1938-09-02 — Page 10

SAINT AND HIS

Ohtown of Echternach in

Whit-Tuesday of each year the

Luxembourg becomes the scene of a remarkable religious observance, the procession of holy dancers. Almost without interruption the rite has been observed for the past seven centuries, raising the town from obscurity for one day a year. Thousands of tour- ists come to witness. the ceremony, and now it has been perpetuated on a postage stamp..

**

It was an English born saint, Wil- librord by name, who provided Ester- nach's claim to distinction. Willi- brord was born in Northumbria in 058. He studied at the Abbey of Ripon near York, then spent 12 years in Ireland, a centre of ecclesiastical learning. Willibrord, adopting the life of a missionary, went to preach to the people of North Germany. Pip- pin of Herstal, a man of influence in that land, befriended Willibrord and sent him to Rome, where he was consecrated as a Bishop. He return- ed to Frisia, a district near the mouth of the Rhine, and established his see at Utrecht. For several years he pursued his missionary work, established many churches, including a Benedictine Abbey at Echternach. When Frisia was conquered by Rath- bod, Willibrord went into exile and his abboy was burned. The bishop carried on his work in the lands of Brabant, Denmark and Helgoland, but returned to Echternach upon the death of Rathbod. He rebuilt the church there, and when he died in 739 his remains were placed in the oratory of the abbey. Willibrord was honoured as a saint immediately after his death. Throughout the middle ages, the monastery of Ech- ternach held a position of high im- portance.

and

The church wherein lie the remains of the Saint is reached, by 60 steps, which are the centre of the Whit Tuesday ceremonies.

THE STAMP COLLECTOR'S CORNER

By Muriel Nissen

A procession of singers winds through the streets of the small town chanting a. hymn to St. Willibrord, Following them come the religious dancers who ascend the steps to the church by taking three steps forward and two back, Many persons afflict- ed with epilepsy and St. Vitus dance also perform this rite, for the saint has a special reputation in the cur- ing of these ailments.

And now on postage stamps, where anything may happen and most things do, we have a graphic presen- tation of the old custom. In obser- vance of the 12th centenary, of St. Willibrord's death, Luxembourg has issued a set of six postage stamps with surtax. The set is an extreme- ly handsome one. The procession it- solf is pictured on the highest de- nomination, 5 plus 5 francs, printed in violet, Portraits of St, Willibrord appear on the 35 centime plus 10c., blue green and 1Fr. 75 plus 50c., blue. The 70c., plus 10c., black, pictures the town hall of Echternach, on the 1Fr. 25 plus 25c., carmine is shown the Pavilion of Echternach, and the Basilica, Abbey and parish church ap- pear on the 8Fr. plus 2Fr., claret,

The dates on the stamp provide an oddity. English authorities -do not agree on the year of the saint's death, some placing it in 788, others in 739. The dates on the stamp are 738-739, which would indicate that the authorities of Luxembourg, wish-

Hongkong

ing to please both schools of thought, date the stamp to conform with one theory and issue it to comply with another.

CANADIAN ISSUE

FIVE of Canada's 11 provinces aro

represented in the Dominion's new stamp set, released on June 15. The adhesives are all of the excel- lence we have come to expect from Canadian stamps and present a very attractive array of varied scenery,

Government is represented on the 10 cent, red-lake, which pictures the interior of the Parliament Building at History contri- Ottawa, Ontario. butes two scenes, Fort Garry gate on the 20 cent red-brown value and the Chateau de Ramesay on the $1 dark purple...

Fort Garry was the tiny settlement from which the city of Winnipeg in Manitoba grew.

The Chateau de Ramesay is one of the show places of Montreal. It was built in 1705 by the French governor whose name it bears and after the British conquest in 1745 became the official residence of the governor of Montreal. When the American for ces took Montreal in 1775 the cha- teau was the headquarters of General Wooster, and later of Benedict Arn- old while he was still a loyal soldier of the Revolution. The building has since occupied many roles, serving. as a court house, school, and educa- tion office. It is now a museum ad-

$ Directory

1939 EDITION

B

IGGER RIGHTER ETTER

DON'T DELAY

ENTRY FORMS AND ORDERS

FOR COPIES ARE NOW BEING

RECEIVED FOR

THE 1939

Hongkong $ Directory

"ministered by the Society, of Nu

umis- matists and Antiquaries.

Two Industrial views complete, the, pictorial side of the set. On the 50 cont green we have a picture of Van- couver Harbour, one of the finest na- tural harbours in the world, and Canada's chief port.

On the blue 6,cent air mail' we see a scene on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories.

The 20-cent special delivery stamp, printed in red, presents in imposing size, the Canadian coat of arms.

MORE NATIONAL PRODUCTS,

BULGARIE

AB.

БЪЛГАРИЯ

THE "national economy" stamp

THE

series being issued bit by bit from Bulgaria is certainly going, to be an attractive item when it is com- plete. Another unit in the set has appeared, and several more are sche- duled. The latest design appears, as did the others, in a unit of two stamps having the same value but. different colouring. The vineyard trade is. honoured on this stamp with a picture of a peasant girl holding two huge bunches of grapes. The value of the adhesive is 4 leva, the colours wine-red and light brown.

The industries honoured on future stamps, according to present plans, will be harvesting, suntiower culture, rose growing, strawberry farming, tobacco growing and ranching. MEDICAL CONGRESS HONOURED

THE republic of Lebanon in "Asia" TH

Minor recently issued a set of. four stamps in conjunction with a medical congress held in the capital; · city of Beirut. The stamps were for air mail use, and the design, which was the same for all values, pictured the building where the congress ga- thered. The values and colours are: 2 Piastre, green; 3P., orange; 5P. gray and 10P., claret.

STAMP TEASERS

1. Where is the Yarra River, and`

what stamp pictures. it?

2. On what adhesive will you find a

Mussulman Cemetery?

3. What country has honoured St.

Publius on its stamps?..

5. The Insignia of a Rifle Club has been used as the design for what adhesive?

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK'S QUIZ

1. Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet who lived from 1474, to 1533. He is pictured on a stamp of his native land issued in 1932.

2. A chomois, hunter appears on a

1930 stamp of Liechtenstein. '3. In 1860, New Brunswick issued a stamp bearing a portrait of the Prince of Wales, who later be- came. Edward VII.

4. Guanacaste is a province of Costa Rica. During the 1890's posses- sion of the territory was disputed between Nicaragua and Costa: Rica. While the argument was being settled, residents of the area were permitted to purchase Costa Rican stamps below face value and surcharge them for use within that territory.

5. On a stamp issued by the Nether- lands in 1936 you will find a che- rub carrying a posthorn.

JUST RECEIVED.

FIRST SUPPLY

OF

FLOWER AND VEGETABLE ·

SEEDS.

GRACA & CO.,

Dealers in Garden Seeds, Postage Stamps, Religious Goods, < st

→ Toys, Etc, inanard ved No. 10, WYNDHAM STREET AZ P.O. Box No. 620. RONG HỌ G

Agents for

Button & Sons, Ltd., Reading. Toogood & Sons, Ltd. Southampton

Arthur Yates & Co.,