The American Philatelist is the oldest continuously published philatelic journal in the world, with the earliest issue dating to January 1887. Its archive (available in print and online to APS members via the APRL) is a rich seam of philatelic writings and history. 

In August of 1923, APS staff had largely decamped to Washington, D.C. for their annual convention, apparently necessitating a joint issue for August and September. The issue kicks off with a treatise on organization with a focus on color, then enter's a debate on "speculative" issues via the Editor's Column, and provides notes on new issues from the Argentine Republic to Transjordania. An informal report on the first days of the convention is also included in the issue, and eagle-eyed readers will note a coincedental confluence of mention of one convention attendee with news of a special stamp to be issued the following month. 

Note: Wherever possible, excerpts were transcribed exactly as printed, including formatting and the occasional spelling error or grammatical quirk. 

The American Philatelist

Published by and in the Interest of the AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY

Volume 36. No. 11 & 12. August-September, 1923.

APS President: Charles F. Heyerman

Editor: Adolph D. Fennel

This Month (* indicates article is included in "From the Vault")

Arranging the Specialized Collection of 1870 to 1888*

The 3c Stamp of the United States 1851-1857 Issue by Carroll Chase

Continued from the July issue.

Editor's Column*

The Specialist*

Discussion of the kicking mule cancel.

New Issue Notes and Chronicle*

Report of the Sales Superintendent

Report of the Secretary

Whoa, There, Mr. New*

Wants and Exchanges*

Arranging the Specialized Collection of 1870 to 1888

By W. Bates

Part One

The classification or arrangement of a specialized collection of the interesting issues of the United States postage between 1870 and 1888 is not, in any sense of the word, a technical subject nor a matter requiring especial skill in its handling; yet it is, I feel, of importance to the collector who is just starting to broaden out into the enchanted world of specialism and to the philatelist who has not yet gone very deeply into the subject.

What I have to say here will not bring much that is new to the fellow who has been specializing in these issues for years and, in fact, I expect that some collectors who read this will say: “Well, that chap doesn’t know much about his subject; I could show him a good many tricks he has missed.” I hope those who feel this impulse will dig out their Coronas and go to it, for nothing would please me more than to get new information on the subject. I collect these issues in every way and manner of which I have heard or read or devised myself and would be happy indeed to learn of new stunts which would add further legitimate pages to my collections.

A specialized collection grows by pages rather than by stamps and, in the case of some differences (by differences is meant the manner in which stamps of the same issue and denomination may differ sufficiently to earn for themselves a place in a specialized collection such as varieties of plate, paper, printing, etc., or of the cancellation placed upon the stamp) – in the case of some differences, the collection will grow by sections of an album instead of pages. I wish to assure collectors who care only to secure one copy of each stamp issued by a certain country or group of countries that they will know an entirely new and engrossing pleasure if they will only go into the earnest collecting of a single stamp in all its possible variations.

To my mind a page of six cent carmines is vastly more pleasing to the aesthetic senses than a page showing the entire issue of 1870-71 with its blue, brown, green, carmine, vermillion and other colors. They are all handsome and worth looking at, to be sure, but after all such a page is only a medley of color, some of which do not harmonize at all; while a page of motling carmines, but varying only in the shades of the various stamps, makes a most harmonious study in color.

But, aside from the artistic side of specialization, if you are commercially minded, go in for this kind of collecting, for after you have been at it a while you will be able to pick up bargains for a song and to fill the pages of your albums with just stamps that are relatively of far greater rarity than you could afford in just making a general collection.

Again, if you are a student by nature, don’t stick entirely to a general collection for your studious bent will only give itself full play in attacking the problems that forever confront the specialist.

I find I have digressed a bit, which I am likely to do when I get on the subject of specialization, for which I beg the reader’s pardon.

Arrangement of the Collection.

In describing the method of arrangement that I use I will follow mostly my collection of three cent greens because that is the largest of all and presents the greatest possible development of varieties. But almost all that applies to the three cent green will apply equally to the other values of the National, Continental and American issues of 1870 to 1888.

Varieties of the Stamp.

