FOR SHIP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 20984, 24 December 1931, Page 2

FOR SHIP COLLECTORS

[By Philatelist.] Any news, notes, ami Hems of philatelic interest will always be appreciated. Address care Editor. 11l connection with the celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of George Washington the United States of America is issuing a series of special postage stamps on January 1, 1932. The central design of stamp will be a separate likeness of George Washington engraved after the-work of artists who cither painted, modelled, or engraved the portraits of Washington from life. These portraits have been selected by the Postmaster-General in consultation with the United States George Washington Bi-ccntcnnial Commission appointed to celebrate this anniversary throughout the year 1932. The series comprises twelve denominations, from i-cent to 10 cents, -inclusive, and will be kept bn sale for one year.

Why the Dominican Republic should be among £ho despised of countries in philatelic popularity is inexplicable. The most historic of the Q'aribbecs, it abounds in an interest that is reflected in its stamp issues. The latest of these is a set which shows the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, a building which has no rival in the West Indies in romantic glamour. It dates from 1512, when Hispaniola, as the island, was then named, was the centre of Spanish .trade with the New World. In it the great Columbus chose to have his remains rest, and it is the belief of many that they arc still there, although Spain claims that they were removed to Havana and later, some two centuries after his death, to Seville. Tbe possibility is. however, that the body of Diego, his son, was exhumed in error, and in substantiation of this theory is the coffin bearing the name of Cristobal Colon, which was discovered in the cathedral in 1877, and which is taken by the Dominicans to contain all that is mortal of the discoverer of their country, in any case, Santo Domingo issued a special senes of stamps in 1399, in aid of funds to. build a suitable mausoleum, which is now to be seen in the cathedral. Both -this and the new set would look well together on an album page, suitably written up with a brief history. Another reminder of the antiquity of the island comes in the design of the new air stamps, which shows, besides an aeroplane, an ancient sun dial dating ■from 1753, when the French were in command of- the island.

' It is now almost certain that the New Guinea issue of 1925, commonly known as the Hut typo, is obsolete, and the general belief of Australian philatelists is that the last of these stamp? lias been seen. At a recentstamp auction in’Melbourne a mint copv of the £1 value was sold , for 445, and 37s Cd was - paid lor a copy each of the mint .and used 10a value. Collectors should endeavour to complete this set, as lar as possible, without delay. ' They are sure to rise in value, particularly those values from 4cl upwards, as the total quantities printed of the higher denominations were not by any moans excessive. I notice that some of the philatelic journals are loud in their praise of the work of the Australian Bruiting Office in connection with the recent Bird of Paradise set issued by New Guinea. For these stamps also a good, future is predicted.

•THOSE LONG SETS. It is natural to expect that the longest set ever issued ■ should come from Europe (writes J. Cannon). The holder of the record is Austria. 1 should think, for the champion set issued during the period 1922-25 consisted of no less than fory-uine. values. Most of these are floating around in “ free hundreds ” ; a few can be had at Id or 2d, while only one comes, up to the Gd mark, usecU I suppose Lithuania and Portuguese India would share second prize, each having a set of forty-four surcharges. Those of the new country appeared in 1923, and aro for the most part easily obtainable. In the case of the latter country, however, the prices of the long 1831-82 set aro in shillings and pounds. Germany can bo excused tor dumping a horde on us at a time. It was at its best in 1923, when wo wero handed a set of thirty-nine—all surcharged stamps again, and nearly all obtainable free gratis anywhere. Of course, the catalogue value is as many pennies. Algeria’s first issue numbers thirtytwo, and not one is elusive. Spain and Portugal aim at setting up records in long commemorative sots, as witness last year’s Spanish flood and the thirtyone 'Canteens stamps, etc. 'There is a long provisional series of Portugal, too; in fact, wo wore given about 220 stamps by this country in something like four years! Hungary had its fling in 1922-23 when we hud a sot of twenty-five of the “Harvesters” type. Azcrbaidjan and Czecho-Slovakia provisionals exceed the twenty marks, but those are post-war issues’. On the other hand,, Afghanistan’s crime was committed between 1881-90, and the productions of this period aro truly terrible in price, appearance, and number (respectively). ONE WAY TO PAY A DEBT. There is an Indian Post Office at Gay Head, Mass., a weathor-bea'ten shack about the'size of a couple of telephone booths. An Indian was postmaster until recently, when Uncle Sam found his books didn’t balance. .An investigation showed lie was 900dol short. The redskin explained the deficit to a postal inspector in this manner;— “ 1 owed lot of money. People pestered mo for payment. So .1 'wrote them out money orders. I had stacks of money orders hero, and nobody was buying them, anyway.” SEASON’S GREETINGS. The end of another year of grace is almost Here. Everyone is thinking of holidays and planning some outing, anything to got away lor a little irom the usual round. In many cases even hobbies arc, for tho time being, neglected. Like so many others, i, too, am going on holiday, and with the sanction of the editor, I have decided to close down this column until the end of January, when it will be resumed. Meantime, may I. convey to my readers the best of wishes for a merry Christmas and a bright and properous new year.