FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 22974, 3 June 1938, Page 3

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[By Ehuatelistl]

The monthly meeting of the Dunedin Philatelic Club was held in the Y.M.C.A. Rooms on Thursday evening of last week, there being 30 members present. The evening was devoted to the juniors, and the first matters dealt with were the answers by the seniors to several questions that had been submitted by the juniors. The main questions submitted were(a) Which is the most valuable, a torn, damaged, or heavily postmarked stamp ? (b) What is the best method of removing stamps from paper? (c) Is it worth while collecting shades ? (d) What is the difference between an overprint and a surcharge ? (e) For what reason is Mahomed Ali Pasha on a Medical Congress stamp of Egypt? Following this was a competitive display of one sheet of stamps owned by a junior, and judged by tno seniors. This proved an interesting competition, and prizes were awardeu as follows:—First, Master B. Taylor for his display of the Italian commemorative set of the birth of Vipgil, 1930; second, Master B. Gilchrist, whose display comprised the U.S.A. issue of 1936-37, ‘ Army , and Navy Heroes ’; the third prize went to Master G. Moir, his exhibit being the U.S.A. 1934 issue, ‘ National Parks.’ Stamp sales as between members brought the evening to a close. NEW C.S- STAMP; THE WHITE HOUSE The White House will be pictured on a new postage stamp to be issued some time this year, Postmaster-General James A. Farley has announced, A spokesman for the Post Office Department said a 44 cent White House stamp and a new 22 cent stamp por- ■ traying President Cleveland had been Suggested by President Roosevelt. To accommodate them, Mr Farley announced a number of changes in his plans for a new series of domestic postage stamps to be issued this year. He said President Monroe would be pictured on the 5-cent stamp instead of on the 4J-, as originally announced, and President Cleveland would be pictured on a 22-center instead of a 35-center. The latter denomination was dropped From the proposed series several years ago. Under the revised plans, the series will be as follows: Benjamin Franklin, 4 cent; George Washington, 1 cent; Martha Washington, 14 cents; John Adams, 2 cents; Jefferson, 3 cents; Madison. 4 cents; White House, 4J cents; Monroe, 5 cents; John Qnincey Adams, 6 cents; Jackson, 7 cents,Van Buren, 8 cents; William H. Harrison, 9 cents; Tyler. 10 cents; Polk, 11 cents; Taylor, 12 cents; Fillmore. 13 cents; Pierce, 14 cents; Buchanan. 15 rents; Lincoln, 16 cents; Johnson, 17 cents ; Grant, 18 cents; Hayes,-1H cen£s; .Garfield, 20

cents: Arthur. 21 cents; Cleveland. 22 cents ; Benjamin Harrison, 24 cents; M'Kinley, 25 cents; Theodore Roosevelt, 30 cents ; Taft, 50 cents ; Wilson, 1 dollar; Harding, 2 dollars; and Coolidge, 5 dollars. The. forthcoming issue already has drawn criticism from some Republicans that members of their party apparently were being slighted by beino assigned to denominations seldom sold.

CAMEL AND REINDEER STAMPS It would be very interesting if it were possible to place stamps in the order of popularity, but since so many thousands of stamps have been issued it is obviously an impossible task. One can, however, safely say that as a class those stamps which have animals as the major part of the design would come very high up in the list. And in particular those_ with camels would be well placed l in an animal class. The writer even now recalls the joy he experienced when as a boy he had some of those Nyassa (Portuguese Colony) stamps given him, and’ the same remark applies to some of the Sudan stamps with camels on them.

Suppose we consider this animal first. The Sotfth and Bast African Year Book gives an interesting instance of what these animals can accomplish. “A police patrol, mounted on camels, traversed Gordonia, the Kalahari Desert, etc., for a distance of 562 miles in 19 days. During this time, men and camels lived chiefly upon tsama. a wild! melon. The camels returned in good condition after being without water the whole journey I Another camel, an exceptionally fine animal, bred in Australia, used to carry the S Kalahari mail regularly 110 miles in eight hours!” Surely after that one wants to know something concerning the way in which Nature has endowed them to enable them to do this.

First of all their feet. These are two toed, and the toes are, as it were, joined together by a pad which, by spreading out, prevents their sinking into the loose sand. Their stomachs are so endowed that they can take in a considerable amount of water; nearly two gallons more than they need at the moment. This extra is stored in cells and can be used up as required. No doubt you have at some time or other been walking along a very dusty road, when the wind carried the .dust so it got' into your eyes, nose, and ears; and a most objectionable experience it must have been. Well, the camel has to put up with conditions much worse than this. Nature, however. has given it an abundance of protecting hairs, and its nostrils are

Then think of 110 miles in eight hours, carrying a load, mind you. and a camel can carry from 3001 bto ■lOOlb. The' hump is a store of fat which it uses at will, and 1 , by the way, a camel may have either one or two humps (Arabian or Bastrian respectively). A Dromedary is a special race of fast-moving animal. The camel is used by the nomads not only as a beast of burden, but it provides them with meat, milk, cloth, and skins. In that respect it is like the reindeer. which is a species of the deei family that is restricted to the Arctic and the sub-Arctic regions of the East and West _ Hemispheres. In America (Canada) it is known as the caribou. It is like the camel in that it is equipped with broad, wide spreading feet, which enable it to traverse snowfields with greater ease. It is distinguished from the other deer by the fact that the presence of antlers is noted both in the female and the male. Their food is lichen and other ground plants, and herds of these animals migrate southwards during the winter in search of their food, which further north is buried deep under the snow.

In Siberia and Lapland reindeer have been domesticated for ages, and are used for drawing sleighs. In 1892 a species of reindeer was introduced into Alaska from Siberia. This was done by the United States Bureau of Education, and the Esquimos having been encouraged to raise the reindeer, the experiment appears to have been successful.

Philatelists have a magnificent picture of the head of one of these beasts on the ‘ Trail of the Caribou 1 issue of 1919 by Newfoundland. The set was issued commemorating the Newfoundland forces which served in the war.

Each value of the set was inscribed with the name of a different action— Suvla Bay Gueudeeourt, Beaumont Hamel, Monchy, Steenbeck, Langemarck, Cambrai, Combles, with four values to the Royal Naval Reserve— Übique. Then, on the 1924 issue, the nine cent value has a picture of these animals swimming. Probably the most attractive stamp illustrating these beasts is the 10k of the Russian Ethnographical set, issued in 1933. Here you will see two reindeer harnessed to a sleigh’ pulling their owner over the snow.