1. Shades
2. Pairs, strips and blocks.
3. Odd Impressions.
4. Plate varieties
   1. Location of dots
5. Paper varieties
6. Perforation varieties
7. Arrows, imprints and plate numbers.
8. Dated copies.

Varieties of the Cancellation

1. Odd and unusual.
2. Grids and bars.
3. Quarterings and corks.
4. Checkered.
5. Crosses.
6. Stars.
7. Leaves and flowers.
8. Sprays, wheels, whorls, etc.
9. Targets or concentric circles.
10. Numerals
11. Letters
12. Colorless numerals and letters.
13. Parcel and registration cancellations.
14. Railroads and steamship.
15. Pen and pencil.
16. R., P.O., etc.

Obviously such a list is capable of expansion or contraction for arrangement is, after all, a matter of personal preference. No hard and fast rules can be laid down and I am merely describing personal methods in the hope that it will be helpful to some collectors and bring me further guidance from others.

Further, for certain issues, additions may be made to the general list. In the 1870-71 issue I have pages under the head of sizes and varieties of the grill. In all issues I usually show three or four examples of the kind of gum used, these stamps going on a convenient page – for instance with paper varieties.

Proofs, samples, etc. will make a beautiful page if one has enough of any single stamp to fill a page but my own collection is so limited in this line that I mount them along with some other convenient section, such as odd impressions or paper varieties. Offsets on the back might als be grouped on a page or with some other sections. For me, one or two copies of a strong offset are sufficient.

I also group colored cancellations by themselves. Red, orange, brown green are grouped. Then comes a section devoted to purple and magenta. Next blue and last of all black. The blue, purple and magenta sections in the case of some stamps that I collect, as the three cent, 1873, run to such magnitude that I classify these as I do my main collection of black cancellations under the heads of odd, grids, quarters, checkered, etc.

I vary the general arrangement of certain stamps to suit specific conditions as I find them. This arrangement will be shown in the table below.

One Cent Blue.

1870-71 (Grilled).

               Stamp varieties (Not Classified).

1870-71 (Without grill).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Not Classified).

1873.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

1879.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

1882 Re-engraved.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

1887.

Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

Two Cent Brown (Jackson)

1870-71 (Grilled).

               Stamp varieties (Not Classified).

               Cancellations (Not Classified).

1870-71* (Without gril).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

*(I separate the 1870-71 without grill from the 1873 issue by the color alone, the former being the reddish brown, because I find it is not at all easy to satisfactorily identify the secret mark on this stamp.)

1873.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified) 1870-71 and 1873.

Two Cent Vermillion

1883.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

Two Cent Green (Washington).

1887.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

Three Cent Green.

1870-71 (Grilled).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

1870-71 (Without grill).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified) Grilled and Ungrilled

1873.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

1879.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified) 1873 and 1879.

1882 (Re-engraved).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

Three Cent Vermillion.

1887.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

Six Cent Carmine and Pink.

1870-71 (Grilled).

               Stamp and cancellation varieties together (Not Classified).

1870-71 (Without grill).

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified).

1873.

               Stamp varieties (Classified).

               Cancellations (Classified) 1873 and 1879.

1882 (Re-engraved).

               Stamp varieties (Not Classified).

               Cancellations (Not Classified).

Just a few words of explanation of the reasons for the above arrangement which, the reader will see, varies throughout.

The one cent blue grilled is too rare a stamp for me to have enough copies to classify as yet. Some day I hope to make a classified collection of the stamp varieties but doubt if I ever will of the cancellations. I may save a few varieties of cancellations which I do not find on the 1870-71 without grill and group them with the latter as I do in the case of the two cent brown Jackson.

In the case of some of these scarcer stamps which I have marked as classified I do not necessarily mean that I use the full classification outlined in the forepart of this article. But my classification grows more and more complete as time goes on and I often rearrange the pages of my albums.

To my mind cancellations should be arranged by periods rather than by stamps. We find that in the period between 1870 and 1873 a very fancy lot of cancellations predominated, such as sprays, flower forms, leaves, rosettes, colorless figures and letters, etc. In the 1873 to 1882 period we find grids, checkered forms, stars and a growing use of numerals. In the 1882 to 1888 period the numeral came into its own and we have a mad variety of them. Also, the parcel form of cancellation became popular in this period while the quarterings and checkerings became scarcer.

