Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 190, 16 August 1894 — Philatelic Notes. [ARTICLE]

Philatelic Notes.

[ The post*ge-stamp mmia is oue of the most curionsof hnman fads. A collectīoo of coias is at tbe most vorih the weight of the metal. Xot so n eolieelion • f ; stamps. The fa>hion md.y go oot | as it eame in. au 1 tben the stamj>s willhe onlyso mneh w*ite pnper. The forger mny perfect his eT.l t art and dood ihe market wuh connterfeitānot to be distinguisbed from the real AcJ eeen if these sad events do not oceur a postage stamp is a poor treasnre to preserve io a hoa»e where fire may consume or thieves break in and steul. The fad broke out, according to the lllnstrated Americuu, in 1861, in the form of a few sporadic cases amoog schoolboys and I maiden ladies. It was not ouly a harmless faJ, but, in the case of tbe schoolboys, it was even an educative one. It proved the easie>t, p!easantest, and the most efEcacious way of driviug a knowledge of geography into the adoleacent mind. But now tLat ; th'ese first few sporadic attacks liave deve!oped into sometbing alarmingly like an epidemic,'oae begins to specnlafe whether the craze of tbe philatelist is not a distinct b.ir to hwman progress, inasmucb as it eon.sumes a large amount of bruin force and vital energy tbat migbt better be turned iuto otber aud more useful chaunels of activity. In tbo United States aione j tbere is an organization called ' tbo Americau Philatelic Associa1 tiou, whieh numbers 1000 members. Bat tbis represents ouly a ! small fractio.i of tbe philatelists i actually iu tbe counlry. Among 1 tbe number were men of tbe type of Geueral William Tecumseb Sbermun aud George Gould. Tbeu tbero are otbers who bave an esoteric reputation among the pbilatelists tbemselves, but are ; little known to tbe world at large. Tbe greatest and most famous of liviug pbilateli.sts—cousidored merely from tbe pbitalelist point of view—is M. Philippe de Ferrari, a dignified, courteous aud ! white-haired old gentleman who lives in Paris. Ho is a son of tbe late Ducbessde Gulliera, who was also a passionate lover of stamps. His collection is valued at balf a million doliars. He has kuown to p:»y §500 for au alliiuu whieh coutained only a single stamp that he coveted For more valuable collections he bas uever limited bis expenditurcs. Mr. Pbilbrick, an Englisb virtuoso, is uuderstood to bave so!d Lim tbe fruits of sixteeu years boardiug for £10.000. Four private secretaries are employed to atteud to this stupendous eollection. Tbree of tbem liaudlo new issues, tbe}’ revise and learrauge the old oues,then assoit, cata!ogue, and mount tbe stamps tbat are constantly pouring in. Tbe fonrth does notbing but carry a correspondcnce witb all tbe leading dealers of tbe world, with special view to obtaiu what coI!ectors "eall ‘’unattainables.” Neit to the Ferrari collection comes that of Baron Artbur de BotbscbiId, whieh is so valuable tbat its owner, reserve tbe pages containing bisrarest treasurea for tbe delectation cnly of himself and his most intimato frieads. Thero are two puhlie collection in Paris whieh are known to all stamp l<yvers tbronghont the world. One is at the Mint, tbe otber at tbe Admiralty. Another, Iess famons, is in tbe Berlin Museam.-=S. V. ChronicU.