Evening star., 1942-03-22
AMONG THE STAMP COLLECTORS
News of the Phatelc World Its Interests and PeopleReve of
the Stamp Press-Lst of Local Meetings.
By James waldo Fawcs5i.

y Ns
An official Post Office Department
press release on Wednesday said;
POSTMASTER General Frank c..
Walker today announced the estab-
lishment of a fourth-class post office
at Macarthur, Raleigh County, W..
Va. in honor of Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur, just placed in supreme
command over the navies, air forces
and armies of the United Nations
In the Pacific area.
This is the first post office in the
country to bear the name OF the
distinguished American general.
MacArthur's first postmaster will be
Mrs L. A. Shrewsbury. She has
a husband and three children, one
O, whom, a son, James E.. has been
serving in the Army Air Corps since
January s. 1941. Her commission
was mailed to her yesterday, the
dav on which Gen Macarthur as
sumed command of the battle forces
of the United Nations in the Pacific
zone.
The new post office IS located in
the heart of the coal mining region
of West Virginia. In the petition
from the citizens of Macarthur re-
Ceived at the Post Office Depart
ment requesting the establishment
of the office, it was declared that
such action should be taken as an
expression of their admiration and
respect for Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur and as being both timely
and fitting ,"
A supplementary statement yes
terday designated Wednesday, April
Is. as the opening day OF the new
postal station and said that special
service will be provided for collectors
applying for cancellations on that
date. All persons interested are IN
vited to send covers, with postage
properly affixed in care Postmaster,
Macarthur, w. Va.
The service flag of the Washing
ton Philatelic Society contains stars
for the following members: Capt
o. J. Baldwin, 1t Col. c. G. Bart
lett. Mai. Gen c. H. Bonesteel, Capt.
H. w. Coon. Capt. K. H. Cornell,
Col. Spencer Cosby, Capt. w. R.
CNpp, Maj. Harry Gantz, Col. c. S
Hamilton, 1t Col. e. A. HEM. 1t
Comdr. Myron Hofer, Sergt. Charles
w. Inglee Col. Alex L. P. johnson
1t. Col. R. C. Jordan, 1t. Comdr
H. H. Kretzler, 1t. Col. Limerick
KutachKo. Col. Fred B. Lafferty
Rear Admiral c. H. T. Lowndes
Col. Joseph Hyde Pratt, Maj. Julius
I. Peyser, Capt T. w. Richards, Brig
Gen. Haig Shekerjian. Maj. Gen
Karl Truesdell, Capt. Wilbur R. Van
Auken and Mrs. Ethel c. Smith
Some Of those mentioned are re
tired" but all, without exception
are aiding the national effort in one
way or another.
H. A. Robinette, 900 F street NV,
will dispose of the stamps left by
the late H. NJ Southgate. president
of the Bureau Issues Association
for many years until his death, In
l940
A valuable collection of stamps,
seals and autographs assembled by
the late Heber A. De Long has be-
come the property of the Collectors
Club of New York after having been
declined by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton. to which it had been offered
during the donors lifetime.
Mounted in two albums, the COL
lection consists of postal adhesives,
official insignia of various govern
ments. photographs of distinguished
men and women and signatures OF
the same celebrities.
Mr.. De Longs purpose was to
bring together an ensemble which,
as he wrote, will contain a page
from every country in the world
that issued postage stamps. signed
by the ruler Of the country which
the page represents" The diff
culties involved in the quest were
summarized in the words: They
told me it never could be done, but
here it is"
Ernest A. Kehr, philatelic editor
of the New York Herald Tribune
after inspecting the collection, re-
ported on March IS: The first
(section) contains 208 pages of for
eign issues. A single set of stamps
is arranged on each page so that
with a photograph of the ruler,
the official seal of the country and
the rulers signature, the whole
makes a pleasing layout. Each
page was sent to the ruler with 8
request that he autograph it and
impress the state seal upon it.
"Mr. De Long had no diplomatic
connections to facilitate the work
He simply wrote a letter and in
closed the page. Amazing as it
may seem. all but a few requests
were granted. In many cases the
seal of the country is similar to that
placed on important state docu-
ments. A huge gold or colored
paper disc is affixed to the page with
sealing wax and then embossed with
the die
The rulers whose signatures were
not obtained by Mr. De Long wert
King Farouk of Egypt. the Duke
of Windsor, formerly King Edward
VIII. and Pope Plus XII. ="
Among those individuals who re-
sponded favorably were Kaiser
Wilhelm II of Germany and Pre-
mier Benito Mussolini of Italy.
The second portion OF the collec-
ton contains 300 pages of United
States stamps accompanied by por-
traits and original signatures OF
Presidents, Governors and other
notable people connected with the
issues.
In this section one page may con-
tain one stamp or set, depending
on whether one persons picture ano
signature would be sufficient fol-
the set
Mr.. De Long was a camera artist
by profession The "layouts" which
he designed are richly decorative.
For several years before his death
the donor had hoped that his ma.
terial would be accepted by the
Smithsonian. 1t necessarily was re.
fused because of his stipulation thai