Evening star., 1942-09-27

Manning, philatelic curator of t
portrait OF DR.. Emanuel Herr
one face and a border represe
isuing countries is a feature OF
fortune. which has been granted to
me, to live to see my plans crowned
with success far exceeding my most
sanguine expectations; to find for
mer opponents converted into zeal
Gus friends, and, above all, to know
AS l do that, though nearly
40 years have passed since my plan
came into operation, the public still
retains kindly remembrance Of my
services to our common country and
to the world at large. The
uniform penny postage system seems
perhaps now to many persons to be
so natural and proper = that they
are probably unaware how incredu-
lous many people were 40 years ago
as to its propriety, and how mar
rowly the plan, more than once,
escaped total shipwreck. =" hope
that my experience will be useful
to all who may at any time contem-
plate devotion of their powers to
the cause of departmental reform
that it may be serviceable alike for
encouragement and for warming
for encouragement as showing that
the field is open and success with
its rewards not unattainable; for
warning as showing with what diff
flculties it is beset, how serious the
obstacles, how long the delays, how
CALLING the notifications and how
deep the disappointments to be en-
countered even by one who is happy
enough to attain at length the goal
toward which his long, laborious and
anxious race has been directed"
Mrs. Grace Lowering MacKnight.
writing about the early postal his
tory of the Dutch nation, explains:
Holland, or the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, as its people prefer to
have it called, began using adhesive
postage stamps on January /, 1852.
Three denominations were issued,
the scent, 10-cent and 15-cent.
each showing a profile portrait of
the King. William III.
The early history of the country
clarifies the words Holland and
The Netherlands and refreshes
our minds as to the natural beauties
Of the little country.
I'm March, 1915, William Frederick,
Prince Of Orange, assumed the title
of King of the Netherlands. At the
time, the kingdom consisted of Hol-
land, Belgium and the grand duchy
Of Luxembourg. In 1880 Belgium
revolted and formed separate
kingdom and on the death of Will
liam III. father of Queen Wilhel-
nina, the grand duchy of Luxem-
bourg passed to prince of the
house of Nassau. With only Hol-
land left. the Netherlands. or Nider-
land, as it was originally spelled be-
came the preferred name of the lit
tie kingdom, lying on the North Sea
and which is actually but little
larger than the State of Mary
land. The Netherlands occupy the
lowest part of the great plain of
Northern and Western Europe
Some portions being Is to 20 feet
below the surface of the sea. the
country has to be protected by lines
Of dunes and artificial dykes.
Prior to 1850 the systems of postal
communication between the various
Dutch provinces, comprising the
Netherlands, were quite disjointed.
Some were in the hands of rural
administrations. some were man
aged by corporations and the rest
were in the hands of private in
dlyiduals. In an effort to secure
better postal service. the entire sys-
tenn was consolidated in the system
controlled by Thurn and Taxis,
which had monopolized the CONT
mental posts since 1850. They estab-
lished the first horse post between
the Tyrol and Italy, and this became
an important institution. Franz Won
TaXis, in 1900. was postmaster gen.
eral of Austria, the Low Countries.
Spain, Burgundy and Italy. His
successor. Leonard, connected up
Vienna and Nuremberg with horse
posts. and in 1895 he became the
grand postmaster of the Holy Roman
Empire and set up a post between
the Netherlands and Italy.
This same princely family is known
to have been at the head of affairs
in the Netherlands in September
1879. But in the 18th century they
cut themselves off from the great
postal monopoly of the House of
Thurn and TaXis and established
posts under the control of the United
States of the Netherlands. These
were modelled after the system used
in England.
"A decree of April IL, 1850, an.
nounced postage stamp system fol
prepayirfg postage on inland and on
foreign letters. Delays followed
probably due to difficulties in pre-.
| pairing suitable dies and other ma
terials for their manufacture
Stamp meetings for the week ar,
scheduled as follows
Tomorrow evening at 8-Capita
Precancel Club. Thomson School
Twelfth and L streets NV. Busi
ness meeting. Election of Officers
| Tomorrow evening at 8-Wood
ridge Stamp Club, residence O
Louis G. Nix, 1925 Randolph stree
NE. Business meeting. Nomina
tion of officers.
Tuesday evening at 8-Collectors
Club of Washington, Thomson
School. Program, exhibition an,
bourse,
!