4-23-31 EB 383.05 Sc SCOTT'S MONTHLY JOURNAL being interested and is accused of pulling the strings, though there is no evidence that she is taking an active part in affairs. If the new government has assumed a title it has not been proclaimed. We give a few quotations which may include the title and also shed some light on the general situation. "Dec. 17, 1921. War has broken out between the 'White' Vladivostok Republic and the 'Red' Chita Republic." "The attack on the Far Eastern troops north of Vladivostok by remnants of the Kappet, Semeonoff and Kalmikoff armies, reinforced by some of Wrangel's and Denikin's soldiers brought in from the Near East,, which began last week under the leadership of Merkuloff, has progressed so far that it has reached Khabarovsk, 150 miles north of the neutral zone, which the anti-Chita troops crossed at the beginning of the offensive. Trotzky is quoted as saying in Moscow today that White Guard troops have captured Khabarovak ‘in the presence of Japanese bayonets.' But whether or not Khabarovsk has been taken, the Far Eastern Republic has quite a little war on its hands, a war with troops who came out from behind the protection of the Japanese army of occupation and benefited by that advantage and by the advance across the neu Apparently these people are able to spare a little time from fighting and devote it to smaller matters, such as. postage stamps. Mr. J. V. K. Wells has shown us a number of covers coming from this region. Some of these covers bear Russian stamps of 1909-18 which are overprinted diagonally with the Russian word "Respublikia", which we surmise is the equivalent of our "Republic." We have seen the 7 r perforated and the 1, 3 and 5 r imperforate with this overprint. There are also small stamps, 50 k red and 1 r 50 k blue, in a design that is apparently intended to represent industry, as it includes an anvil, a cogged wheel, a square and a compass. These stamps are affixed to various small covers, bearing registration labels and cancelled "Vladivostok, 10, 9, 21." None of them bear postmarks of transit or arrival but that is, of course, merely absence of evidence and not proof of anything. While we have no reason to question the bona fides of these stamps we feel it may be well to await further information before giving them place in the catalogue. In Eastern Siberia the gold standard is maintained and postage stamps are 7607041 3 sold at the old rate of about fifty cents to the ruble. SWITZERLAND: We have received the 10c green on buff and the 20c red violet on buff, 1921 issue, in tête bêche pairs. We also have the 5c orange and the 10c green, printed setenant and tête bêche. We assume that, as usual, these varieties are taken from sheets intended to be cut into panes for stamp booklets. TUR or URKEY: In 1921 the 10 paras red violet, charity stamp of 1917, was surcharged 30 paras for use as an dinary postage stamp. The Economist Stamp Co. have recently shown us this stamp with the surcharge double. The Cuba "Y 1/4" Surcharge of 1855-56 By Henry B. Phillips Some time since I read in the London Philatelist, some remarks concerning the Cuban surcharge "Y 14". All of which were very confusing, and I dismissed them from mind. Now I have been digging into the historical records of the Spanish as allies of the American Colonies in the War of Revolution, and have "bumped up" against plenty of "Y"s. It must be remembered we are thinking about capital and not lower case "Y"s. sur My conclusion anent the Cuban charge is that it was there used as a contraction for the Spanish form of the word Idem (Ydem), meaning "the same." Applying this to the stamp, reading all that is expressed on its face, then (the postal official having orders to make a change) for lack of room to place on the stamp a full record, he simply expressed, in an emblematic manner, "the same is now one-quarter," or "the same is 4", "Ydem is 4", "Y is 4," "Y, 4" and there you have it. Easy? Therefore, I forget Ynterior (Interior) and all the others dicta. The following is a copy of a report illustrative of the use of this capital "y" by honestto-goodness Spanish officials: "Nueba Orleans, 31 de Dizre. de 1781 "REGIMIENTO de YNFANTERIA de la LUISIANA "Relacion por antiguedad de los Señores Oficiales, Sargentos Primeros, y Cadetes que tiene el expresado regimiento oy dia de la fecha. Teniente Coronel.. Don Pedro Piernas Don Thomas de Acosta Ydem del segundo Ydem del Segundo, Don Francisco Doriocurt" (followed by lists of names of the various Company officers and men.) This Roster of the general staff of this Infantry Regiment of Spanish troops operating in Louisiana against the British forces in the War of Revolution, is copied from the original record in the General Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain, See: Estante No. 87; Cajon No. 3; Legajo No. 16. This is here presented to illustrate the use of the capital "Y" in place of the capital "I". Further along in the documents Illinois is "Yliona" and Isaac is "Ysaac". The caption above Infantry is "Ynfanteria". Many other and further illustrations can be quoted. |