this announcement should be taken with a large pinch of salt. The stamps have too strong a family resemblance in paper, gum, colors and execution to the questionable issues for Odessa, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc., which we mention elsewhere in this number. We think they belong to the same breed of pups, and the breed lacks ancestry of repute. The series is composed of 50 paras blue, 75 pa carmine, 1 piastre green, 2 pi orange and 5 pi purple.

HONDURAS: Our publishers have

found in their stock a sheet of the 25 centavos red of 1890 (No. 45) with one horizontal row of perforation

1, 2, 3, 6, 9 pence and 1 shilling. On some stamps the final "t" has also been broken and stamped in. Mr. W. T. Wilson writes us about these varieties and sends us some samples.

Stamps with the three-line overprint have been printed by Messrs. Harrison and issued in coils. These are the 2, 1, 11⁄2 and 2 pence. Mr. Wilson sends us strips of the last two showing the "1" of "1922" taller than usual and with a crossbar at the foot.

NETHERLANDS:

In many coun

tries the fishing season opens about April first. Netherlands seems not to be an exception and someone has dug a fine lot of angle-worms and displayed them on the new lc and 2c stamps.

Do you say this is not what the design represents? Of course, we may be mistaken (though we don't like to admit such a possibility) but we think you must agree that some sort of wriggly mess is shown on the stamps. If a prize were offered for ugly stamps, do you think it would be won by the new Netherlands or the goggle-eyed monster on the new Swiss air-plane stamps?

perforate between.

I

are

RELAND: Philately may be something new in Ireland but they are taking to it whole-heartedly and turning out surcharge varieties in a way that should meet the approval of experienced operators in Central American countries. Their latest spasm has been with a missing accent. It seems that a slight accident happened to the plate for the three-line overprint. As a result, on many sheets, one stamp in the right vertical row lacked the accent over the second "a" of "Saorstat." Apparently this did not meet the official view of what was right and proper and orders were given to insert the accent by hand. This was done with varying success and the stamps are found with the accent thick, thin, short, long, inverted, double, and more or less out of place. Collectors are scrambling for the varieties and the stamps without the accent seem to be scarcer than those with it supplied. The hand-stamped accent is known on the 2,

We translate from L'Echangiste Universel:

"On the subject of the stamps commemorative of the first anniversary of the departure of the Portuguese aviators who made the flight from Portugal to Brazil, our correspondent at Lisbon writes us, under date of March 11th:

"It appears that the syndicate which has prepared this issue is to receive all the stamps which remain unsold at 40% of their value, with the right to take them gradually, as they wish. The sale to the public is impeded, also it has been limited to three days, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. It is said that the syndicate is composed of postal employees and by the terms of a circular, No. 14, of which I add a translation, we observe that difficulties have been accumulated in the way of the sale. Naturally, the merchants here are furious. To-morrow an application will be made to the Ministre; but, even if it is ordered that the sale shall be made without restriction, the scandal will not soon subside; for why purchase

the stamps at the Post Office at their face value when the syndicate can have them at 40%?" "

The well-known philatelist, Mr. J. N. Marsden, writes from Lisbon to Stamp Collecting, terming the issue a public scandal, engineered by a small syndicate. The total issue is to be 2,949,300 stamps but the quantities of the different values have not been made known. Only 839,540 stamps will be placed on public sale. Mr. Marsden continues:

"The days of issue-Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday-were chosen because the Post Offices are not open, or, at any rate, only on Saturday, when most people are away and there is little correspondence. At first very it was intended that they should be sold only in Lisbon, but there have been so many protests that it is intended only to supply those offices which ask for them that is, only the 839,540 will be divided up. Further, they will not be allowed to be sold in quantities.”

This is about as barefaced a scheme as has been proposed in some time. It is to be hoped that collectors will have sufficient self-respect to refuse to buy the trash. Despite the fact that the stamps will be available for postage we feel that their omission from catalogues will be commendable.

made numerous surcharges and printed them in large quantities, we have heard of very few inverted and double varieties.

We recently reported that the Soviet government had decided to permit Russian collectors to send Russian stamps abroad and to receive stamps from other countries. These were to be strictly exchange transactions and not cash sales. These exchanges could only be made by sending and receiving the letters through a certain Bureau and paying a special tax. A correspondent, who has received some stamps in this way, informs us that this privilege has been cancelled. The exporting of

stamps from Russia is now prohibited and letters to Russia must not even mention money or stamps or they will be confiscated.

WITZERLAND: Fourteen stamps now current in this country, ranging in value from 5 centimes to 10 francs, have been overprinted "S. d. N.Bureau-international-du Travail" for the use of the International Labor Bureau, a subsidiary of the League of Nations. We have already expressed the opinion that the stamps overprinted for the League need not be listed in the catalogue and the same view will apply to this new series.

