Evening Star Newspaper, June 27, 1926, Page 70

- every THE SUNDAY STAR., WASHINGTO Ed JUNE 21. 1926— PART Raiders Are Bravely Pursued in a Storm of Abyssinian Bullets Plight of a British Officer, With Native Soldiers, Cut Down in a Dash Upon a Stockade of the Dread Havash. Marching Into a Desolate Region. Water Shortage in Intense Heat. “Shoot the White Man!"—The Charge and Collapse. W. Lioyd-Jones. brevetted major fu the British army during the World War. has had many brushex with death in his military career Rut none have heen more harrow ing or searching then the ex periences recounted in this and a eding article, sceurred when Maj. Lloyd ading a detachment of the King's Afvican Rifles. sought to capture a band of Abyssinians who had crossed the bovder into British Africa and committed many edations. terrorizing the ill med inhabitants of the region. to whom they w known the Havash In the tively of {Early next morning the I half & dozen men with transport ani mals. probably donkeys, though the | ground was so hard it was impossible {to make any but an approximate esth | mate. b The | conceal oy trded had to biv evidently and party had themselves, Jones, 1 Id of the ground. All doubt as to their identity was soon removed by the discovery of & round of the ammunition habitually used by the Havash. They are always careless, and one of them had ev dently let this round fall from his rvough homemade bandolier. It was a most unpleasant looking y | missile, of solid lead. almost as thic tives of Abyssinia. who were the |as u man’s little finger, with the end British officer’s chief vellance. This | Apglened, and nearly as large as @ article opens when the detachmerd | threepenny bit. To make it lees in s veached the post of Loivauga | viting, it was very dirty, the bullet gn theshopeior :{(‘l\\i.:"“\‘\"::.{v.i ! being fannned into the cartridge case W e ervices in the World | with some greasy paper and coated ed the Distinguished Service Order ;::“\ II With emlig s “ of his own country and was made |55 Lindl i e Chevalior of the Freneh lagion'af |us manages to stop one of these, my Honor, Chevalier of the Crown of |0} he'll soon be past praying for! ltaly and Chevalier of the Crown Eibllowang <liese) Saatis, we evED of Rumania. The White Eagle of | tually came upon a stout shelter over Serhin was also conferred upon |'09KIng a rain pool. evidently con i structed by the hunters as a cover | from which to shoot animals coming { down to drink. Here we camped and | noticed that the game in the vicinity T last all our preparations were | Was barticularly wild, a sure sign of completed snd a start was | the recent presence of riflemen. As made northward along the [ We had very little grain, I sallied Jake b The column, asforth to try to shoot a beast to sup sual, was preceded by « few | blement the meager rations, but was wrmen. supported by askris | unable (o get near anything suldiers) in more or less nafive The guards now were utterly less. \We felt our way forward, fol ‘ln\\um up the ders. During the next thidday halt. looking about for u | patch of shade in which o lie, I had the luck to stumble on what an os | trich presumably calls a nest; at any rate. I found several eggs in a hole in the sand. K. and 1 eagerly con umed them in lhy form of excellent ax deachment, composed en Africans. were four na BY MAJ. W. LLOYD-JONES. (nati dress The adv with the lo to the point Havash feared tha spearmen were nerve at the #avoid the raiders their presence. | For several days we trekked norih- | omelets ward, keeping parallel to the lake. but | That night ours was a waterless always some few miles east of it (o | camp. The camels were drooping and avoid the soft mud of the foreshore. | the food supply was getting low, so Sometimes we found water: at others | that we realized that unless we could we used that in our water bottles and | run our quarry to earth within 24 marched through the night to try to {hours we would have to reach a water hole 1 re the sun was | ampty-handed to the ke shme. up nest day Making an early sart, we soon The country ached more broken country and less hospitable | Signs of vegetation began to appear. Mount Kulal [ Calling a halt 1o enable the column cepted idea of 1o close up, patches of la few rifles forward to reconnoiter a the cruel tho: wooded valley which opened up to our ””I°”\' il i " : Immediate front o S ED e s b '.l!liP.\' 27 l.hml Ie‘tf-i\?l’A'A report from the ad {0 Spuel ay L et vance party. K. decided to ascend PR o e o neighboring kopie for the purpose. of ic hem to ket & taking some topographical observa K., the political officer who accom ions. Hardly had he diss ea d panied the detachment. rather chafed | With his escort (o SR DDER T at this, as he liked to wander off any-| yoned oy ort than my acouts re where his fancy might take him to| o ineg, 4hid reported the presence of a stockade in the valley, guarded hy make observations for hix sketch map. ' pon O R ! 