FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 23354, 25 August 1939, Page 3

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[Br Philatelist.] The monthly meeting of the Dunedin Philatelic Club ,waa hold in the li Y.M.CiA r .’ rooms last Thursday"evening, when there were 22 members present. The main business of the evening was a talk hy Mr J. M‘Ara on the subject of annotating a stamp collection. He drew attention to the advantages to be derived from the writing up of a stamp collection, and his remarks were illustrated by some pages from his own albums. Dr M. N. Watt Supplemented the remarks of the speaker, and gave some further useful information. The displays for the evening were furnished by Messrs M‘Ara, Kitchin, and Clark. Mr M'Ara’s exhibit comprised five sheets of Cape of Good Hope, included in which were 24 copies of the Cape Triangulars, of which five were in mint condition; five sheets of Victoria, which including five of the Id, two of the 2d, and seven of the 3d stamps of the 185055 issues; two sheets of Grenada, and one_ of each Dominica and British Guianas. Mr Kitchin exhibited 13 sheets of TJ.S.A. stamps comprising air mails and commemorative issues. These were all in mint condition and mostly in blocks of four. They were very neatly mounted' and annotated. Mr Clark showed a pair of the current New Zealand -id which were imperforate at the bottom, and a strip of three of the current Jd New Zealand postage dues, showing one stamp upside down. He also exhibited a South Africa cover and a cover with stamps issued to commemorate the twenty-fifth year since the opening of the Panama Canal. Stamp sales between members brought the evening to a close.

SIX NEW FRENCH ISSUES. The spate of French special issues continues —indeed, it seems to be increasing—and one wonders just how long it will bo before French philatelists demand a breathing space (says an exchange). This month there are six of these new issues to record, four comxnemoratives and two charities. The events commemorated are as follows: 90c, the laying of tho keel plate of the new battleship Clemenceau, the design showing the snip as it will appear when completed; 2f25, French participation at New York Exhibition, the design showing a view of tho French pavilion; 2f23, the centenary of photography, with portraits of Niepce and Daguerre; 90c, fiftieth anniversary of building of Eiffel Tower at Paris, the tower being the subject of the design. The charity issues were each of 00c + 35c denomination, and were issued in aid of funds for orphans of postal officials and for children of the unemployed. The Clemenceau issue provides an excellent picture of a modern battleship and also a portrait of the famous statesman after whom the ship is named. The date,- January 17, is actually the date of the launch of the battleship Richelieu. ■ The Clemenceau is being built on the same stocks, and the ceremony of laying the keel plate took place immediately Richelieu had vacated the building berth. POSTAL UNION CONGRESS COMMEMORATIVES. The striking design of the 5c stamp in the set issued by Argentine to celebrate the holding of the eleventh congress of the Universal Postal Union at Buenos Aires this year is an allegory of the postal services, and shows the globe encircled by a posthorn, symbol of early posting coaches. The complete series' comprised eight stamps, the re-

maining designs consisting mainly of views of famous Argentine beauty spots. Bulgaria has issued _ two stamps to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian Post Office. The 11 design is allegorical while the 21 shows the Ministry of Posts at Sofia. SUMMER CHARITY STAMPS FROM . HOLLAND. Holland’s annual series of summer charity stamps was on sale this 3’ear from May 1 to June 30, the proceeds being given as usual to social and cultural charities' There were five values as follows, the designs in all, cases being portraits; — lie, Thijs Maris, 1839-1917, the eminent painter; 2ic, Anton Mauve, 1838-88, a contemporary of Thijs Maris, famous for his landscape paintings; 3c, Gerard Van Swieten, doctor at the Austrian Court in the cightenth century; sc, Nicholas Beets, 1814-1903, theologian and author, famous also for his book, ‘ The Camera Obscura,’ first published in 1838, the year in which photography was “ born ”; 12ic, Petrus Stuyvesant, 1610-1682, Governor of Curacao and later of New York, whose portrait is included as a tribute of interest to the World Fair now in progress at New York. BULGARIAN RAILWAY JUBILEE. The jubilee of the Bulgarian State Railways is being celebrated this year and the special set of stamps issued to mark the occasion will interest most readers. There are four stamps in the set, each bearing a railway desmn. fine most interesting is the 21, which shows one of the modern express passenger locomotives used on the Bulgarian Railways. The other designs are as follows : 11 early six-coupled locomotive: 41, train crossing a viaduct; 71, King Boris as engine driver.