STAMP COLLECTING

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 154, 26 March 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

STAMP COLLECTING

' By

“KAATA’

Stamp collectors in the United States have practically won a fight they have been waging for the last 15 years, now that Congress has passed a Bill to permit black and white illustrations of United States stamps being published. All the Bill now requires is President Roosevelt’s signature. The President is himself an ardent collector, and philatelists anticipate that there is little danger that the Bill will meet with Presidential veto. The measure allows United States stamps to be reproduced in United States journals, newspapers, albums, catalogues and the advertising literature of legitimate stamp dealers. A forerunner of what this means was given United States stamp collectors last year when the post office issued an illustrated booklet of the stamps of the country.

The United States is the only country which has not allowed reproductions of its own stamps to be made or imported in the albums, catalogues or publications of other countries. This has distinctly put American collectors at a disadvantage with their own stamps not shared with their Canadian neighbours, who have been able to buy English catalogues and albums portraying United States stamps. KING GEORGE VI COLONIALS Preparations for permanent King George VI issues are well-advanced, if not completed, in most of the British colonies, and already a number of them have announced details of dates of issue. From what can be ascertained in New Zealand most of the designs for the colonial issues will be,pictorial with a simple inset portrait of the King. . British Honduras is to issue a series of 12 stamps as follow:—lc., Maya figure; 2c., chicle tapping; 3c., Cohune palm; 4c., local products; 5c., grapefruit; 10c., mahogany logs on river; 15e., Sergeant’s Cay; 25c., dory (a sort of boat) ; 50c., chicle industry; 1-dol-lar, Court House, Belize; 2-dollar, mahogany cutting; 5-dollar, coat of arms. The British Somaliland issue also will be a pictorial series with designs as follow': —J, 1,2, 3a, vignette of black-bearded sheep, with a border design of spears and bucklers; 4,6, 8 and 12a, vignette showing the head of a* greater Kudu antelope. All the rupee values will feature a map of Somaliland, and in all values the name of the territory, “Somaliland Protectorate,” will be displayed at the top and the value at the base. Malta has issued an entirely new pictorial series and the designs in this case will offer a most interesting series of views as follow:—}d., Grand Harbour; Jd., Fort St. Angelo; Id., Verdala Palace; lid., neolithic hypogeum (monument) ; 2d., Citadel of Victoria, Gozo; 2jd., the Grand Master de I’lsle Adam entering Mdina; 3d., St. John’s Co-Cathedral; 4Jd., Mnajdra temple; 6d., Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena; 1/-, Maltese girl wearing the “Ghonnella” or “Faldetta” traditional headdress; 1/6, St. Publius; 2/-, Mdina (Notabile) ; 2/G, Grand Harbour; 5/-, Palace Square; 10/.-, St. Paul. Nigeria has also issued a full set of pictorials in which the eight lower values will feature types of mail transport. They are as follow:—2a., Dak runner; 21a., bullock cart; 3a., twohorse cart; 31a., camel post; 4a., mail train; 6a., P. and O. steamer; Ba., mail lorry; 12a., Armstrong-Whitworth “Ensign” type of aefoplane. The new 2/6 value will use the existing design showing the Vietoria-Buea road, and the 5/value will have the design at present in use for the 10/- value, the River Niger at Jebba. Barbados has already issued the first three values of her new set, the sd.. Id. and lid. Bermuda is retaining most of the existing designs, but certain of the colourings are to be modified. A new series will probably be issued for the •higher values, 2}d. and 2/- and fl. Ceylon will also retain most of her existing designs. Apart from the subtitution of the portrait of King George VI. and slight alterations to the borders, the only changes will be in the 10s. value, which is to show the Sigiriya or “Lion Rockthe 20c., which will take the 9c. design, showing tea plucking; and the 2r. value, in which an ancient guard stone will be seen.

Seychelles is to have an entirely new issue with three pictorial designs used over 15 values. These designs will show a coco-de-mer tree, a giant tortoise. anil a fishing pirogue respectively. Each design will embody the King’s portrait. Trinidad and Tobago will use the existing designs with the new King’s portrait. MOTHER AND CHILD DESIGNS On occasions the minds of stamp designers run on the same lines. A striking instance of this is afforded in last winter’s charity issues of most of the different stamp-issuing countries. The fact that five of a total of about 20 different issues were devoted to children’s or nursing charities explains to some extent the similarity in design. Czechoslovakia’s 2k. value of its Child Welfare issue showed a lullaby scene at a baby’s cradle. The two lower values in this series. 50h. and Ikshowed the mother, child and cradle only. The other four charity designs were Austria’s 24g. Mother’s Day commemorative; Belgium’s Queen Astrid Public Utility Fund series of eight stamps, each showing a portrait of the late Queen Astrid and the baby Prince Baudouin; Columbia’s sc. Red Cross tax issue; and France’s 65c. Health Society stamp.