3 However, when 1 poiited out to hin AL that the responsibility for his protec ton lay on me. he vielded 1o my en-| A treaties and suffered an of al couple of askaris to accompany him ; iy L A ohomi: | corporal with the Somali constabulary night and were very careful|in charge of the camels, I moved off about camp routine Water ves | quietly with the rest of my askaris sels were always under an| Pushing through the thick thorn armed guard and e was allowed | bush which covered the entrance to to touch the tanks but the commander | the little valley. I soon espied a thick of the guard, under thorn zariba. some 10 feet high, in an pervision open space which evidently had been After some mar along | cleared by fire lose to the entrance, the lake shore we encountered a|which was farthest from me, was a rountainous mass of lava rock which | small water-hole. extended ahruptly to the water's edge. | Al around were tracks of transport This obstacle obviously necessitated a | animals, which had evidently been deviation inland and easiwarl from | grazed in the vidnity and watered at the lake, [the well. Inside the stockade. which And there lad obviously been in existence for the mass o some time, was a hut constructed of <p use nee guard kept in touch 11 scouts. as when it came greatly were the msupported. the than report | became. if a8 we got clear of and guore like the ac the desert. with fewer alms and less even of bush. The heat was anything, | re and of us last we had located our quarry escort Leaving the Abyssinian transport The placed seven 1es 4 ravine running into rock. we found i pool YELL THE THREE WENT FOR THE GATEWAY. AND, | advance guard came upon the tracks of about | cked in a hollow tucked away in a | * K. remarked | veturn | I sent the spearmen and | “l FELT A HEAVY BLOW ON MY LEF » . AND COLLAPSED LIKE A SHOT RABBIT.” make excellent material for my own company, which was getting rather below strength Accordingly, calling Gabre Michael my besteducated non-commissioned | ofticer, 1 ordered him to call to them {In their own language to surrender, promising them their lives. Unfortu | nately. I fear that they did not believe {in my good faith. At any rate. no |answer was forthcoming. Again Gabre | Michael repeated the summons and agaln received no rep.. 1 did not wish 1o awail the return of any others of the gang. so gave the order to fire and poured a volley into |the inclosure. Then another and |again another. As there was no sign |of movement, I deécided to rush my | men nside so as quickly to overcome |any resistance that might be offered. Ordering my bugler to sound the | charge. | dashed forward at the head !of my men towards the gate | A< we broke cover, there was a tre | mendous discharge of beavy rifles, and I heard a hoarse shout. which after wards 1 learned meant “Shoot the | white man’" Down went the hugler on my lefi. the man on my right fell { forward with a shattered knee. and as {1 reached the now barred gate I felt | the wind of a bullet past my ear Tearing al the thorn obstacles in the gateway I called my men forward I had just time to fire at a villainou: looking cut-throat when 1 felt & heavy blow on my left ankle and collapsed like a sirof rabbit. My first feeling was one of fury as | realized that the gate had not been forced and that the | men had not followed me. but were Iying down firing into the zariba. My left ankle was shattered and bleeding profusely, and my right arm lacerated by the thorns of the gate way. Looking up. | saw that | Gizau, Abdul Gadir, and Dasalin now remained by me. Thev were crouch ing close up to the zariba, firing stead- ily. Abdul Gadir's rifie jammed. He sed and cried with impotent rage he man on my right started to try 1o crawl away, very weak from losé of blood. The bugler lay quiet, to all ap. | pearances dead | Calling Gizau by name, | “Melangoni! Melangoni!”" | ated Followed by I dir. he rushed ievident intention 1 shouted (Into the alin and Abdul Ga towards me. with the of carrying me to I THOUGHT, TO CERTAIN DEATH.” *WITH A FIE quite palatable water, so we dectaed | wood and grass thatch, Moving cau ‘o halt a few days and refresh men | tiously forward, I led my party snd animals. It was a welcome|around toward the farther side and change after the tepid. oily water | extended them in a shallow depression fiom. l.ake Rudolf. While there, a | covering the gateway and about 15 hody of spearmen caine in to report | yards from it. ihe presence of Havash raiders. They | Now K. and I had often discussed stated that they were within u couple | the procedure to be adopted on just . of days’ march and offered to lead us |such an occasion. I was of the opin- 10_the raiders’ lair fon that such outlaws should be shot XK. determined. however, 1o press on northward for a few marches to try | to gt into touch with the Reshiyal.