In the case of the two cent stamp this grouping of cancellation by periods is somewhat broken into by the fact that the color of the stamp was changed from brown to vermillion in 1875, back to brown in 1883 and to green in 1887.

The six cent carmine grilled is too rare a stamp for me to classify at length and so is the re-engraved.

On account of this obvious grouping of cancellations by forms there is, to my mind, no sense in making separate collections of cancellations on the three cent green of 1873-79, for instance. One collection would be almost a duplicate of the other as these stamps are about equally common. Also, it would be too difficult to separate them by the kind of paper.

However, I feel it would be a mistake not to separate the group of cancellations on these two issues from the cancellation group of the re-engraved three cent, as this later stamp has a very different appearance and would break up the unity of the pages.

The reader will realize that, as I have remarked before, arrangement and classification are largely a matter of personal preference and I want to reiterate in closing that I neither claim that my way is the right way nor the only way. I certainly would appreciate it if collectors who use different methods would write me about it. (152 Lisbon St., Buffalo, N.Y.).

(Part Two Will Appear Next Issue.)

Editor’s Column

No previous summer season has evidenced the snap and life in stamp collecting as has this year and with the passing of the vacation holidays we expect Philately to enter upon the most active period ever known in this country. Abroad, notwithstanding the economic and political chaos, there is no apparent diminution of interest and in almost every European state there has been held a philatelic exhibition or Congress during the past few months. The great international Exhibition at London was an outstanding success and at this early date invitations are being sent out to the international Exhibition to be held next May in Brussels under the auspices of the Royal Federation of Belgian Philatelic Societies to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the issuance of postage stamps in Belgium. All this speaks for the continued growth and expansion of the hobby and when the various 1924 catalogues blossom forth it is not likely that the price revisions will be downward notwithstanding the forced sale of many notable collections in war stricken lands. For the greater part “Neurope” seems to have reached bottom and in a number of series the market is rapidly advancing and a steady enhancement is looked for over prices of the past year. The only probably price reductions will be those of “remainder” stamps that have appeared in comparatively large quantities and certain long overpriced issues of Spain and Portugal. The weeding out of the catalogues of some not quite legitimate postal issues will doubtless continue and the controversy, to list or not to list, certain so called “speculative” issues will persistently vex the cataloger. At the present time there is no unanimous action on this later subject and one catalogue lists the stamps that the other deletes and vice versa. We have always felt that the stamp cataloger should list every postal issue made under Government sanction and if he felt any grievance against the stamps to mention that fact by way of a note. To keep out certain issues because they are “speculative” will lead to absurdity and instability if persisted in unless this is unanimously done by all the leading catalogues and under an agreement to perpetually bare the undesirable issues. We would like to have the opinion of readers of this Journal on this subject and offer a 1924 Standard catalogue to the best reasoned answer to the question “Should legally issued postage stamps be barred from catalog listing because they are, in the opinion of the cataloger, unnecessary or speculative?”

We have received an interesting prospectus of a stamp Exhibition to be held at Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, under the auspices of the Yorkton Philatelic Society. The competition scheme closely follows that of the London Exhibition and no less than ten prizes in the form of cups are offered in addition to medals for seconds. Thirty or forty exhibits are now in view and Mr. J.C. Cartwright, President of the Yorkton Society, is to be highly commended for his enterprise and enthusiasm in attempting such a large affair. Truly Philately is world wide and enthusiasm no less in the open places than in the big centers of population.

The notes in this Journal under the heading of “Society News” are of intense interest to the A.P.S. members judging from the inquiries we receive concerning them. These are possible only through the enterprise and pains of the secretaries of the branches and some have indeed been very faithful in making reports. Mr. Matt C. Dillingham of the Pacific Coast Philatelic Society has not missed reporting a single meeting and Mr. W.J. Zink of the Garfield Perry Club has almost equalled [sic] his record. We are grateful for this aid and would much appreciate hearing from the other Secretaries with reports on local activities. We note that the San Francisco Stamp Society has made application to branch membership which will add a very large and influential body to the membership. This Society has 90 members and maintains its own Club rooms in the heart of the Frisco business district. Thirty-five of its members are A.P.S. members and it is expected the remaining 55 will not be long in giving their support to the National organization. Welcome Frisco! Let’s hear from you often.