AIRWAYS AND RAILWAYS “Kaata” has received a number of inquiries concerning the carriage of Empire mails by air without surcharge. This scheme ha s been operating for nearly ninemonths, but “no surcharge” applies only when sending letters from England or from one country to another, which is embraced by the scheme. There were certain extensions of the scheme other than Empire interest to which mail is now sejjt at ordinary postage rates, jbrijjglpg. the total of

countries served to 24. These are as follow :— Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Danzig Free State, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Roumania, South Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. STAMP PROFITS FOR SCHOOL It has often been claimed that stampcollecting is r useful part of a boy’s or a girl’s education, but rarely is there available such concrete evidence of philately’s value to education authorities as is afforded by the decision of the Barbados Government to devote the profit on the sale of Coronation stamps, amounting to £lOOO, to the building of a new school. AUSTRIAN RAILWAY CENTENARY The centenary of railway operation in Austria, which occurred last November, has been celebrated by a special issue of stamps, the three being referred to previously in this column. However, the railway history of the country is such that it deserves mention, and the following information may be of use to readers. The prime movers in the laying down of the first Austrian railway were Franz Riepl and Friedrich Liszt, whose interest had been aroused by George Stephenson’s successful experiments in England with the Rocket. Riepl succeeded in gaining the Emperor’s consent to building a line from Vienna to Bochnia, a distance of 2SO miles, and an official opening ceremony was arranged as soon as the first stretch of track, an eight-mile length from Floridsdorf to Deutsch-Wagram, was completed. The inaugural run was made on November 23,1837, tho journey between the then terminals taking 26 minutes. After 15 minutes’ rest the return journey was made, both runs passing off without a hitch. Regular public traffic commenced on January 6,1838. when a wooden bridge over the Danube was completed. The locomotive used on this historic run was the “Austria,” and this engine was shown on the 12gr. commemorative stamp. It was built by Robert Step- . henson and Company in England, and was driven by an English driver, who was attired in a frock coat, top hat and white gloves, and was greatlj- admired by the crowds who gathered to witness the day’s events. The 25gr. stamp illustrated the latest steam locomotive practice in Austria, the engine shown being one of a 2-8-4 class that is now used on the heavy express trains running between Vienna and Salzburg. They are capable of speeds approaching 100 m.p.h., even with extremely heavy loads to haul. Electricity is playing an increasingly important part in the working of the Austrian Federal Railways, and to-day 16 per cent, of the route mileage is operated over by electric locomotives. That shown on the 3ogr. stamp is representative of a new series recently introduced for use on a section electrified in 1935.

AUSTRIAN CHARITY ISSUE The designs of Austria’s 1937 winter relief fund issues continue the custom of recent years of reproducing portraits of eminent men of the past. In this set nine of Austria’s famous physicians are honoured, tile portraits being as follow :—

Five plus sgr., Gerhard van Swieteu (1700-1772) ; 8 plus Sgr., Leopold Auenbrugger (1772-1809) ; 12 plus 12gr., Karl von Rokitansky (1804-IS7S) ; 20 plus 20gr., Joseph Skoda (1805-1881): 24 plus 24gr„ Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra (1816-1880) ; 30 plus 30gr., Ferdinand Ritter von Arlt; 40 plus 40gr., Joseph Hyrtl (1810-1894): 60. plus 60gr„ Theodore Billroth (1824-1894); 64 plus 64gr., Theodore Maynart (15331592). This interesting series now includes musicians (1922), writers (1931), painters (1932), architects (1934), military and naval heroes (1935), inventors (1936), in addition to last year’s series.

NEW ISSUES The Falkland Islands have issued 12 pictorial stamps showing scenes, bird life and industry of these southernmost islands off South America. King George VI is shown in inset on each stamp, ranging in value from Id to fl . . . Egypt will issue this month a threevalue set for the international leprosy congress . . . Perak in the Straits Settlements will have a new set of stamps featuring the new sultan . . . Peru will soon issue a large new pictorial air mail and postage set. . . A commemorative stamp will be issued by Belgium for the late King Albert, who died while mountain climbing. The stamp will sell for 10 francs, four times its face value, three-fourths of the price going toward a fund for a monument for the king . . . Norway’s tall King Haakon is portrayed on a new photogravure issue . . . Chile will mark the loth anniversary of its acquisition of Easter Island, archaeological curiosity, with a commemorative set . . . Argentina will no longer issue separately overprinted stamps for each government department, but will overprint its regular issue with the inscription “Servicio Oficial.”