Stories About Stamps.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 22, 2 June 1906, Page 43

Stories About Stamps.

Every stamp, like every, picture, tells * a sU>ry. Syme of Utmost interesting ones are connected wftlr Hie* (Aminones, anti most familiar stamps, which any'ot you may have in your collection. For example, the prettily coloured map-stamp ot Canada tells us not one story, .but -many. It tells of an Empire the like of which has never before been seen. It shows a map of the "world on which the parts belonging to the British Empire are coloured red. Of course, to print such a tiny map of the world in ls‘a difficult task;and some of the specimens of this stamp have not been so well printed as others. So that on same “of tliem we find that Canada has taken up the greater part ol the. United States, while England has invaded France, and the Cape of Good Hope lias gone out io sea. 'XVe must be careful, therefore,, in taking our geography of the world from such a minute picture, though it is a useful and* instructive stamp, which every boy and girl collector ought to possess. Two other stamps tell u curious little story. Hayti is an island in the West Indies: and some years ago the .President of tlie Haytian Republic -was a negro named Salomon. He did not want to put his own portrait on the stamps of Hayti (most rulers have their own portraits on their stamps), but he used •a design showing the figure of the Goddess of Liberty. After a time, when Salomon, was not quite so popular with his subjects; they objected to the picture of Liberty, and declared that it was not “Liberty” at alii but a portrait of Mis Salomon, the President’s wife. They grumbled that

“the President would not have his portrait on their stamps, but he had put his wife’s on instead.” - r

It so happened thr.it: there was-Tumie. resemblaiieebetween the picture and Mrs Salomon; and so the President had to give way, ami put his own portrait on some new stamps. But in a half-civilis-ed Republic like this the President rarely holds his office for long. Salomon had to flee from his enemies, and reached Cuba and finally Paris. His enemies did not want to continue using the stamps with his portrait, but there were many in stock, and the expense of getting new ones was heavy. So they decided to use the Salomon stamps, but to order that all letters henceforth must have the stamps. stuck on the letters upside down as a mark of disrespect to the ex-President.