| another. tribe, and to deal with the Havash on the return journey. As our food supplies were getting low. we decided to send some of the men | and animals back to Loivangalani | from here and to press on with the | barest number possible. | g e ; OR three we trekked on northward, but, finding absolute- Iy no trace of any human beings. re- | turned 1o our temporary base. Again| we reorganized the caravan, sending back the pony ahd one or two sick men. Now, at last, we could devote ourselves to the hunting of the Hav- ash, who were undoubtedly in the The first day's march we managed * to do spme 15 miles, though .the go- ing wea very bad and. 3 days out of hand simply as an example and to avoid possible casualties. One might always reckon that they would fight fo the death, as they firmly believed that death would in any case be their poption. Mostly men with prices on their heads, if they were handed over the Abyssin- jan authorities, their punishment might even be preceded by amputa- tion of the right hand and left foot. K. on principle was rather inclined to consider that they should be chal- lenged before being fired on. In this case, as escape seemed im- ible, I decided to offer them their | lives, but wished to get the business over quickly, as I rather suspected that most of the gang were out hunt- ing and that it ‘was only a few men in charge of the base that we had run to earth. I also rather wanted to get some of them alive, as I be. lieved, on the principle of “set » thief 7 they, migbt 3 T cover. Realizing the utter fulility of such an atiempt, I repeated the order, “Melangoni! Melangoni With a fierce yell and shouting the name of their patron saint. the three went for the gateway and, as 1 thought, to certain death. Followed veral shots and the sound of hes blows, cries, and groans. 1 lay on m side, ready to shoot the first man who came out to finish me; then, thinking that 1 had better not risk belng taken alive, T rolled over. and. placing the muzzle of my rifle into by right eye, felt for the trigger. * K ¥ % REMEMBER thinking at that mo- ment that though 1 had often contemplated ha#ving to shoot myself in such ‘circumstances and even dis- cussed it. somehow 1 had never really belleved 1'd ectually have to do it. If |ever I'd prayed for anvthing, it was | that T might not be maimed. Quickly | thought of my brother, | definitely calling upon him for help. (It is a remarkable fact that at that | very moment my brother felt uneasy | on my behalf and inquired at Nalrobi for news. He was assured that there was no need of apprehension.) Theabad fle;unzhthousgt; ere rudely distur] y the sudden unex- pected reappearance of A dreg only | | | | | | | | Persians. ging a half-dead raider by the bando- lier. Hurling the wounded man at my feet, he shouted “This is the swine that shot you'" And with a blow of his rifle butt killed the man at my feet. Dasalin and Abdul Gadir followed. throwing captured rifies and bandoliers in a heap. With their clothing torn and cov ered with glood, thelr faces distorted with passion. the three Abyssinians were hurdly recognizable. Gizau and Dasalin wished to pick me up at once. but I motioned them away. | asked quickly Are they dead They nodded grimly The “Handed-Down” Marriage Customs. (Continued from First Page) kitchen shelves, one with linens made on the hand loom at home, one with a shiny new pot. They showered her with their gifts and gave ber a finer dowry than her father ever could Many brides-to-be should be grateful to the little Dutch maiden whose shower set such a happy’ precedent Closely related to the shower is the wedding present. the survival of feu dal times. when tenants were bound to “render aid” at the Knighting of the lord’s eldest son and at the marriage of his eldest daughter. During reign of Queen Elizabeth of England the most usnal wedding present ainong the middie classes of soclety was “a pair of knives™: thal is, = sciss whose purpose has been thus defined Fortune doth give these pairs of knives to you To ent'the thread of love if 1t be untrue Becuuse they cut love in twain ex plains why the gift of a penknife or a pair of scissors is regarded as an ill omen In the development of gift-making in courtship a certain amount of ro mance centers around the flower. The flower is the gift of lovers. and in early Greek times a flower was worn as a slgn of the engagement..the full blossoming flower Suggesting love awakened. The Polynesian men, as well as the women, wear flowers be hind their ears when they are in love The survival of another picturesque medieval custom centering around the flower is found in the bride's flower girls of today. In olden times these little girls. usually sister dressed exactly alike. carried garlands of wheat before the bride in the mar riage procession as a bol of fruit fulness and plenty. The very old and universally observed custom of throw ing rice after the departing bride and bridegroom as a symbol of a fruitful union had its origin with the ancient Rice bas always plaved an important part in the marriage cere mony of these people, while the wheat shower, expressing the same senti- | ment, was common among the early Anglo-Saxons, and certain other people employed corn. Another interesting tradition regarding the rice shower is that rice was thrown