PHILATELY. By Old Stamp.

Otago Witness, Issue 2323, 8 September 1898, Page 44

PHILATELY. By Old Stamp.

THE NEW SOUTH WALES " FAKES."

This topic, which has created considerable j jxcitemenl in philatelic circles, has now j reached its second act — probably the last, so ' Far as the public interested are concerned. The Jap — Jonoski Takivma — who appears to ; have been the prime mover in the swindle, i may thank his stars, or, more probably, the judge, that he has practically been given th« option of doing 12 months and finding sureties' For his future good behaviour or of refunding the money which he had fraudulently ac- , quired. His wife, who waa jointly charged with him. as an accomplice, was ac- ' .glutted, as probably uei; part in the

j c-oii.mi-ioion of the offence was carried out j under coercion, or at any rate, to give her I the benefit of the doubt, without really knowj ing the gravity cf the offence she was com- ( mitting. Takuma and his wife both pleaded j not guilty when ovought up for trial at S'/d- | ney, but after evidence had been given the j male prisoner altered his plea and pleaded i guilty. I gave in my last a long detailed j account of this most interesting attempt on | the part of the heathen Japanee to gain an i honest livelihood, so that 1 need not repeat I the details. On the day following the trial his Honor Judge Murray, in passing sentence, i referred at some length to the fad' for collerti ing stamps, and said that, so far as could bo , j ascertained, those prdueed in the ca«e were j the only ones that had been faked by tho prisoner. As Takuma bad borne a good chavactpr prior to the offeree, ho ivtpndpd to den 1 with him undei tho First Offenders Act, and expressed a hope that alter lie had b»ou given this chance he would not again m vi to this dishonest method of making money. Ho passed a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment, but suspended it on the accused finding two sureties of £50 each for his future prood behyviour. Takuma was also ordered to enter into an additional recognisance of £60, and find two sureties of £20 each, that he would pay wecklv into the office of the clerk of the peace the sum of JGS 5s — £3 15s for the benefit of Mr J'ngen, who had been defrauded to the extent of £45, and £1 10s foi the benefit of Mr Collins, who had suffered to the extent of £18, until these amounts should be made good. A "CORNER" IN POSTAGE STAMPS. Under this heading the Cromwell Argus lias j an article. No doiibt to the casual reader it I may be interesting reading, and possibly 1 rovel ; but to the philatelist and to anybody who knows anything about stamps tfie result is only a smile, while some may even go vi far jas to call it , but Ido not wish to hint j the writer's feelings. It only goes to show how dangerous it is to write about things of which one knows nothing. As a yarn, it is interesting enough, while no doubt the facts are quite correct so far as stated. But the , astuteness attributed to the lads is not dej served, for they could have got more for the ' 2jd "error" in an unused condition than in A used. One would think from reading the

article that these " errors " could be purchased from day to day at any post office. Of course all philatelists — and many who are not — know this is not so, for within a week of their first being on sale in the colony the whole issue had been bought up by spocula. tors. However, as the article is interesting, if only to laugh at, I give it in full: — "The junior clerks in two offices situated rcspec tively in Queenstown and Cromwell evidently have their heads screwed on fairly firm ; and if they are not ' Hooleys ' in point of the magnitude of their transactions, still, in their own quiet little way, they are anything but dullards. No doubt^ like many other youths, they had been studying the price list of a Dunedin firm of stamp dealers and had noticed that the ruling price for 2^d used errors was 2s per dozen. It then became apparent to them that there was money in the biz sufficient, at any rate, to provide the übiquitous and fragrant ' Vanity Fair.' But how to get the stamps in sufficient quantity was the question for decision. After some little brain cudgelling, it dawned upon them that there were a goodly number of letters passing between the two offices carrying 2d stamps, and that if they put a little capital up they might safely increase Seddon's surplus at their own expense by paying in a halfpenny for eacli letter and affixing a 2£d error thereon. The office would be no loser, and when the letters arrived at each end the programme arranged was that the used 2id would be torn off and each dozen sold for 2s to the dealer in Dunedin. Clearly, the profit on the transaction would thus bo Is 6d per dozen, and nobody the loser. Unfortunately for the success of the scheme at its origin, the bosses of the respective offices each had an eye to the main chance, and as the letters arrived, the 2J>d stamps were duly attached and the boys were left lamenting. But not for long! Courage was plucked up, and a deputation waited on the heads of the offices and explained that there was a ' corner ' on, and that if the boys were to bring off their ccup they must do the appropriating themselves. A ready response was forthcoming, and now the budding financiers are smoking double doses of cigarettes. And in addition to this they have not lost anything in the estimation of their employers. Ihose boys may yet make a name for themselves in financial circles."

The "Panther of the Strand," for so the London correspondent of the Weekly Stamp News designates Mr W. ii. PeckiU, lias established a record in high prices by paying over £1000 for a superb copy of the Po&t Office, Mauritius, on the original envelope. This is undoubtedly the highest price ever paid for a single postage stamp. The copy is a beauty, lightly postmarked, and, as already stated, oil the original cover. Strangely enough the "writing on the envelope is identical with that on the one in the Tapling collection, but th& prices paid show a slight difference. The copy purchased by Mr Tapling cost 425d01, while the present specimen has changed hands at nearly, if not over, 12 times this amount.