davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1953-07-26
PhHoteIic News
Government Profits From Stamps

Readers signing themselves
M. o. Kerr and James M. Cow
ington have raised the QueS-
tion: Do commemorative
stamps constitute q source Of
profit to the Government or
are they, on the contrary, an
expense? The matter has
been discussed on many pre-
vious occasions, and the
answer has been and still is:
Commemorative stamps con-
stitute one of the few money
making activities of the Post
ONCE Department. Collectors,
not the general public, pay
for their manufacture, plus a
neat profit"
AS far back as 1898, when
the Columbian Exposition
commemorative were issued,
the Government knew that
there was gold in them thar
hills" Beginning with the l.
cent adhesive showing Colum-
bus in sight Of land, the series
included 2. 3, 4. 5, 8, 8, 10, Is,
80 and so cent, 81, 50, 50, 81
and $5 denominations. A pur-
chaser of the whole set of Is
values had to pay 1854 for
them. Very few of the stamps
thus distributed were used for
postage. Since the cost Of
Evening star., 1953-07-26

Amelia and George except they
are mutually attracted.
It Is the Oldest member Of
the small crowd, the acidulous
Archie, who, all along suspi-
cious Of George, tracks him
down. George, Archie finds
and reports. is not having .
novel published, but Is q COM
plete phony. He used to be q
stock boy at the publishing
house. He lives with his par
ents in an East Side apart
ment which is really . tene-
ment.
It turns out that George. q
weak and futile youth, too
lazy to dig for what he covets,
has always lied his way into
advantageous situations. He is.
as a shocked and angry Amelia
observes, q pathological liar.
There have been q good many
stories about pathological liars.
What gives this one distinction
Is that it deals not only with
the tragedy Of George. but
with the effect he has on those
in the group.
Evening star., 1953-07-26

tionS for commemorative cost
80 1/10 cents q thousand.
The expense Of making new
designs and new plates Is in
cluded in overall production
costs.
Collectors pay the whole bill
through their purchases Of
stampS-regular postage and
commemorative alike-at diff
ferent offices of the Post Of
flee Department. Philatelic
Agency sales for fiscal 1852
amounted to $1,578,633.16. and
for fiscal 1853, $1,829, sos. .08,
and department officers de-
clare that IS per cent of this
business is "clear profit"
When. about 10 years ago, a
study Of sales to collectors
through local post Offices was
made, 1t showed total business
in amount Of $4,000, 900 an
nually.
The only important extra
expense in connection with
the release Of commemorative
is that of hiring extra clerks
at first-day sales Offices for
perhaps an ordinary business
week. This may run to $1,000
for a specific occasion. 1t is
charged in Post once Depart
ment books as incidental to
new business"
Mr.. Covington specifically
asked for figures on the last
four commemorative of the
year 1852. They have been
furnished by the department
as follows:
Scent Women in the Armed
Services, first-day business,
$24,210.
Scent Gutenberg Bible,
same, $z3 ,Z2O.
Scent Newspaper Boys,
same, $4S, ,440.
Scent Red Cross. same,
$Se,550.
Final sales figures for these
issues. of course. will not be
available until the stamps are
taken of sale.
Meanwhile, however. the
facts indicate that the philat-
ellie business on the Red Cross
commemorative alone paid the
production and distribution
costs Of all four Of the issues
mentioned by Mr.. Covington.
II commemorative stamps
were not profitable to thR Gov
ernment, there would BE no
more commemorative stamps.
Evening star., 1953-07-26

