PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2173, 17 October 1895, Page 34

PHILATELY.

By Old Stamp.

[For the information of any of my readers detiring it, I shall ba happy to answer any ques»ti<»ug on this subject. In cases whe c an opiuion is <!e-ired on any atti ular stamp, tho same should be encl Bed to me, when every care will be taken of it aud returned wiih the information nought. A stamp «houl Ibe enclosed for reply. In case i whew a simple que-tiou is ask. d, it will be answered iv this c •lumn. AH c 'minunications should be luldresned "Old Stamp, care of Editor Otago Witness."] OUR NEW STAMP ISSUE. The Government have tlightly altered their arrangem nts, and havo decided to exhibit the design* for the new series of stamps iv D.mtdin prior to sending them to Auckltnd. To tbiß end they hivo entiu^ted the control of the Mchbii.m to M-^srs Stsn'ey and Co., stamp dealers, of D>m »din. The design* have arrived, and will ba i xtnbitnd in a day or two in a shop opposite fche City H/tal. From what I have heard, the designs in a larg-i number of cases aiv really works of ark. Where tbero aro ovor 2000 dfsigns it; is. of oourae, impossible that all can be good, but I feel sure the vub'ic will be gl*d of the oppi'rt mity of having a, lofjk ai them. A small ch<rgf{ will be made for admittance to oover the expenses, ni.d the Government will Innd tha balance ovec to oue or more charitable institutions in the city. The following concludes the brief sketch given by the Press of those deiigns taking prizes or worthy of honouraSle m*nfciou :: — *' In those st-lecfced for honourable menti"ii, the penny stamp is by Mr A W. Jones, of Chrintchuroh. The stamp, which is blue, is boid rod by native foliage surrounding the oval <'c igo, which is of a Maori oanoe oa a lake. The top of the design is burmouuted hy a cown. The twopenny stamp is by Mr J Gaut, of Wellington. If; is pure red in colour, having a well ex-icuted de-igu of free fe-ns fnd lake fernery in the cutre. The twopenc«-hilf penny is by Mr Book, of Wellington. It N pale blue in cl >ur, and the design ahowa Mount Cook from the Mutller Glacier. The t^jrt epeuny stamp is by Mr J. Gvufc, of Wellington. It is in <wo colours, the ground, containing lettering, bsiog in orenge brown, whi'si (he native bird forming the deiigu is in d?ep brown, making a very ■ ff c*ivo sUmp. The fourpe'inj si amp is by Mr F. W. Soors, of Weilingtjn. It h in tones of brown, with the design vertical. Tae bord-r, which is of pierced characber, is of liyli-. br.)*n. Tbe central de-ign, which is in dark brown, h a view of the Sutherland l.ill». The liv<p >nny stamp design is very cleverly executed by Mr A. B. Cousins, Wollii'gtm, drivvn on ivorino. Ifc is a deep red ; tbe border is formed of rep-o-d''C ions cf Maori ratving*, and thfi oval centre is a very xo-»il'jnt, view ol Mount Bgmout. The fiixj.enny, wh eh ia by Mr G^ut, hns a red bnd-r, tnclobing a design of a Miori lua^ngi house, in black and white, with Mount Tongariro in the background. The eightpenny stump is by |Mr R. Roy M'Gregor, of Wellington. It is in brown, with designs illustrative of gold ruining; tbe3e are three in number, cne in tha re i-ro being >n a circl-", wi'h the otLer two one on each s da. The shilling design is by Mr A W. Jones, of Chriurchurch. It is blue, and is noticeable for the beauti'ul detail work in engraving. The view in the centre is of an island, with snmvclad ranges surrounding it. The mouo^ram ' V.R. surmount* the centre deaun. Mr B.c't has the design for the two shilling f-timp. Thi>» ?s a basutiful sttrap. It is purple in colour, with awell-des gn3i3 border. Tue teutre is a tv? on a branch of a tc«e. The five shilling deiigo, wtich is in brown, i* by Mr Jostph Gaut, of Wellington. The border is a reproduction of Maori carvings, with a most spirited drawing of a Maori war canoe with a fully-equipped war paity. Mouut Tongariro is seen in thw distance." • . • M^j >r Evans, editor of tha Monthly Journal, has writteu to Mr Chamb»rlain accuiing Mr Cook, Postma- tor-general of Now South Walex, of debasing the philatelic currency by issuing reprints of out-dated stimpa po-tnwkel as if they had beeu uocd. • . • The Sccictv for the Sujpres^ion of Speculat^e Immus hwe puttbe'r brnudou th.i stamps of th" fol'o i i. g p'aceF, which t.hf y consider unihc cSAiy -. — Pidugal (fiw Antonio series), Coiuesc locals (Ohiefoo, CLinkirttig. Chiuik'ng, H>nkow, Ichang, Ke^'kiang, Tientsin, Wuhu, or any other plao in Chiua of a liko nature), North Borneo and Labnan (wiih the surcharge in red), B itinh Inland Mail ot Madagascar, Brunei, Cli| pet ton Island, E^ypt (tbe proposed fe-c at vmp), Bmiahir (native Indian Stitc). • . • It is said that among fcho ranks of the society called the 'Philatelic S^ns of America thco are more womeu than in all the o*her societies together. • . • A report of the work of the Philatelic Sjciety of London has been published. l\om it I notice with much pleasure that there h«s been a satisfactory improvement in the fhiMicial position, and tha v notwithstanding tbe loss cf 15 member? by res ; gnation the number now amounts to 282, and tho list is steadily increasing. There wera 24 meetings held during the year. * . * The apologists for Seebecks claim that the 6t«nps are pretty and cheap— that they are worth thd price asked for them as engravings, though they admit when questioned closely that the stamps cannot help but have an injurious effest on tae sr'i'TCJ. * . • It is conten)2>'-tfsd by leading philatelists in America to mtiuorialisa various countries whifh have hitherto issued new stamps perndioally with a view ti got them to ab>tain from •'.oiug so in future. Whether these States, or v .tevei 1 you like to call them, will look at the mater in the sime light is of course doubtful. TLey have for so long looked upon these thingaas a source of income that it will require a large amount of persuasion to induce them to stop it. Whoi), however, they come to realise the fefttes feeliDx shown bj philatelista o,\\ o?er

the rid hew go dd I*,1 *, they may possibly dls- ' ootn nue tt nstom. Let us hope they will. But it is d.> ful. • . • The po me in India not only collects and delivers 1 is, pardls, «nd othor articles, bub acts to a ittain exttnt as banker to the general pu'ilii lells quiuine and BT.lt, paya military pru<i 3, and coll its tho ruvoi-uo accruing tv tho G /ernment from land and other sourocs. But to the fertile brain of one of the oldest nffloerh of the department is doe the latest duv. lopn \of tbo work of the pDat office.- The Puuja Post Office has come forward »s an elem<. ity teacher. It not only collec' 8 letters ano -livers them, but teaches tho boys in elemei a'j' schools how to write and addreas them. ' • . • I should lib to bs able to get at, even approximately, *n> »tnount of business done by the stamp deal -a jf tie world. If I could it would startle th i>u'»lic or non philatelic world. In London ib ie no common tjing to hear of £1000 changing he. U at an auction sale. This may saem tall talk to those who have not yet attained to the poii on of advanced philatelist. The ordinary readei mvs 1 ; not ran away with the impression that the stamps fetching loDg prices are our everyday mo 'am stamps. They are, as a rule, the high-v4aed stamps of first iS'uen, and are conecquently very rare.