TUNIS

UNIS: Apparently this country has found the charity stamp game profitable, so they have just brought out a long issue that is ostensibly for the benefit of the wounded in the World War. The stamps are of the types of the regular issues of 1906-22, printed in new colors and with values from 1 centime to 5 francs. They are surcharged with a picture of the French croix de guerre and, with two exceptions, with a small additional value for charity. The lc and 2c are surcharged with the cross, so that they may be sold as part

of the set, but the charity part is omitted. The grand total is 1fr 41c for the wounded and 11fr 71c for the post office. This issue is as unblushingly mercenary as the Red Cross issues of North Borneo. It is to be hoped that those who are charitably inclined will give their money to some organization and leave this robber issue severely alone.

TUR

URKEY IN ASIA: Mr. Eugene Klein shows us a vertical strip of three, imperforate, of the 20 paras green of 1922 (No. 83).

Stamp Collecting reports that 9,000 sets of six denominations of the stamps of Turkey and Turkish Cilicia have been overprinted "Smyrna Economic Congress, February 17th. 1339 (1923).” This note is for the benefit of any who may be interested. It is probably the last that will be heard of the stamps in our publications.

COUNTERFEITS: The flood of counterfeit and fake stamps that is overwhelming the market is disgusting and alarming. Most of these things are made in Europe. Mr. Edouard Locher writes: "I beg to inform you that all issues of Soviet Russia, from 1918 onward, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been counterfeited in Germany (Hamburg)."

Messrs. Y, Souren Co. writes us about two brothers who began their career as counterfeiters in Kieff, Russia, subsequently moving to Tiflis, Georgia, and later to Italy. They have made counterfeits of Ukrainia, South Russia and most countries in the Caucasus region. Two other brothers, also located in Italy, have made counterfeits of the

stamps of many of the countries just mentioned, their specialty being the occupation stamps of Azerbaijan. Messrs. Souren add: "These two brothers address letters to nearly every dealer and many collectors in this country, claiming to be Russian refugees. Generally these letters enclose bogus stamps which they beg the dealer to keep and remit 'whatever the heart dictates.' We have seen such letters in at least three dealers' offices here."

Frankly, we think the dealers are largely to blame for this condition of affairs. If they were not in such a hurry to buy every pretty label that is offered and, more especially, things that are offered at bargain prices and promise large profits, they would, in the long run, save both their money and reputation. They cannot continue to buy bad stamps and offer them to their customers and not suffer for it. If every dealer refused to buy stamps until he was certain they were genuine, the swindlers would soon find their market too limited to be profitable.

E

XHIBITION NOTES: The exhibition in London this month will certainly be some show. The latest reports are that nearly six hundred exhibits have been entered and insurance to almost $10,000,000 placed on the displays. One exhibitor has protected himself to the extent of half a million dollars. Each of our readers will be allowed to send in one guess at the name of this modern Croesus.

It is announced that the United States Post Office Department will send an exhibit. We like that. It seems friendly and different from the usual official attitude of aloofness.

PARADOXICAL as it may sound,

one of the greatest pleasures of stamp collecting is the inability to get every stamp. I always will remember the remark made by one of the young ladies in the great New York establishment of the Scott Stamp & Coin Co. to my young son, who was there with a list of stamps that he very much wanted. Coming to one variety that the company was out of for the time being, the girl informed my son of the fact. Boy-like he appeared much disappointed and clearly showed his feelings, whereupon the girl remarked: "Why, my boy, if you could get every stamp there wouldn't be any fun in stamp-collecting." And she was right.

The real joy comes to the collector when, after months, perhaps years, of searching he finally acquires the specimen he has sought so long, and triumphantly carries it home to fill up the long vacant space in his album. And it is not always the value of the missing stamp that measures the satisfaction at its acquisition, either. Some stamps catalogued as low as three or four cents are equally as difficult to obtain as their expensive neighbors, and when one eventually picks them up the pleasure is just as great.

I had a friend once, a stamp-collector, who was pretty well fixed as far as worldly goods go, and when he wanted a particular stamp or set of stamps he went where he knew he could get them, paid his money, and took the stamps home with him. I am referring now, of to the procurable variety of stamps. Now that man certainly never experienced the same thrill in the pursuit of his hobby as does the collector who seeks and seeks, and finally finds.

course,

It is said that the King of England has practically a complete collection of the stamps of the British Empire. He probably derives a certain amount of satisfaction from their possession, but what after all is left to him? There are no more fields to conquer in his chosen line, and his work is done. The

school-boy starting out bright and early on Saturday morning to spend his week's allowance for his favorite stamps has more real pleasure than does this mighty monarch.

And the same thing applies to the more advanced collector who is ever on the lookout for some particular variety of shade, watermark, perforation or plate-number. The search may even carry him far afield into distant countries, but the further he has to seek, the greater the pleasure when he finally succeeds. Although I cannot truthfully say that any of my European trips have been undertaken with the sole object of collecting stamps, nevertheless I will plead guilty to always having my trusty marked Scott's Catalogue close at hand and ready to aid me in picking up some much-sought specimen.

Aside from its many other benefits to the boy and his older brethren, it seems to us that this phase of stampcollecting is one of its most and not always appreciated assets. It teaches not only perseverance, but what is more valuable still, namely, that the joy is not only and always in the obtainable, but more often in the seemingly unobtainable.