after the bride and bridegroom for the purpose of giv ing food to the evil spirits that were believed to accompany newly married people. and that it was 1o _appease these spirits that rice throwing origi ated. 5 P Phrowing the bridal bouquet had its rise in the old custom of scrambling for the bride’s garter. In the ear fourteenth century in France it was the style for the bride to leave one garter dangling. At the close of the ceremony every guest made a mad rush for the garter and, although it was usually within easy reach, the bride was often hurt in the scuffle The garter gave way to the stocking in the next century and tstocking throwing” was the favorite sport at weddings. [t was found, however, not to be an easy task to remove a bride’s stocking and cast it to a friend for luck and some clever bride con- ceived the idea of throwing her bou quet with the tradition that the maiden who caught it would be the first to get married. The belief that the bride should have a touch of blue on her wedding | costume 1s one of the most commonly observed relics of primitive marriage customs. This superstition was bor rowed from the ancient Israelites; who were “bidden to put a ribband of blue” on the border of their gar. ments. Being the symbol of purity, love and fidelity, blue Is almost al- ways included in the bride’s costume according to the old saying: Something old and gomething new. Something borrowed and something blue. The term “‘something biue" is. of course, moré commonly applied to the “golng away” dress of the bride than the wedding dress proper, for when a wedding dress in the strietest sense of the word is employed white is al- ways used, since in addition to denot- ing purity and joy, white has long been considered the sacred color. The natives of Central Africa, for example, worshiped the white elephant as sacred. The picturesque bridal veil, essen- tially a part of the wedding dress, calls to mind ny contradictor: statements. 80 ‘writers believe that the veil originated in the cover- ing of the bride in ancient times to show woman’s submission to man, while others contend the exact oppo- site is true. Since it is well known that among various ancient peoples the groom was not allowed to see his bride from the day of the engagement to the day of the wedding, when he performed the solemn ceremony of ul her face, and since this i etiee Wwas common gmong the | fow man: hey could not say jow did you manage?” “They were frightened and missed | their aim. Some were already wound |ed. They -thought we were many.” | 1 then remembered that precautions ! must be taken at once, in case the re- mainder of the gang, hearing the fir | ing. should return. So I ordered Gizau to collect the scattered men and place a picket on the high ground just above. He replied “Commandant, my place is by y Where is Corporal Gabre Michael Dasalin repeated with a sneer, ‘Where is Gabre Michael”” For Ga bre Michael was the only other Abys Arabs, the Hindus and other Eu vopean and Asiatic people. veiling the | bride probabiy had 1ts origin here | Hating and drinking together is the most universal ‘'of all marriage cere monies. Long ago among the north | ern nations of Europe it was the practice of newly married couples to | retire to some private resort and drivk metheglin. a wine made from { honey, for a period of 30 days after marriage. This old custom is sald 10 be the origin of the term “honey month,” or “honeymoon.” The wedding cake is believed to be the survival of an old Roman practice when the bride and groom not only ate together ax a wign of their kin <hip and mutual love, but feasted the guests as well. Af this time it was | good etiquet to break the cake over the bride's head as a sign of plenti fulness. In the marrigge ceremonies of the early Anglo-Saxons huge baskets of dry crackers were em- ployed. After the feasi each guest took # cracker home with him and the remainder was disiributed to the poor. “Later it became the custom for the guests themselves to bring to the wedding small richly spiced buns which were piled in one huge mound on the table. It was a com mon occurrence for the bride and £room to attempt to kiss each other over this mound. and if they suc | ceeded they were assured lifelong prosperity.” It is said the wedding ke of today is due to the genius of a French cook, who, while travel ing in England. observed the incon venience of stacking hundreds of these smali cakes in a mound and con ceived the idea of cementing the mound into a single huge cake with icing. At the wedding feast it was the duty of the newly married man {to wait' on his bride at the table, whence came the name bridegroom signifying one who serves the bride. Of all the symbolisms that bave cen tered around the marriage ceremony of the pest, perhaps none is more interesting in all of its associations and so vitally a part of modern civil ized life as the wedding ring. The true ‘origin of the wedding ring may never be known. but the sacred privi lege of bestowing a ring upon the be- trothed bride