will be
published on October 10. 1t will
contain the listings of all countries
outside the English-speaking family
of nations.
Wartime slogan meters are re-
ported as follows: Keep 1t Under
40, Drive For Victory; Plant a
Victory Garden, Food For Free
dom; ITO Win the War, Talk Less.
Do More; Boost Our Production
for Victory; "Insulate to Save
Fuel; War Calls Come First.
Awarded Navy E for Excellence"
Daniel E. Woodruff, 73, former
president Of the American Bank
Note Co., and also at one time in his
career managing director of Brad
bury, Wilkinson g. Co., Ltd, of Lon
don, both firms manufacturers of
currency and postage stamps for
many different governments, died
at Kennebunkport, Me, Thursday.
Post Offices named Freedom are
reported in Indiana, Kentucky,
Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, New