Reviews

Varieties of the stamp of 20 centimes, perforated 15, of 1865. By J.W. de Beer, published by F.H. Vallancey, London

Stamp Collectors Annual, 1923 published by The Philatelic Magazine, London.

A short study of the 2d Queen Enthroned, Engraved and Lithographed, 1852-57 by Charles A. Stephenson, published by “Stamp Collecting,” London.

The Issues of Russia in Asia by S.A. Pappadopulo, published by S.A. Pappadopulo, Shanghai.

The Postage Stamps of Gt. Britain, 1840-1922 by Sidney A.R. Oliver and F. Hugh Vallancey, published by “Stamp Collecting,” London.

The National Album, published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., New York City.

Standard Catalogue of the Postage Stamps of Japan by Umejiro Kimura, published by The Philatelic Society of Japan, Tokyo.

Julius L. Neufeld.

Through Mr. William Nathan Tanner, Jr. we have the sad news of the sudden death of Prof. Julius L. Neufeld of Philadelphia, an A.P.S. member and active supporter of the Philadelphia Stamp Club, of which he was a charter member, and Treasurer for many years. Prof. Neufeld believed in encouraging his high school pupils to take up stamps and founded the Central High School Stamp Club which today has 50 members, and helped organize six other clubs for boys that have proved highly successful. His death is a deep personal loss to Philadelphia collectors and his young protegees will sadly miss his kind encouragement and advice.

A Letter from Washington

August 16^th, 1923

Dear Old Timer: –

Certainly sorry you couldn’t come to this Convention as it is the greatest of them all. By train, moter and even steamboat some 256 enthusiasts have arrived which is a record crowd. As you know, old boy, Washington is some big place in every sense of the word yet as we arrived good old Harry Mason, who was here, there and everywhere, managed to greet each and every one with “Remember you are not in a strange city because this too, is YOUR home”. With that nice sentiment in mind we arrived at the Hotel Shoreham, the Convention headquarters and found the spacious lobby already humming with philatelic chatter that the early birds were rendering in an effort to catch the well known worm and each bird was flitting his fleetest to get there first. As usual, “Dan” Hammatt missed no opportunity to beard the wary dealer in his den (a $6.00 per day room) and grabbed all the “full shells” and “cracked plates” available for love or money – mostly money – and even such sterling experts as John and Jake Kleeman and “Eddie” Stern found that they must have been pricing their gems too modestly.

