Peeps at Postage Stamps Part 7

Probably no event in history has received more attention on the part of stamp producers than the discoveries of Columbus. The Argentine Republic was, we believe, the first country to honour the memory of this intrepid explorer by the issue of postal labels, but to the United States must be awarded the credit of issuing the finest set of Columbian stamps. This series of postal adhesives is probably one of the grandest collections of historical stamps that has ever been produced, and, fortunately, the lower values are cheap, and easily obtained.

Other commemorative stamps of the United States have been issued--namely, the Omaha, the Pan-American, the Buffalo, and the Panama Exhibition stamps; but though some of them are exceedingly attractive in design, none of them can compare with the Columbus issue in point of interest.

Another intrepid explorer to receive recognition by means of an issue of stamps was Vasco da Gama. To mention his name recalls to mind the wonderful and perilous journey which he was the first to make around the southern point of Africa, and thence to India. Vasco was fortunate in living in Portugal at a time when this kingdom was at the height of its fame and prosperity. Financed by the then King, Manoel, he left Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with four vessels manned by 160 men. He took four long months to reach the island of St. Helena, and whilst rounding the Cape the trials of this brave band of men were terrible in the extreme.

Calicut, in India, was reached on May 20, 1498, and after a short and none too pleasant stay among the unfriendly natives, a start for home was made. On returning to Portugal Vasco da Gama received a tremendous ovation from the King and the people.

The Portuguese stamps issued in 1898 to celebrate the fourth centenary of the discovery of the route to India bear very attractive pictures.

Three events of interest have given rise to special stamps in Italy: (_a_) The fiftieth anniversary of the freedom of Sicily; (_b_) the jubilee of the kingdom of Italy; and (_c_) the festivities to commemorate the completion of the Venice Campanile.

To appreciate the meaning of the first two events, we must remember that the present kingdom of Italy was, less than sixty years ago, a number of little states, each contending against its neighbour. Sicily, one of the conflicting areas, was ruled by Ferdinand II. of Spain, a man noted for the harsh and tyrannical rule which he inflicted on his subjects. In answer to an appeal from the men of Sicily, Garibaldi sailed from Genoa with 1,000 followers, landed at Marsala on May 11, 1860, and took Palermo soon afterwards. The people were jubilant at his success, and Ferdinand was quickly deposed. Sicily joined Sardinia, and Victor Emmanuel reigned over the two territories.

In the same year, Central Italy, Southern Italy, the Papal States, and Naples, all joined the kingdom of Emmanuel and, in February, 1861, the first Parliament of all the Italian States was held at Turin. It was this event that was celebrated by the Italian Jubilee stamps.

The third event which the Italian stamps commemorated was the completion of the new Campanile in Venice. The old monument collapsed on the square of St. Mark's some ten years ago, and a new erection of similar design to the original one has been built in its place.

A very attractive series of stamps was placed on sale throughout Austria in 1908 to commemorate the sixtieth year of the reign of Franz Joseph I. The labels are particularly interesting, as they reveal to us many Austrian rulers about whom our history books have much to say. They are as follows:

1 h.e.l.ler: Karl VI. Best known, perhaps, as the father of Maria Theresa.

2 h.e.l.ler: Maria Theresa.

3 h.e.l.ler: Joseph II. A great reformer, but a very harsh ruler.

5, 10, 25, 30, and 35 h.e.l.ler: Franz Joseph I.

6 h.e.l.ler: Leopold II. Brother and successor to Joseph II. Pacified the Netherlands and Hungary which his elder brother had inflamed.

12 h.e.l.ler: Franz I. a.s.sisted Napoleon in his campaign against Russia, and later joined with other countries to break Napoleon's power.

20 h.e.l.ler: Ferdinand. Was persuaded to abdicate in favour of Franz Joseph, as he was too weak to rule in such troublous times.

The last commemorative stamps of which we shall speak were issued in 1913 by Russia to honour the House of Romanoff. The adhesives are printed in attractive colours, with bold designs, indicative of Russian art. The heads revealed to us in this striking portrait-gallery are those of Nicholas II., Peter I., Alexander II., Alexander III., Peter II., Katherine II., Nicholas I., Alexander I., Alexei Michaelovitch, Paul I., Elizabeth and Michael Feodorovitch.

Many other celebration stamps have appeared from time to time in various countries; notice of them may be found in any postage stamp catalogue.

CHAPTER XI

INTERESTING PICTURE STAMPS

That the picture stamps reposing in our collections are highly instructive as well as interesting needs little argument. We can sit in an armchair and learn the geography of half the world by means of the stamps bearing maps; we may wander, mentally, as far as the Antipodes, thanks to the stamps bearing views; we may learn about the birds of the air and the beasts of the forests from the stamps bearing animals.

Matters of architecture, heraldry, local customs, mythology, and history, are other subjects which we may become acquainted with from our postage adhesives.

Perhaps the most interesting labels are those which portray the natural wonders of the wide-world. Let us turn first of all to the specimens from New Zealand. What delightful views the 1898 stamps give of Mount Cook, Lake Wakatipu, Mount Ruapehu, Lake Taupo, the Pink Terrace of Rotomahana and Milford Sound--names which to many of us are mere places mentioned in dry geography manuals, but here revealed in all their glory!

