THE STAMP COLLECTOR'S CORNER
By Muriel Nissen-
COVERED WAGON DAYS ·
AMERICA is not the only country
in the world with memories of covered wagon days. South Africa was the scone of one of the greatest of these "treks"-one that for dan- gor and hardship has no parallel in history. This is the Great Trek commemorated in a . memorable stamp set recently issued by: South Africa.
In 1852 a party of Dutch farmers left Holland to found a colony in South Africa. The migration of the English Pilgrims, who, you will re- member sailed from Holland to America, undoubtedly had a great deal to do with the desire of the Dutch to seek political and religious freedom in a new land
These farmers settled in their new homes and' all went well until the territory was seized by the British in 1796. The Boers, (as the Dutch farmers were called) soon lost much of the freedom they had enjoyed. They decided to set out once again to find a land where they could live undisturbed. No choice was left them except to go into the unknown and hostile lands of the north, but this danger they were willing to face. In 1886 hundreds of them left the South African colony under the gui dance of various leaders, “including Pretorius, Potgieter and Retief- names famous in South African his- tory. They set out with all house- hold goods, vasts herds of sheep and cattle and wagons that were great, lumbering affairs drawn by oxen.
As they advanced northward, the trek broke up into separate detach- ments, as one family or another. found a suitable settlement or heard of one in another direction.
the year and crushed Dingaun at the Blood River on December 16th. This victory is still celebrated throughout South Africa as Dingaan's Day. It is the 100th anniversary of the Zulu's death that is commemorated by the now stamp set.
designs...
The set consists of 'aix Due to the practice of issuing South African stamps in sets of two, one in English and one in Afrikaans, the set.totals 12 stamps..
The ono penny, in red and black, bears a picture of a Voortrekker wheel. The splintered and patched spoke symbolizes the hardships of the pioneers. In the foreground are two trees, one rotted to the ground and one sending forth new shoots, significant of the old people who, have gone and the new life, spring- ing from old stock that will carry on their work..
A Voortrekker family appears on the 1p. They gaze at the distant horizon in which can be seen the peaks of the Vegkip and Drakens- berg, and Blood River. Further symbols of struggle appear in the framework on which is a yoke drip- ping tears, blood and perspiration.
of
Four values of the set form semi-postal issue, the proceeds which are to go to a fand for the. erection of a monument in Pretoria, seat of administration for the Union of South Africa.
a
The half-penny plus half-penny value pictures a Boer behind plough. In the background are three mountains, symbolizing the settle- ments made by the Voortrekkers from Cape Town to Transvaal.
The 1p. plus 1p. pictures Louis Trichardt crossing the Drakensberg River on Christmas Day in 1837. His wagon has lost two wheels and a tree trunk lashed in place holds the wa-
A band led by Piet Retief continu-gon together. Nearly all Trichardt's
ed into Natal where they encounter- ed the tribes of Dingaan, the great Zulu chief. Retief obtained a con- cession from Dingaan to settle in the territory, but native treachery pre- vailed, and in February 1938 the Boer leader and a group of unarmed com- panions were murdered by Dingaan's men. The Zulu then proceeded to wipe out the Dutch colony, but rein- forcements from the Free State, headed by Pretorius, arrived later in
followers died of fever.··
The scene on the 1p. plus 1p. is of Piet Retief and Dingaan signing the treaty which the Zulu was to. break so trencherously..
On the 3p. plus 3p. we see the pro- posed monument at Pretoria. Both the designs and framework panels for all these stamps contain many small symbols of events in the his- tory of this period and the set is well worth a careful study.
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THE CHINA MAIL FRIDAY SUPPLEMENT, MARCH 10, 1939
Leung Wing-chui, captain of the Federation team receiving his miniature cup from His Excellency at the conclusion of the Governor's Cup football game last Sunday,
FRENCH COLONY CURIE. STAMPS
FACH
ACH French colony issued a stamp similar to that of the mother country, in honour of Pierre and Marie Curie, discoverers of ra- dium. When theso issues were first planned, it was expected that the colonial stamps would be merely overprints of the one issued in France. However, cach ia m separate item printed from- original plates. The commemorative inscription_ap- pears at the top and the name of the colony in the upper left.
Printed in ultramarine, the stamp. was issued by the following colonies with a face value of 1 franc 75 cen-. times plus 50c: Cameroun, Dahomey, French Equatorial Africa, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Ivory Coast,
·Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritania, New Caledonia, Niger, - -Oceanical- Guinea, Reunion, St. Pierre and Mi- quelon, Senegal, Somali Coast, Sou- dan and Togo, Indo China's stomp, also în ultramarino, has a valua of 18 cents plus 5 cents, and the French offices in India: issued a value of 2 piastres plus p,
TURKISH ISSUE
THE 15th anniversary of the Tur
kish Republic was recently mark- ed by a stamp issue of six values. Bristly described, the net le ma“ fol- Jowar natrag: "green, streeps. Athrching and planes flying overhand Bp. red
bistre, bridge
Boy Scouts 121⁄2p. President Ata- turk in the uniform of a marshall.
FORTHCOMING CANADIANS
IN
TN honour. of the visit of Their Majesties King George and Queen Elizabeth, which is planned for May and June, Canada will issue the fol- lowing three stamps: 1 cent green picturing the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, 2 cent brown on which will appear the National War Memorial and `n 5 cent red which will portray Their Majesties.
STAMP TEASERS
1. St. Benedict has been pictured on ́
what stamp?
2. What stamp pictures a condor?
3. A scene picturing cattle in a storm appears on what adhesive? King Darius ruled over. what country, and on what stamp will you find him.
51 Name a foreign country whose postage has pictured Lindberg's plane, "The Spirit of St. Louis" ?*
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Chorrera Fells are in Panama and appear on a 1915 stamp of that republic.
2. President Rutherford B. Hayes is portrayed on a 1928 stamp of Paraguay, an honour "bestowed upon him for his decision in set- thing a boundary dispute between Paraguay and Argentina.
The Muse of History appears on a Portuguese stamp of 1898.
Eugene Huber, author of the Swiss Civil Law Book, appears on a 1932 stamp issued by Switzer- land.
In 1905 Spain issued an extensive stamp set in honour of the ter- centenary of “Don Quixote”. One of the stamps pictures the scene in which our hero rides a wooden horse.
YOU
ARE INVITED TO INSPECT OUR STOCK, OF ASIATIC, FOREIGN AND COLONIAL
POSTAGE STAMPS
IN SETS, SINGLE, PACKETS.
· BAGS AND IN APPROVAL SHEETS.
GRACA & CO. Dealers in Postage Stamps, Philatelic Goods, Picture, Postcards” Religious Goods,,
Garden Seeds, etc.
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