nations OF a carping mother,
and fend of the wolf that in
evitably comes prowling around
such an anomalous situation.
In due course, Ellen finds q
good job. and an eligible suit
or. q benevolent Jewish lawyer,
who helps her to straighten
out her juvenile delinquent son.
And then, one fine day, when
she has borne the heat of the
day Of child-rearing and eS-
tablished herself in the COM
munity, Ned returns, exuding
lavish gifts and the confident
air Of q man coming home
from q short errand on which
he has been unavoidably de-
layed.
No Eosy Solution
Many readers will sympa-
thize with Ellen's instructive
reaction to cast him right out
again. But Miss McGerr takes
the position that there may
well be two sides to the story
and introduces the thought
that marriage is a serious busi-
ness, not to be wished away
when things go wrong. She
manages to keep you wonder
ing right to the end.
The only exception I take to
the telling is Miss McGerr's
dialogue, which occasionally
takes on the aspect of q legal
debate. Her characters, other
wise convincing. are as logical
as she is, and speak like oppos-
ing attorneys sometimes in
stead Of like people under
stress. This possible carry
over from her "Whodunit"
days casts a slight intellectual
cloud over essentially emo
tional situations. It will doubt
less disappear as she continues
in this field Of serious"
fiction. which We hope she
will do.
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Ciono's Hidden Diary: 7o37-7o38
BY Count Galeazzo Ciano. (E. P. Dutton; s4J

. ~"SSSISS W"
an Englishwoman at the pres
ent moment"
Ciano's entries, with the
usual discount made for his
staggering, will prove Of great
value to future historians. For
the general reader, the side
lights will offer a certain grim
fascination. For instance,
Mussolini'S wrath at the Vati-
can 'for sliding to the left"
the wavering policy on Franco
from whom he constantly
threatened to withdraw sup
port, his cynical formulation
of an anti-Semitic policy, and
his dismay at not being
warned of Hitler'S AnsclusS in
Austria.
Although it is ostensibly a
record of diplomatic affairs,
the diary sounds more like the
operations of a couple Of gang
SterS who are trying from day
to day to cut themselves in on
a racket Of a bigger and more
successful operator. Ciano's
slavering protestationS Of af-
lection for Mussolini do moth
ing to dispel the illusion.
M. McG.
Evening star., 1953-07-26
White Hunter,
Black Heart
BY Peter Viertel.

ny FeCer V1erCel.
doubleday & Co.; $685.
The jacket Of this novel
states clearly that Peter Vier-
tel, a screen writer, went to
Africa with Director John
Huston. as script-doctor for
"The African Queen" The
novel tells the story of Peter
Verrill. a Script-doctor who
goes to Africa with Director
John Wilson for the screening
OF THE Trader" The frontis-
piece carries the usual dis
claimer about the imaginary
quality Of characters and Incl
dents. I don't know who's
going to pay much attention
to it.
The French would call this
OF course q roman a clet. I
think we would be more likely
to call 1t a virtually steno-
graphic report of an ordeal
the author felt he couldn' t keep
to himself.
But whatever it is, white .
Hunter. Black Heart" is a
highly readable analysis of a
"spoiler," a man of infinite
charm, talent and perversity
who must kill the thing he
loves. When John Wilson goes
to Africa ostensibly to shoot
THE Trader" he is actually
planning to do some big-game
hunting, which he calls "a way
OF finding out about yourself"
In the grip Of his obsession, he
bullieS gamekeeperS and pilots,
drives his partner nearly mad,
forgets everything about pic
lures, Hollywood, friendship
and decency IS he drives into
the jungle.
Something of the unpleas-
antly self-righteous and vim
dicitive tone Of the person
telling his part Of a quarrel
has, perhaps not Unexpectedly,
crept into the story, which is
too long, but gripping all the
same. M. MEG.
Evening star., 1953-07-26

The diaries covering as
much of the war years as
Count Ciano, Mussolini's SON.
in-law and foreign minister,
lived through have already
been published. This earlier
installment traces the events
that led up to the war. Italy,
having tasted blood in Abys-
sinian conquest. was now try
ing to match Hitler'S goose
stepping expansion, while
England, a poor third, kept
trying to divert Mussolini from
Axis partnership.
In retrospect, Chamberlain's
attempts are pitiful in their
futility. and the overtureS Of
his sister -in-law, Lady Cham
berlain, the worst kind of
Fascist fellow-traveling. Even
the coarse-grained Ciano had
contempt for her wearing of
the Fascist badge. saying "I
am too much Of 4 patriot to
appreciate such a gesture from
Evening star., 1953-07-26
The Hidden Face
BY Marie Banner. (Scribner'S; $3J