We all had to register in order to get the necessary green tickets to the side shows and the handsomely printed program and guide to the sights of Washington. Dr. West handled this most successfully and his desk was surrounded by the real old timers who wanted to greet their friends and give the new blood the once over. There was E. B. Sterling with “Billy” Stone and “P. M.” Wolsieffer the only survivors of the pioneers pictured on the photo taken at the St. Louis Convention in 1886. With them was R.S. Nelson of Birmington [sic], Alabama alive with refreshing tales of the good old when he made his finds of Confed Provisionals, many of which he sold to Ferrari. Pretty sweet to dig up 29 Union-towns for one lot, eh! August Dietz of Richmond absorbed these tales and made notes for his book on the stamps of the Confederacy until “Pres” Johnson of the Washington Society brought in another bunch of low numbered boys like H.F. Dunkhorst and T. Russell Hungerford. We were introduced to Major General John L. Clem who is known here as “The Drummer boy of Chickamauga” and we had a good time chinning with these “lads” until we were led into the ball room to hear a lecture by the local Master of Ceremonies, Mr. H.C. Beck who held forth of “American Stamped Paper”. This talk was a revelation to the audience and Mr. Beck was given a rising vote of thanks at its conclusion. After the lecture we had another get together meeting in the lobby and then visited around the various rooms which were headquarters for the usual 57 brands of Convention fun. In one we found the two “BL’s” – Drew and Vorhees dickering over a beautiful block of four of No. 1 West Australia on the that the former held at a justifiably high price. In another room we found the “Hams” – Barnum and Colman forming a “beautiful friendship” like that of the famous “Haig” brothers and it was with reluctance that we left this treat to visit “115”, headquarters for shapely “Little Bill” Kennett, Secretary to the Ferrari of America. Here we found some of the elite that carry a load of initials after their names, chaps like “One Cent” or “Barney Google” Ashbrook, the “Only” Warren Colson, debonair Perry Fuller and “Hard” Gus Mosler. This party broke up when “Editor” Fennel and “Black Jack” Atherton came in and called for help in a proposed interview of some bird that they spoke of as “Philip” and we left to look in on “GEne” [sic] Costales who is about the most popular and handsomest of the dealer fraternity. We just had a word with him as the boys were standing in line to get a look at his U.S. collection and we spent the remainder of the evening with the “Cleveland” bunch which included the new Board of Vice Presidents, W.W. MacLaren, Otto Moses, Ham Barnum and their confidential advisor, Alvin Good. The subject under discussion was “who has the cheeriest smile”, Pres. Heyerman, “Charlie” Severn or the Rt. Hon. Chas. Hatfield? It looked like a draw until someone produce a copy of the Washington Post showing a picture of Charley Hatfield after his interview with President Coolidge and the price went to Charley. He looked as if he had secured the franking privilege for Scott’s catalogue.

On Tuesday we visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, which the dealers present looked upon as their factory. It was noticed that the collectors took special interest in the stacks of money lying around, perhaps account the auction sale that was to come off that evening. Mr. Hill, Director of the Bureau permitted a few to see the original dies of the one and three cent 1851 and Mr. Mount, who has charge of the U.S. Philatelic Agency, gathered up a number of sheets of the new U.S. airplane stamps that he kindly distributed at the hotel. These were, so to speak, “hot off the press” as was the official news that the Government will issue in a few weeks a black two cent “mourning” stamp bearing the portrait of Warren G. Harding. This stamp will be first put on sale at Marion, Ohio, the President’s birth-place and home and about 3 million of the stamps will be printed.

After the trip through the Bureau we availed ourselves of the courtesy of “Al” Gorham who offered us his high powered Ford as a sight seeing bus. We drove up Main street [sic], they call it Pennsylvania avenue [sic] here, saw the capitol, the “Big Spike” as some call the Monument and then drove to the Lincoln Memorial which is so beautiful that it gives you a queer feeling inside. With mingled pride and awe we entered the vast hall dedicated to the greatest American and on our silent ride back to the hotel we looked upon “Old Glory”, half masted on the Willard Hotel and the four starred President’s flag below, with reverent eyes and throbbing hearts. It’s great to be an American!

In the evening the stamp auction afforded both entertainment and excitement for the conventionites, many of whom had never attended a sale of this kind. One of the first lots sold went to Harry Lewy, the attorney and when the auctioneer asked for his name he called out Lewy (pronounced Louie) and the crowd roared with laughter when the auctioneer politely interrogated “Last name, please?” The auctioneer not being familiar with stamps accepted some very low bids on valuable items with 25c advances and lost his natural impertubility [sic] when some determined buyer jumped up the bid $10.00 to get action. It was quite amusing but with the usual result, high prices for U.S. and a few bargains in the less sought after foreign.

On Wednesday morning we attended a spirited business session at which J. E. Guest made quite a fight to obtain action against the counterfeit, repaired and cleaned stamp and he was given added power by the resolution adopted to deal with these in the Sales Department. The Convention selected Detroit as the next meeting place and in view of the increased labors of the Secretary allowed him added renumeration. Some other important matters were referred to Committees and will probably be reported in the A.P.

