THE STAMP COLLECTOR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1247, 23 January 1896, Page 17

THE STAMP COLLECTOR.

Edited bt “ Philatelist.” The Editor of this column will be glad to receive stamps from collectors who may be in doubt as to authenticity, values, &c., and give an opinion on the same. All letters must be addressed plainly—“ Editor, The Stamp Collector, New Zealand Mail, Wellington,” and must enclose stamps for return postage. The greatest possible care will be taken that the specimens forwarded are not lost, but no responsibility will be assumed. The Editor will be glad to receive correspondence of interest to stamp collectors, and also marked papers or cuttings relative to Philately. All such papers or cuttings to be addressed as above. HOBBIES. “ Rufu r ," in the Birmingham Post, says he has ju.ii come across a new publication that lie thinks >uui g folk will be glad to know of. ft is a penny weekly issued from Bouverie House, Salisbury square, London, entitled Hobbies. “ Every man hath business and desire, such as it is," says Hamlet. Business assuredly most of us, and some modicum of leisure, which we devote to some hobby or other. Some are wise enough to stick to one hobby and they become proficient in it. Few can manage to excel in three or four —and many ccme unutterable croppers in attempting a legion. This little publication is to take up all sorts of hobbies and to give in plain language practical counsel and direction. Stamp collecting is, of course, included among the very miscellaneous subjects to be dealt with. We do not know of any other periodical which takes up this ground of devoting itself exclusively to hobbies. As promoting recreative work, which trains hand and eye, and quickens intelligence. Hobbies should prove a good friend to those who use it. ODDS AND ENDS. The editor of the Stamp Collector advertises in another column fdr a file of the New Zealand Mail from the time the Stamp Collector was started up to and including October 24. Any person possessing such copies, and being willing to sell them, will please communicate • with the editor, Stamp Collector, and , state what price he is willing to accept for i same. 1

The Evergreen State Philatelist has the following : —“A new issue : At the home of C. H. Wilson, ' that popular dealer of Melvern, Kansas, a son—ll pounds."

The letters C..W. found under the bust on the eirly issues of the Portuguese colonies are the initials of the engraver Charles Wiener.

The Philatelic Chronicle says :—“ We have got a letter from the Atlas Stamp Company, who say that they have recently had a consignment of St. Lucia Id on 4d, 1892 issue, in which the surcharge is distinctly over the postmark. Somebody is evidently supplementing the efforts of the colonial Postmaster, and collectors must bo on their guard."

Good stamps are something like good wine—more depends upon its condition and age, than upon evendts rarity.

London correspondents of che great English provincial newspapers do not now consider* items of stamp collecting news beneath their notice, and frequent references may be observed to interesting items relating to thedoinasand say in. s of collectors and societies in the metropolis. This may not be of any great importance, but straws show which way the wind blows.

Australasians, and particularly New Zealanders, may now congratulate themselves upon the fact that there are no more fashionable and much-desired stamps in the world of philately than theirs. It is believed that specialising in these stamps is more general upon th® Continent of Europe than ever before.

Philately is very strong in the English Midlands. There are societies little, if any, inferior in numbers and position to the London Society. For instance, that of Birmingham numbers seventy-seven active members, and the value of the stamps dealt with by them in the way of “Exchange" amounted for the last year to £2735. Mr Avery, the managing director of the great weighing machine and scale works (having inheiited his late mother’s tine collection) has now probably the best private one out of London, certainly as regards the United States and British North America. Mr Shorthouse’a collection excited even the admiration of Mr C. J. Phillips, who visited it recently. Periodical exhibitions are a feature of the Birmingham Society’s programme, to which Mr Castle has contributed and personally attended more than once.