SsAS~A ~ ~SS S@A4ASSs wv SSAVSs
Miss Banners second novel
is a sharp character study, not,
as such things go, without
originality. It is written with a
facility that never deScendS to
sickness, and much of it is told
in dialogue that never fails to
be natural.
The story centers on a small
group Of close friends who,
with their parties and phone
calls, are pretty much a closed
corporation. Into this circle
comes George Wilcox, q youth,
who. as he explains with due
modesty, has come to New
York from the West to make
final arrangements for the
publication of q novel. His
publisher Is o discriminating
house and the group, sophisti-
Gated persons Of some culture,
naturally are interested in
meeting . young man who not
only is attractive but has great
promise. The most interested
is Amelia, an amateur artist,
wife Of George Loring, q pro-
feSsional cartoonist. There is
nothing wrong. so far, between
Evening star., 1953-07-26
BY jones Woldo Fowcett

manufacturing and selling
them was only q few cents q
set. the profit to the Govern
ment was phenomenal-and
convincing.
So pleased was the Post
Once Department with the
results Of the Columbian series
that it deliberately went and
did the same thing again" with
the Trans-Mississippi set in
1898. The occasion was not
nearly so important, but the
Government made the most of
its business opportunity, pro-
ducing nine stamps to sell to
the philatelic public at $3.50.
Having cost not more than 20
cents a set to manufacture and
distribute, these scraps Of
paper" yielded a rich profit,
indeed. to the postal system.
From then onward the Gov
ernment was in the stamp
business in q big way. It
brought out 81, 81. and IS
regular issue labels in 1902
1903, 81 stickerS in several
different shades in 1917. 50 and
IS bicolored adhesives in 1913
and the famous 65-cent, $3.50
and $3.50 airmails in 1880.
Collectors were expected to
buy these INSTRUMENTATION
engravings and they lived up
to the expectation to the hilt.
A similar observation applies
to the current presidential
regular postage set. which
runs ", /. Ia. 2, 3. 4, 41a, s,
6, Z, 8, .. 10. IL. IL, Is, II,
is, Is, II, Is. 10. 40, ii, "a.
"a, as, 80. SO cents; 81, 81
and $50 labels totaling
$11.Ss1a.
The expense Of designing
this entire series. released be-
tween 1898 and 1943. plus the
cost Of printing and diStribut-
ing 1t. added up to not more
than 20 cents a thousand. This
means that a collector buying
q set at the Philatelic Agency
or at any ordinary post office
pays the Government q profit
Of approximately $11.82 or
19.700 per cent!
According to Bureau of En-
craving and Printing figures
the actual designing, manu-
featuring and packaging ex-
pense for regular postage issl s
is only IL $40 cents q thou
sand. while the same opera
Evening star., 1953-07-26
ButlerAnnuol

Samuel Bookatx. Eliot o.
Hara and Andrea Pietro Zere-
60 Of the District Of Columbia
and Mitchell Jameson Of Lin
den, Va. are all represented in
the 18th annual mid-year
show ut the Butler Art Insti-
tuts, youngstown, Ohio, which
opened July 4 to remain
through Labor Day. The great
majority submitted works in
open competition. Nearly 900
artists Of 43 States and the
District submitted more than
1000 paintings, of which 1865
oils and 95 watercolors were
selected.
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Kensington
Theoter Openings