In the afternoon the entire party journeyed to Mt. Vernon by car and later returned by Boat. During the stay at Washington’s home the official photograph was taken and Geo. Linn of Columbus pulled a good stunt by “hot footing” around the back of the crowd and getting his be goggled features on both ends of the picture. It was cleverly done but many won’t believe the two faces to be the same and insist that one is “himself” of Peach orchard fame though Elliott did not attend this year. A number of those on this picture came a long ways to attend and I think Mr. C.W. Best of Honolulu holds the record though Mr. A.O. Litt of Hayti also has a lot of mileage to his credit. Mr. L.A. Davenport came over from Canada and refreshed our memory of pre Volstead days after which someone suggested that the next convention be held at Montreal. Quite a few ladies attended and none of the men was more active than Miss Debby Kirk or Mrs. Cook in search of the elusive stamp. By the way, handsome Vic Rotnem, the pre cancell [sic] King, succeeded Mr. Kissinger in the presidency of the Southern Association which held its Convention at the Raleigh Hotel. Vic’s a mighty nice chap and his “Precancel Gazette” a live organ. We had a pleasant journey back and were much amused at the explanation a woman gave another about our crowd. The first woman noticing the large number of blue badged visitors asked the other who we were. She was told “Those are all stamp collectors, they are very wealthy and don’t do anything but hunt for old stamps!” Judging from the looks of the boys she wasn’t far wrong at that.

In the evening the annual stamp “Bourse” was put on with the usual spirited discussion of values. The offerings were rather good but the poor light in the grill room made it rather difficult to examine the stamps carefully. Still the trading was quite brisk and about all the No. 1 Norway’s and No. 1 Spain found new owners and Dr. Hennan assembled all blocks of four Netherlands lying around loose, which, believe me, were not many.

To-morrow old chap we are going to Annapolis for a big day concluding with the banquet at Carvel Hall. I’ll write you again about that and hope this brief side light on the first days activities will give you an idea of the whole picture. Naturally I haven’t mentioned the names of half the good fellows I met nor done justice to the entertainment given us but you know from the past what jolly affairs these are and my sketch will suffice to make you feel good and sore you didn’t get here. Well old top, next year its Detroit, don’t forget to make your plans a long time ahead. Best regards to the wife.

Sincerely,

Frank

The Specialist

Contributions to this page will be appreciated; if you have something unusual or odd, a cancellation, unlisted variety or anything out of the ordinary, send it to the Editor!

Following the publication in the May issue of our notes and illustration anent the “kicking mule” cancellation we received a great number of letters from collectors possessing stamps with this cancell [sic]. Among these was an interesting letter from Mr. August Dietz of Richmond, Va., an old-timer in American philately and one of the leading authorities on the stamps of the Confederate States. Mr. Dietz says that calling the “kicking mule” a stock canceller knocks all the humor and romance out of this quaint obliteration and that he much prefers to believe the historical explanation of the years gone by and which he gives in his own inimitable way. We quote from his letter:  – “Back yonder, as we say in the South, in the year 1900, I was editing the ‘Virginia Philatelist’ and one of those raw February “indoor” days there came to hand a subscription to the magazine enclosed in an envelope bearing about as strange and bizarre a cancell [sic] as I had ever seen. The oddity of the postmark was interesting enough to induce me to illustrate it in our March, 1900, number under the caption of ‘A Unique Cancellation,’ and I at once wrote Mr. W.L. Clark of Port Townsend, Washington, from whom I had received the letter for more information. Here is the story, current at that time. The Boer War was ‘on’ and the British had suffered some serious defeats. Horses and mules had especially been decimated in the campaign and British agents were sent to buy stock in this country. A large number of mules were shipped from Port Townsend to South Africa for service in connection with the British artillery and it was to these mules that the signal defeat of the British at Ladysmith was attributed. It was said that at the crucial moment of the battle the American mules stampeded and I recall suggesting at the time that American mules hardly could be expected to ‘go against’ freeman battling for their homeland and liberty. And so the story goes that the postmaster of Port Townsend immortalized these free born American Mules with the now famous cancell and note particularly that these Washington mules had their tails curled, -- always a warning to ‘look out for paint.’ I have never seen this cancell on cover except from Port Townsend and as that city had historical justification for its use I am going to cherish the ‘story’ of it as I had it at the time.”

