PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 39

PHILATELY.

By. Old Stamp.

• . • It appears that the process of bringing oat our new issue of stamps is slowly goiDg on, though I should naturally have thought they would have been in use long before v this. A, contributor to the New Zealand Times states that " the postage stamp plates, which used to oost the colony £50 eaoh at De La Rut's in London, are now being made by men in tha Government Printing Office. at a cost of £8 eaoh. This effects a. pro rctta saving on all the pottage stamps used in the colony ; and, besides,' it stops money going o«t of it, and 'teaches our own people a .valuable trade." I advocated that these stamps could be as well printed in the colony ai at Home at the time when tho new i#sue was contemplated, and am pleased to fijtd our Government ate carrying out the suggestion— not that lam vain enough to believe they are doing so at my suggestion. But there is a funny part in the quotation given above— viz , the pro rata saving. Perhaps the writer will go into figures and tell us whati the saving per ttamp will be on, say, just for example, 100,000,000 stamps— that is, 10,000,000 stamps per year for 10 years.. ' ■ " • . • The Philatelic Record prints a facsimile on a large scale of the new French stamp. It represents the flguro of a girl or very young woman of noble and winning appearance. The f«ce is three-quarters profile. The large eje r wide open, is expressive of spirit, intellect, and action. The mouth is refined, and the profile pure in style. The shoulders are protected by a plate of armour, and the body is dressed in ft pleated tobe, leaving the arms bare. The-leffc hand in front holds an olive branch, and the right rests on a sword, indicative of the state' of armed peace of the end of this century. In the top right hand corner a shield, about one* third of the length and breadth of the stamp, bears a value in old-fashioned figures. A scroll on the top beats the wwd "Poites," and another scroll at the bottom " Republique Frangaise." * . • The Biraingh&m Philatelic Society is one of the leading societies extant. It has 77 active members, and tho value of the stamps dealt with by them in the way of exohange amounted last half year to £2735. • . • A local story is current respecting the peregrinations of a letter. It seenis that In - January a letter was posted in Reefton addressed "Mr J. A. X.vßiedls, Dresden." v Dunedin was the place intended to be written, bub the error evidently arose through Me Riedle being the manager of the Dresden Pianoforte Company, and so the two places got mixed. Possibly with no address at all tha letter would have arrived at once, but bearing Dresden on the face of jj; the post office people; had no alternative but to forward it to Europe. First, of course, it went to Saxony, but J. A. X, not being discovered there it-was paised on to France, America, and Ceylon, aisd thence returned to New Zealand as a dead letter. The familiar initials, however, soon indicated its intended* destination, and it has juat found its way to its rightful owner after five months travelling to Europe and baok again. • . • Mr Castle, who has been touring the Continent, gives his impressions of Germany in connection with philately. He writes in the London Philatelist :—" In Germany and in Belgium the impression conveyed is that the number of collections is larger than ever, and that the fine specimens available for acquisition are far fewer, while the general interest in philately and all that appertains thereto. is most keen. The number of collectors in tha Fatherland is doubtless in excess of that in any othetk.pountry in the world, but it lacks men or sufficient pith and moment to make collections of first or second rank. No present-day traveller in Germany who knew the country « quarter of a century since but would be struck with the enormous increase in the material prosperity of Germany, and it is therefore to be regretted that the Germans should allow, from want bi pluck, so zoasa 0«

their finest stamps to go abroad. Philately, to use an Amerioaniim, baa come to flfcay^ and gome day the richer. Gferman collectors will be repurchasing their own stamps from abroad at prices far beyond those paid at this end of the century. In philatelic literature Germany has made vast strides recently, and now stands in Ihe very first flight among natiods." • . • The great Stanley Gibbons h»s been on tour again. This time (hie second visit) he has been to India and the different countries on (ho way. Of course when he goes travelling everybody knows what he is after—replenishing hii etockof good stamps. He that the good things are getting very scarce, and he did noj; succeed in adding largely to his stock.- He gives a brief description of the marriage of a Mr Battiwalla (a dealer in Bombay) with a Miss Edul jee Dorabji Umrighar. The day of the wedding was actually postponed so that Mr Gibbons might be present. . ' . ' A phiUtelio olub and exchange has been started in the West End of London. The club takes the form of a company of £12,000 in £1 shares, which has been duly registered. Clubs . of this kind have been worked successfully on 1 the Continent, and the wonder is that one has not been started in London before this. With co many wealthy colleoton in the village I cannot see why it sbonld not prove a very useful and paying institution. It will embrace all the adjuncts of a firft-clasi olub, certain day 8 being set apart for exchanging and buying * and selling, .while auction sales will be held at Intervals. ' • = , '■ i • Greece has a new isßue of stamps. They have been, introduced in commemoration of the restoration of ,tbe ; Olympian g&'mea.- The deMgns are very attractive and" artistic," and,-, it is the most important commemorative series issued since the. United State* Qolumbian set. ," . • , His Honor Judge. Fhilkirick, h»» been ' electsd president ot the newly-formed Salisbury Philitelic Society. At the first meeting' he made some suitable remarks. He began* by showing how the study of pestage stamps was a capital training in acour&oy and v obHervition, j and declared tb&t from his experience in certain ' marble h»ils it was a training that wa9 omitted frequently in the bringing up of children some years ago. Even the youngest collector could Dften teach the older something. , He gfcve some reminiscences of how the London society was started by himself and others, and of the ;iu?es (hut led up to cis formation. He gfcve many of his c-xperiencf s in olden days, wben £2 h&b thought an unexampled price to pay for . the very rarest stamp, and bow he obtained many of the gems that were in his own collection, and refused many stamps that are at the present time gems of the fii^t water. Mr Philbrick's remarks, comjbg as they did from a man who was one of the eatliest collectors in England, and whose collection was at one time probtbly the finest in existence, and. who has never given up the pursuit, were listened to with great interest.