simultaneously WIN CnS
opening of Roth's theater in
Silver Spring, q one-man exhi-
bition Of water colors was in
augurated. The artist is Rob-
ert l.. Jefferson, q promising
young Negro artist of Phila-
delphia. He graduated from
the Philadelphia Museum
School and has just completed
q 2-year tour Of duty with the
engineers at Fort Belvoir. The
show will remain through July
and may extend into August.
The Avondale Playhouse on
Route /, Laurel Md, Is pre-
senting q series of art exhibi-
tions at two-week intervals,
coinciding with the change in
theatrical performances Of the
Pine Tree Players.
It's second art show, just
closed, comprised work by
Charles c. Shinn, District of
Columbia artist. 1t included
19 oils, watercolors and
gouacheS. mostly landscapes.
A majority Of them were new
works. the remainder being
selected from earlier years with
the objective Of demonstrating
continuity in the development
of Mr.. Shinn's present express
sion. 1t was his flrst major
one-man show since 1948,
when he had two In Washing
ton.
Third exhibition in the
Avondale series opened Tues
day, to remain through Aug
ust /: group show by artists
of the University of Maryland
Department Of Fine Arts. 1t
is composed Of more than 80
works by faculty and students.
In oil, watercolor and gouache.
The Cross Roads Theater.
WaShington'S oldest summer
theatre, now in its 18th season.
opened the middle Of July, to
remain to mid-August, paint
ings by Ellen Capo Conner. A
graduate in art from George
Washington University, she
also studied at the Corcoran
School. For seven years she
worked as an architectural de-
lineator. For the past two
Evening star., 1953-07-26

haps the consul will consent
to have the monarchy re-
stored under limitations which
would keep him in power.
Charles explains that he has
Artois' word "that nothing
dishonorable will be attempted.
Rebellion's one thing-assas-
Sination is another"
The young man little knows
Napoleon and his ambition
and is as ignorant of the plans
Of the royalists In France. led
by Cadoudal, who want moth.
ing better than q chance to
kill the soldier who has be-
come dictator of France
Charles is especially unaware
that Mehee de L. Touche, the
man who has conducted him
up the cliff and arranged q
conveyance to Paris, Is the
greatest agent provacateur of
the times and actually is re-
porting to Senator Fouche,
Napoleon's ousted Minister of
Police, a double-crosser Of top
rank.
Enter Romance
But Charles has entree to
Napoleon'S household through
the consul's stepdaughter, Jo-
Sephine'S daughter Hortense.
the wife Of Napoleon's brother
Louis. Charles and Hortense
were friends in adolescence.
Then, Unexpectedly. as such
things happen, Charles falls
in love with Diane de Florian,
maid Of honor to HortenSe.
There's all the action that
could be demanded by o reader
who wants to be diverted and
to try to forget the heat for q
couple Of hours. You'll 11nd
two Of the most exciting chase
sequences you ever read, one in
Normandy, the other across
the roofs Of Paris. There's q
duel, Of course. and q good one.
Napoleon is depicted as not
easy to fool. It's q waste Of
time, as one character OBJ
serves. to appeal to his sense
Of honor-he hasn't any-but
he is intensely practical and
always ready to listen when
his own interests are involved.
His Foreign Minister. Tai
lerand, and the others are
subtly but clearly imagined.
The ending is trite-it could
be called corny-but it may be
forgiven in view of the novels
felicitieS.
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Books in Review
Literute Thriller Of Bourbon
Plot Against Consul Bonoporte
The Fastening Wind
BY Edward GrierSon. (Knopf; $780,
Reviewed by corter Brooke Jones