From New Zealand let us wander to Tasmania. On these pages of our alb.u.m we find interesting pictures of Lake Marion, Mount Wellington, the town of Hobart, Russell Falls, Lake St. Clair, and the waterfalls of Dilston.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME VIEW STAMPS

1 Lake Taupo and Mount Ruapehu 6 Mount Wellington 2 Llandovery Falls 7 Table Bay and Mountains 3 Sydney Harbour 8 View of Deboj 4 A View in Costa Rica 9 Pa.s.s of Narenta 5 A Turkish View]

Curious though it may seem, waterfalls are favourite subjects for stamp ornamentation. We have Niagara on the 5 cents United States value of 1901; the Llandovery Falls on the 1d. 1900, Jamaica; the Kaieteur Falls on the 10 cents 1898 of British Guiana; the Stanley Falls and the Inkissi Falls on the 1894 Congo issue; also the Victoria Falls on the 1905 issue of British South Africa. Were we to place these picture stamps and others representing similar subjects side by side on a page by themselves in our collection, we should have quite a fine array of the world's most noted waterfalls.

Perhaps next to waterfalls, mountain views claim most popularity on postage labels. Besides those mentioned already, we have Mount Kini Balou on the 18 cents 1894, North Borneo; Table Mountain on the 1d.

1900, Cape of Good Hope; the Leon mountains on various Nicaraguan issues; Popocatepetl on the 1 peso 1899, Mexico; Mount Konaluanui on the 2 cent 1894, Hawaii, and others.

Historic buildings are, as one would expect, frequently represented in our collections. A most interesting stamp is the Chinese label bearing a view of the Temple of Heaven, a sacred edifice erected to the memory of Confucius, to which the Emperor repairs periodically and prays for the favour of Heaven. The Kremlin and Winter Palace, both well-known Russian buildings, figure on the stamps of the Tsar. The Grecian adhesives reveal pictures of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon and Stadium; the Egyptian adhesives show a sphinx and the Pyramids; a Dominican adhesive bears a picture representing the Mausoleum of Columbus; whilst a recent issue from Turkey, celebrating the recapture of Adrianople, bears a fine view of the Mosque of Selim.

Of curious things our stamps provide us in plenty. A Newfoundland adhesive shows an iceberg; a Toga stamp, a breadfruit-tree; a Tasmanian stamp, Tasman's Arch; a Kedah stamp, a sheaf of rice; a North Borneo stamp, a sago palm; a Columbian stamp, an American execution; a Bahamas stamp, a staircase; another Toga stamp, a prehistoric trilith; a Canadian stamp, a map of the British possessions; a Roumanian stamp, a picture of the Queen nursing a wounded soldier; a Portuguese stamp, the vision of St. Anthony; a Liberian stamp, a coffee plantation; a United States stamp, an aeroplane; and a Peruvian stamp, a suspension bridge.

The Toga trilith, it may be well to explain, is an erection composed of three large blocks of stone placed together like door-posts and a lintel, and standing by themselves. It may be compared with the monuments at Stonehenge, or the Druidical monoliths to be seen at Carnac, in Brittany.

If mythology be of interest, the stamps of Greece will prove attractive.

This country offers some capital pictures of gladiators, disc-throwers, wrestlers; of Hermes, Apollo, Atlas, Iris, Pallas Athene; of ancient chariots, vases; as well as tableaux representing such incidents as "Atlas offering the apples of Hesperides to Hercules," and "The struggle between Hercules and Antaeus."

s.h.i.+ps, some noted and others merely curious, figure on many labels. We have an Atlantic schooner on a Newfoundland stamp; a native canoe on a Papuan stamp; a Nile steamboat on an Egyptian stamp; a dhow on a Borneo stamp; the flags.h.i.+p of Columbus on a Grenada stamp; Cabot's s.h.i.+p, the _Matthew_, leaving the Avon, and Guy's s.h.i.+p, the _Endeavour_, on Newfoundland stamps; and the _Hohenzollern_, the German Emperor's yacht, on the unattractive stamps of the German colonies.

Of animals there are far too many for individual mention, but the following are some of those depicted in our "philatelic zoo": A kangaroo, zebra, dromedary, camel, platypus, elephant, hippopotamus, lizard, giraffe, dog, gnu, codfish, springbok, seal, egret, parrot, wryneck, emu, lyre bird, ptarmigan, chimpanzee, boar, rhinoceros, honey bear, ourang-outang, stag, argus pheasant, panther, crocodile, and kiwi.

Some entire issues of stamps are particularly interesting if they be considered solely from the pictorial standpoint. Probably the Bosnian issue of 1906 is the finest in this matter. The scenes represented in this attractive collection are--

1 h.e.l.ler: View of Deboj.

2 h.e.l.ler: View of Mostar.

3 h.e.l.ler: Plima Tower at Jaice.

5 h.e.l.ler: Pa.s.s of Narenta, with view of the Prenj.

6 h.e.l.ler: Ramatae.

10 h.e.l.ler: Road in the Valley of Vrba.

20 h.e.l.ler: Old bridge at Mostar.

25 h.e.l.ler: Sarajevo.

30 h.e.l.ler: Animal carrying letters on pa.s.ses.

35 h.e.l.ler: Pavilion at Jezero.

40 h.e.l.ler: Mail waggon with horses.

45 h.e.l.ler: Market at Sarajevo.