The illustration herewith is of half the large cover shown us by Mr. Dietz. It’s a pretty cover and a good story and we commend it to those who prefer sentiment and our May number to the technical. Perhaps the two are not incompatible!

We illustrated in the May issue a “railroad” cancellation submitted by Mr. Good on which he expressed the opinion that it was a revenue cancellation applied with the regular railroad ticket dating machine. We were not surprised to have Mr. Good differ with us sharply in this but it startled us to receive almost daily from different sources arguments, supported by stamps, tending to disprove our view. The digest of these letters is that in many instances the Railroad companies, in the early sixties, conducted their own post offices in small towns, or where there was a post-office, accepted letters to be handed the train mail clerk and in both such instances cancelled the stamps before placing same on the train. The canceller used was quite often the same as that used for dating railway tickets. Mr. B.F. Borhek, of Boston, Mass. Has shown us a 3c 1861 with this type of cancell, it reads “Marseilles, April 15, C&R.I. RR.” And Mr. H.M. Wickman of Springfield, Mass., has shown us several covers bearing 3c 1861’s with N.Y. & Boston R.R. cancells and one with the Boston & Albany R.R. cancell which are however not of the ticket canceller type but the familiar circular R.R. cancellation. We hope at some later date to offer an article on the manner in which R.R. and Steamship cancells were employed, a subject on which there appears to be considerable difference of opinion. We will be glad to hear from specialists on this subject.

Mr. N. Hagenauer (A.P.S. 4859) has submitted for our examination a used copy of Dutch Indies #35 which is an exact duplicate of the stamp illustrated in the May issue and which Mr. Hagenauer found in a large lot of these stamps that he bought in 1919 on pieces of original cover. Notwithstanding the seeming good source of origin, the late Joseph B. Leavey, who was an expert on the subject of Netherlands and colonies, pronounced this stamp counterfeit. It is of the same type as Mr. Newcomer’s stamp in that there are no dots over the “E” of Indie and we are of the same opinion on this example, that is, that it is very likely genuine and an unlisted variety. Won’t some specialist on this subject enlighten us on the method of surcharging the different values?

New Issue Notes and Chronicle

By WM. C. Kennett, Jr. and the Editor

Information for this column, with samples of stamps, which will be promptly paid for or returned, will always be appreciated.

Argentine Republic. New type, portrait of Jose de San Martin, watermarked Sun & R.A., perf 13 ½: 12 ½. All stamps of former types to be withdrawn Aug. 11^th, 1923. The new stamps were issued in May and new values will be added during June and July. The values so far reported are 2c dark brown, 5c red, 10c dull green, 12c blue and 20c dark blue.

Belgium. A charity stamp, design a wounded soldier on crutches with background of shell shattered trees, inscription “BELGIQUE – POUR LES INVALIDES”. Engraved and printed by The American Bank Note Co. after the design of L. Raemakers. Perf. 12. 20 centimes plus 20 centimes, grey.

Chili. The commemorative issue celebrating the 5^th Pan-American Congress, held at Santiago, consisted of 8 values of which there were only 250,000 sets printed. Because of the large purchases made by stamp speculators the stamps never reached the interior post offices and the Government ordered the set to be reprinted much to the sorrow of the greedy gamblers. The design pictures the government palace at Santiago. 2c rose, 4c brown, 10c blue and black, 20c orange and black, 40c violet and black, 1 Peso green & black, 2 Peso red and black and 5 Peso dark green and black.

Czecho-Slovakia. Mr. F.S. Poteet has shown us copies of the provisional postage dues issued during May and April. These were made by surcharging the imperf. Hradschin type with “DOPLATIT” and new value. The surcharge was in violet on the stamps shown us. Issued April 1^st:  – 100 on 120h gray; issued May 15^th:  – 60 on 75h grey green; issued June (?), 10 on 3h purple, 30 on 3h purple and 40 on 3h purple. The original order by the Dep’t of Posts and Telegraphs states that “original and supplementary postage due stamps of former issues are to be used up” and it is therefore likely that this government economy will result in several more surcharges.

