PHIDATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 66

PHIDATELY.

Br Pelu-uh.

What the trouble in Mexico will bring forth is uncertain. Not much has been ■written about postal affairs in that unfortunate country. It is likely that extreme irregularity follows the transmission ot mails, and messages from that country at this period may experience some vicissitudes. Whether new issues will result lat« cannot be predicted, but it is hkely that tor tiie present at least there are more, important matters for its officials to attend to than changing of stamp designs. From the Melbourne Argus, July 7, 1911: Occasionally a letter is written in Ning-po or Santiago de Chile by one who has a 'correspondent in Australia, but is not precisely awsre of his address. The benefits of free education do not prevail in these benighted parts, and the writer s hazy knowledge of geography leads him, to the delight of the Postal Department, to give his letter suoh an address as % Melbourne, South 'Australia, New Holland," or Ballarat. New South Wales, Northern Terri- ' tory." It has remained for the Postal Department to show that in matters of geography Santiago do Chile and Ning-po need not attempt to compete with it. One of the recently-issued letter cards, imprinted with the King's head and the caption "Commonwealth of Australia, bears on its back an effective picture of a flock of sheep on a well-timbered run. And the picture is labelled "Sheep Station. Wimmera, S.A." Evidently the department has acted hastily but hazily on the .'. knowledge that the position of the fcoutn Australian boundary was recently m dispute. ■

Portuguese Colonials."—The current postal omissions of the Portuguese overseas are gradually appearing. with the Republican overprint which atJpresent disfigures the stamps of tho mother country. The latest to hand is the 1902 series of Portuguese I India with the portrait of the late Don Carlos overprinted "Republica" diagonally in the same type and colours as tho previous issues. The stamps of the Mozambique Company are likewise appearing with ' this fateful inscription superimposed locally upon the series of 1907 under a decree of January 21, 1911. The current postage due series of the Azores has received the same overprint, and the,other colonies will shortly be brought into line. According to a Continental -journal, the following stamps which had been prepared with the portrait of ex-King Manoel are on hand at the Portuguese Mint, and wU probably be put in circulation with the , Republican .overprint:—Angola, 2£, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, and 300 reis. Cape Verde 2|, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 reis.

Colonial Colour Scheme.— Forthcoming now issues of British colonial stamps printed in new colours from the. existing plates in conformance with the above are announced by the Colonial Office Journal to have been despatched to their respective colonies as under: —Hongkong 20 30, and 50 cents; St. Lucia, ss; Sierra Leone, £l.

Some of the designs showing the King's head on the Australian Commonwealth stamps do not flatter the King. Some of them do not even obtain a likeness. Some of them caricature him. One of two competitors, who have not apparently been to the city lately, and have consequently not heard any news, have put the head of King-Edward VII on their stamps. One, indeed, who probably lives in a lighthouse, is very far behind the times with a head of Queen Victoria. The head of Captain Cock. appears in a few stamps, and some of them have what appears to be the portrait of Mr Deakin. Perhaps this is meant for the King. One bears an aeroplane as its strange device. Another has an extended view of Circular Quay, Sydney. The gener-al tendency of tho designers was apparently towards cutting out the King*s head, for about three-quarters of the stamps submitted do not show it. But this may bo due to the difficulty of drawing an accurate liken/jss. The variety is certainly astonishing, and the work varies bstween the faintest and rudest pencil ecrawl and the charming finished designs of "H.D." and "Hedar."—Melbourne Argus. NEW ISSUES. Argentine Republic.—Mr A. R. Davis, *>f Buenos Aires, writes as follows:—As previously advised by me, a new issue of Argentine stamps is shortly to appear. For the fjrst time for 20 years the stamps are *o be printed abroad by the American Bank Note Co., from the model supplied by Senor Lubary, a local sculptor, the idea bfing copied from the famous "La Scmcnse" of Roty. The 5c and. 12c values are to be engraved on steel by the abovenamed company, while the other values of the same design are to be typographed locally by the Casa de Moneda"

Newfoundland has issued a fine set, depicting all the inembei-s of the Royal Family. Coronation Issue, portraits with names inscribed, lc green, Oueen Mary; 2o rose-red. King George V; 3c red-brown, Prince of Wales; 4c violet. Prince Albert; 5c ultramarine. Princess Mary; 6c erey, Prince Henry; 8c aniline turquoise. Prince George; 9c slate-blue, Prince John; 10c dark green, Queen Alexandra; 13c dark brownf Duke of Connaught; 15c magentalake Arms of Newfoundland. Issued St. Johns. Jure 19, 1911. The 150 is oblong Ojnd ix>n fains a rim all picture, inscribed •'Hcec tibi dona fcro" (these gifts I Turing ihee"K . ~ United States.—A correspondent writes uo that a now issue is imminent there, with larger numerals. The colours will be «fcaWGd, and there Trill bo a ne~ value,

12e, with head of Lincoln. We quote from The Times June 24, 1911:—Astoria stamps. The United States Post Office Department proposes to make a special issue of postage stamps on the occasion of the centennial celebrations at Astoria, Oregon, in August and September. The stamps will be of appropriate designs, and will be used concurrently with the regular postage stamps. Astoria was founded as a trading post in 1811 by John Jacob Astor. French Oceania. —The pictorial series which has been under discussion for three years is at last, states L'Announce Timibrologique to be put in hand 1 and may be expected before-long. There will be three designs.