This is an unusual historical
novel. The story it tells Of the
Napoleonic era is, in essence.
a thriller, and yet it is set down
in a literate way. addressing
itself to readers Of some intel
ligence, and it is enlivened with
sly and subtle touches.
Edward Grierson is an Eng
lish novelist who started out
as a lawyer. His first book to
reach this country. "Reputa-
tion for a Song" came out
early this year. It was q con
temporary story Of a murder
trial and it revealed an author
with a sharp sense Of the dra-
matte and an understanding Of
the depravity that often wears
the mask of virtue. With "The
fastening Wind" he shows
that he can handle deftly one
of those historical themes
which lead so many writer's
into highly colored nonsense or
into tedious books Of dreadful
length.
The scenes take place in
France in the winter of 1803-4.
It is in the 18th year Of the
republic. and, while the Terror
is some years past, its in
f1uence remains in a pretended
disregard of the prescribed
mobiles and a custom of calling
every one Citizen" Bonaparte,
married to Josephine, is first
consul. The time has not
ripened for him to be pro-
claimed emperor, and yet his
palace at the Tuileries comes
more and more to resemble a
royal court. Meanwhile certain
mobiles, most of them exiled in
England, are plotting to re-
store the Bourbon monarchy
and rid France of the upstart
CorSican.
A Blow for the King
The hero Of this novel is the
youthful Charles. Vicomte de
Bellac, who comes from Eng
land by the supposedly secret
royaliSt route to further the
Bourbon conspiracy. We find
him alighting from a ship that
has slipped in at night and
anchored of a rendezvous.
There Charles is met by royal
ist agents and piloted up q
cliff to a sheltered house. The
vicomte has old-faShioned
ideas of chivalry and he has
been instructed by Artois. the
leader in England, to approach
Napoleon automatically. Per-
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Whistler Show

One OF Cne quaint 1Olk-
ways of institutions here
and abroad is commemorating
the anniversaries of famous
peoples deaths. ANY excuse,
OF course, is worth while, to
publicize outstanding achieve
ment Of the past. But one
wonders why annual birth
days are not selected instead,
or the anniversaries of the
achievements themselves.
At any rate, James A. Nc
Neill Whistler died half a CEN
tury ago this month. In COM
memoration Of this 50th amir
versary, the Library of Con-
gress has installed q modest
show in one case, south side,
second floor, main building. It
includes q pencil drawing he
made as q boy, which was
found in an old trunk in his
home In Stonington, Conn;
several pen sketches made
when he was q cadet at West
Point (1851-54) and . litho-
graph made In Baltimore in
1855. Several early etchings
give promise Of his later mas
terry.
Original drawings Of the
butterfly symbol which he
adopted as his signature, q
number of Whistler's letters
and his large palette are also
on view.
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Crime
Reviewed by
Miriam Ottenbero

-
The Good and the Bad. BY
Joan Fleming Doubleday 81
Co.. Inc, $3.50.
Crime Club.
Ginger, a London spiv on
the run in Paris, visualizes the
grand deception. He will pose
as the half-French grandson
of a wealthy English peer, re-
turn to England with his
mother" and live in luxury.
This requires diSposing of the
true grandson, an idiot, and
keeping his mouth shut to
hide Cockney speech. Natu-
rally, Ginger gets himself in a
box from which there is only
one way to extricate himself
more murder. The emphasis
is on character, illustrating
the verse beginning: There's
so much good in the worst of
Nc AAC duO14O1 CdII1GS
her theme to the last page
of the saga Of the good-bad
Ginger.
The Big Ear. BY Stewart
Sterling &c. p. Dutton & Co.,
Inc, $2.50).
A murderer is on the prowl
in the little Eastern Shore
community-and it might be
anybody'S neighbor. But who
would kill the beloved "Dr.
John" and why? An aged law
yer and a telephone operator
infatuated with the chief sus-
pect combine to solve a puzzle
that covers too much ground
ever to get all Strengthened
out. The switchboard back
ground, however, is an inter
esting variation and there's
no shortage Of action.
Evening star., 1953-07-26

account of a forsaken wife who
must decide whether or not to
welcome back a wandering hus-
band.
The decision has many
facets, and Miss McGerr has
explored them all in a ra-
tional. clear-eyed manner that
woman readers especially will
applaud. That is not to say
that she berates the errant
husband, Ned, the better to
ennoble her much put-upon
heroine, Ellen. She has taken
the more difficult way of show
ing that it is never quite so
simple as that. and has. in
fact, woven into her story an
unobtrusive plea for tolerance
and understanding.
A College Romonce
Ellen and Ned had mar
ried somewhat in haste dur
ing their undergraduate youth.
Ned, . born gambler was al
ways close to some big deal
that never quite materialized.
Ellen had become q little
edgy as Ned fitted from Job
to job. There is. just as she
finds she is to have her sec
ond child. q scene-no worse
than several previous ones,
but at its conclusion, Ned
stalks out.
He stays away. as things turn
out. II years, q longish time for
a woman who Is neither wife
nor widow, who must be both
father and mother to two chill
dren, hear the endless recrimi-
Evening star., 1953-07-26
News of D. 6. Artists