Costa Rica. Three stamps were issued of one design to commemorate the centenary of Jesus Jimenez whose portrait is featured on the stamps. 5 centimos blue, 20 centimos red and 1 Colon violet.

Esthonia. New value in blacksmith type, 9 Mark red, Imperforate.

India. Change of color, current type, 3 annas is now issued in ultramarine.

Iraq. “Stamp Collecting” reports that the 12 values of the new pictorial series has been overprinted “On State Service” for official use.

Kuwait. A new comer in stamp issues. It is reported that the entire series of British India has been overprinted with “KUWAIT” for use at that place which is located on the Persian Gulf and which is the terminal of the “Baghdad” Railway.

Newfoundland. Mr. Frank F. Wills of St. John’s, Newfoundland, has very kindly sent us a set of the handsome new pictorial issue. The fourteen values, all but two of which have been put on sale (20 & 24c), were printed by Messrs. Whitehead, Morris & Co. of London, England. The values and designs are:

1c green, Twin Hills at Tors Cove.

2c red, South west arm of Trinity Bay.

3c brown, “The Fighting Newfoundlander,” a memorial of the Great War presented to Newfoundland by Sir Edgar Bowring and erected in Bowring Park.

4c claret, A view of the beautiful Humber River.

5c blue, A coast scene near Trinity.

6c grey, View on Humber River.

8c purple, Panorama of Quidi Vidi village near St. Johns.

9c grey green, Herd of Caribou swimming the Laks.

10c light brown, A Canon in Humber River.

11c olive, Shell Bird Island in Humber River.

12 c orange, Mount Moriah.

15c deep blue, View of Humber River.

20 c deep green, The village of Placentia the ancient French capitol [sic] of Newfoundland.

24c sepia, “Topsail Falls,” a suburban village of St. Johns and principal summer resort.

The 10c and 15c Air post stamps that were to be issued in connection with this set have been cancelled as the Government is not prepared to finance the air service at this time. The illustration with this note was furnished through Mr. J.V. Wells.

North West Pacific Is. The 2d red Australia has been overprinted for use in this colony.

Poland. The new stamp in large oblong format bearing the portrait of Kopernick is reported by “Stamp Collecting” – 1000 Marks slate blue.

Transjordania. Various journals report a provisional issue for the eastern part of this territory consisting of the current Hedjaz set with an additional three line overprint signifying “Arabic Gov’t of the East” with date “1341”. It is said by Messrs. Whitfield-King that only 240 sets were printed of which 216 were distributed among Government officials, the remainder sets, 24 in number no doubt were sold to stamp dealers. Someone having lots of money to spend for nothing might start a new kind of “specialized” collection and call it “Official Graft Stamps.”

Whoa, There, Mr. New.

Postmaster General New is reported to be considering a postal war. Like all wars, those on whose behalf it will be waged will be the losers.

Mr. New is indignant over the discrimination by foreign governments against United States vessels in the matter of carrying mail. The Leviathan arrived in New York the other day with only 31 bags of mail. All were taken aboard at Southampton. France did not offer any mail at Cherbourg. The Homeric, a British lines which is much slower than the Leviathan, arrived at about the same time with 6,600 bags of mail.

The Postmaster General feels the discrimination is unjust. He is right. But he is reported to be considering getting even by the oldfashioned [sic] method of denying to British and French liners the privilege of carrying American mail. And there he is wrong.

In the mail service, the speedy and safe delivery of the mail should be the chief consideration. If American mail can be carried on American ships and reach its destination promptly, well and good. If the British Government finds its mail can reach American by British ships as by American ships, it cannot be blamed for favoring its own vessels. But when the favor of carrying the mail means a delay in its arrival, then either American or foreign government responsible for such delay is culpable.

The foreign mails constitute a sort of subsidy. A government grant of such a subsidy is proper, provided such grant does not delay the mail’s arrival. It is conceivable that a day or two of delay in delivery of a huge batch of letters might sometimes cost commercial interests hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr. New, if he carries out an intention to boycott British vessels in revenge for British boycott of American vessels, will be doing a foolish thing. He will be cutting off our nose to spite their face. – News Item.

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