PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 54

PHILATELY.

By Pelure,

The prominent heads of all the Postal departments of the Australian colonies are in conclave in Sydney at the present moment discussing postal arrangements, consequent on the Federal movement. The main, business wiU be a uniform rate of pos-

tage ; date on Avhich the departments will .be handed over to the Federal authorities ; , temporary arrangements pending the estab- ; lishment of the General Post Office and Government Printing Office at the Federal capital ; stamps postmarked to order ; the commemoration stamps ; the Federal stamps ; universal postage. If a complete Federal set is decided on, I sincerely nope all remainders will be burnt and dies destroyed of the whole ot pres.ent post issues of Australia. We don't want any repetition of the Nova Scotia scandals. A correspondent in an Australian paper suggests that on January 1, 1901, all current Australians should be uniformly surcharged A(J iyi)l. This would be a capital makeshift until the Federal issue can oe printed. It is to be sincerely iioped that no special commemoration stamps will be issued to i provide iunds- for a special object. {Such is distinctly contrary to Postal Union j Rules, and moreover beneath the dignity oi i the new-born Commonwealth. j The first exhibition of postage stamps | ever held in France .was opened j.n, Bep- ; member by M. Mougeot, Postmaster-general [■in the hail of the ±\ational Society oi Hor- | txculture in Paris. The exhibition (says a Paris correspondent) contains rare stamps whose value may be gathered irom the lact that they have been insured tor i) 80,000. 'Iney are watched, by naif a dozen detectives, the authorities having remembered how the priceless collection ol the Paris j Aimb was stoieu a lew years ago. Per- \ i haps the Unest show at the Scamp Kxhi- j biuon is that of M. Bernichon, one ot the ! organisers. In a giasjs case maybe seen j two Mauritius stamps beaming tha iamiliar j emgy oi Queen Victoria. j.heir nominal [ values are Id and zd respectively, and tne ■ other day M. iternichon reiuseel an oiler i of £'Aluu for them. On±y 19 -kaunuus ! stamps ol the 1847 issue are known to exi&t ' — 1U red (Id) -and nine blue (id). Jiighteeu of these came iroin the collection ot l>r Legrand, who purchased them 68 years ago. The nineteen tn stamp was discovered eio years ago. It is impossible to give a detailed account ot the private coiiecuons, ' 100 m number, on view. They come Irom ; almost every country in the world. M. j Paul Mirabaud, a French banker, has lent j to the exhibition but a part ot his collec- | tion, and the value ot thac part is estimated i at #12,000, his whole collection being worth seven times as much. _ Its most interesting teature is a complete set ot stamps of the Swiss Cantons, ishued irom 1844- xo 18bX. It is a pity that the most valuable collection in France is unrepresented at the Rue de Grenelle — namely, that of M. Ferrary, nephew of the late Duchess of Gallieri. It is said to be worth £^80,000. M. Ferrary began his collection 30 years ago, and his gem is the blue Guyana, 1 cent. In this conneqbion it may oe mentioned (says the ' Daily News) that J Mr Tapiing's , collection now in the British Museum is ! worth £80,000 ; that of Mr Castle (London) > ±5140,000, that of Mr Duvren (JNew York) £80,000; while that of Mr Vickers, painter, the richest collection in the United' States, is estimated at £^40,000. Stamp collecting is a pastime of crowned heaiis I and princes. Tne Emperor ot iiu&sia, the I Duke of Connaught, <4ueen Wiihelmina, ! and the German jimperor own valuable j albums. I am pleased to see that the members | of the Sydney Phikitelic Club have taken ; stejos to commemorate the visit oi the Duke of ii r ork to our shores. It is, no doubt, generally known that H.R.H. is an enthusiastic philatelist, and deserving of a hearty j welcome from his feiiow philatelists, whicn we are sure will be accorded to him. "V.R.l.'s" and "Mafeking Besieged" stamps are settling down, and so are prices. Now it has become known that such a large ; quantity or the former were issued, buyers do not consider them such delicious philatelic plums, and rumours of forgeries of the latter have caused a regular slump. Some of the prices asked by holders are absurd in the extreme, but "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." NEW ISSUES. Corea has gone in for a new set. of seven values. Italy. — The fuss made by the Queen of the Netherlands when her portrait on the new Dutch stamps made her look "too old ' will be well remembered. Something jf the same sort appears to have happened in Italy, if the newspaper correspondents are to be believed. It would seem that ' the new King, Victor Emmanuel 111, is quite as particular, if not as vain, as Queen Wiihelmina in regard to his appearance. Some time ago a die was sunk for a new issue of Italian stamps showing the head of young Victor Emmanuel, and a few specimen stamps were struck off for submission to his Majesty. The latter promptly condemned them, pronouncing the portrait — a full-face picture — to be a bad one. "It does not give a sufficiently clean impression," said King Victor Emmanuel, which was a beautifully euphemistic way of saying that it did not do him justice. The next design submitted, we are told, will be in profile, and let us hope that this time the engraver will manage to please his. finnicking Majesty. India. — On and after the Ist October postage stamps ■of the denominations of \ anna, £ anna, 1 anna, 2 annas, and 2£ annas, printed in the new colour^ mentioned below, may be used in payment of postage and other postal dues for which postage stamps are used. These stamps, however, will riot be generally available at post offices -until such time as existing stocks of stamps of the same denominations in the old colours are exhausted. The stamps will be coloured as follows : anna slate-grey, anna pea-green, 1 anna crimson, 2 annas violet, 2^ annas blue. \ " HUNYADIJANOS."— This favourite Natural Water, in habitual use throughout the world, has established itself as a customary Aperient in all climates. Remarkably and exceptionally uniform in composition; free from defects incidental to others. — Brit. Med. Journal. Annual sale six million bottles