Marguerite Kumm was one
OF three artists who had a trio
show Of etchings, block prints
and monotypeS in the print
rooms Of the California State
Library during May. Miss
Kumm has an impressive rec
ord as n print-maker in
exhibitions throughout the
United States. awards received
and representation in perma-
nent collections.
Rudolph Won Huhn is the
only Washington artist repre-
sented in the first Dallas Ma
tional Print Exhibition. His
linoleum cut. THE Queens
Cartouche" Is one Of more
than 160 prints selected from
nearly 1900 submitted by 600
artists of many States. The
show. sponsored by the Dallas
Print Society, opened at the
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
on June Z. Throughout the
next year. it will be circulated
to other museums and COL
leReg.
Evening star., 1953-07-26

S1uGS O tK1S
Atlantic, has
now written
h er hrst
serious hc-
ton, q ro-
nance. Love
being the
m y s terious
thing it Is,
she Is really
quite q t
home. 1.-THE
M | s q In &
Years" Is q
p ere eptive
and honest
Evening star., 1953-07-26
SiIIs at UrseII's

Ceramics by John and Es-
ther Sills comprise the special
exhibition this month Cthrough
next friday at Ursell's, 3243
Evening star., 1953-07-26
Reviewed by Mary McGroY

Miss Patricia McGerr, o
Washington young woman
whose mystery stories have
won warm approval on both
Evening star., 1953-07-26
hyKremIin
Line Appeals
To Far East
India and the
Awakening East

Indl0 ana the
Awakening East
BY Eleanor Roosevelt. (Har-
per d Bros: $j.)
Reviewed by
Richard FrykIund
Mrs. Roosevelt has taken
part in many debates in the
United Nations when the East
ern countries used their Joint
influence to find q middle way
in the Cold War. She wanted
to learn more about the East
ern outlook, so she set of
last year on q tour through
the Moslem and Hindu worlds.
This book Is the story Of her
trip.
It was a tour In the old
Eleanor Roosevelt tradition.
TireleSsly she walked through
native villages. popped in and
out of farmers huts, inspected
factories and attended count
less official receptions. She
questioned peasants, princes
and prime ministers on all the
facts of their national life and
customs. At the same time she
explained America to them.
Mrs. Roosevelt learned many
things:
. Communist propaganda
in the east is frequently more
effective than ours because it
does not promise things which
are unbelievable to the pea
sants-things like washing ma
chimes, automobiles and in
door plumbing for everyone.
. The Indian philosophy
which holds that it is good
to resign oneself cheerfully
to adversely interferes with
midas fight for progress.
Q American Point Four aid
Is helping to spark Indian
agricultural reform.
The book il written in Mrs.
Roosevelt's well-known style
informal. rambling and in
innate. But the book also Is in
formative. Her readers will
learn much about the Arab
Asian bloc OF Cold War
"neutrals,"
Evening star., 1953-07-26

@ street, Georgetown. This
husband and wife team used
to live in Cleveland, where
they regularly won prizes in
shows at the Cleveland Mu-
scum.
Their work includes many
functional itemS-plates, cups,
casSeroles, canisterS, ETC.,
along with many large deco
rative objects. 1t is dis
tinguished by the original
Sgratltto designs, etch e d
through the glaze before 11r-
ing. Their designs are varied
humorous animals. birds and
inanimate objects, leaf pat
terms and distractions. Their
work has won awards in ma
tional competitions, including
the outstanding ceramic an
nuals of the Syracuse Mu-
scum. and is represented in
the permanent collections Of
MI seumS throughout the
country.