has been traced to the Roman practice of the second century B. . Plain iron rings were first em ployed for this purpose. but as ear] us the second century of the Christian era gold rings came into use in the ceremony of betrothals. In olden times the circular form of the ring was accepted as a symbol of eternity, thus indicative of the stability of affection Constancy and heaven are round. And in this the emblem s found. A further reason for choosing the ring rather than some other object to bind matrimonial pledges was that anciently the ring was a seal by which all orders were signed and things of value secured. It was, therefore. a sign that the person to whom it was given had been admitted into the high- est friendship and trust. In early Ro- man times it was the duty bridegroom to deliver the keys to his house with the ring at the marriage. There has been a great variety of | opinion among different countries re- garding the proper finger for the wed- i ding ring. In certain marriage rituals | |of olden times the ring was placed by the husband on the top of the thumb of the left hand. With the words “In the name of the Father” he then re- moved it to the forefinger, saying “and of the Son;” then to the middle finger, adding “and the Holy Ghost.” Finally the ring was left on the fourt finger, with the closing word ‘“Amen. The custom of placing the wedding |ring on the fourth finger seems un- doubtedly to owe its origin to the fancy that a special nerve or vein ran directly from this finger to the heart. The earliest record of the practice was among the ancient Egyptian women, who wore their wedding rings on the left-hand fourth finger, as in the twentieth century. In early Greek and Roman times the ring was worn on the index finger, las was the marriage ring in the Jew- ish ceremonial. There ft is also found in the “Betrothal of St. Catherine,” by Murillo, and the “Betrothal of Marie de Medici,” bye Rubens. The index flnger also holds a ring in many wom- en's portraits of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, other fingers being devoid of rings. Queen Louise of Germany wore her wedding ring on the right-hand little lnnger‘ while in the time of Queen Elizabeth of England wedding rings were worn on the thumb.. This was also the custom during the reign of George 1 of England and is aitributed 1o the exceptionally large wedding rings favored by fashion at that time. A . sinian present. and had remained un- der cover when the gallant three rushed the gate. He now appeared. and at once proceeded to collect the men and throw out sentries “What of the Wakamba?"' Gizau Contemptuously he repiied, though it was only 100 obvious: “They are ordy fit to carry loads.” 1 asked as | | Fearful of poisoning from the dirty They had charged and only took cover | when two of them were down and they saw me fall T then told Abdul Gadir to look to the wounded men. The bugler was now gasping for breath, and I thought dying, but Abdul Gadir said “He is not bad, but the other dead.’ Now 1 got the three 1o pick me up | very gently. holding my shattered an kle together in both hands. Oddly enough, my right leg hurt most though it was but grazed. They laid me down very gently on the top of the little rise above the water ix ammunition and noticing that pieces of my puttee and boot had been driven into ‘the wound. I attempted to tuke off my boot, but fainted with pain. I thought iy whole foot was coming, 100. They dashed some water over me. AS I came round. | said. turning (o Gizau and the two orderlies: "1 am badly wounded and may die soon Remember to tell my brother the true story of what has happened this day Send quickly now for the cimmis sioner.” Gizgu, unable 1o speak away, but Dasaiin replied: “Com mandant, we will look after you. Now we know for certain that the White Officer can never turn back, for | was lso with Comdr Aylmer, and even we were afraid.” This last remark I do not think would have been made had he not belleved that | was a dying man Turning to them again. 1 said isten well, for soon I shall very sick and 1 not be able |speak. llowever | recover and will go land) and then the Gy (King) shall hear the story bravery and no doubt will {you each a decoration that |in Africa possess.” And verlly 1 do believe that the in {tention ‘of carrying out thir promise bad e great deal to do with keeping me alive. In those days African sol diers wape not eligible for the Victoria Cross, But if men ever deserved the cross it was these three. Dasalin replied: “My commandant, it s nething. It is of you that we think. 4 You who could move as quickly’ over the mountain as we How could we have returned 1o our comrades and told them that we had left our commandant dead on the field of battle” . I now saw K. coming and shouted out, “We've got some of them at last.” Looking duwn at my shattered o ot turned be Padshawe of vour send to few men The Abyssinians never believed that any of the Bantu races were real fighters, but after plenty of training I believe they have fought well. Thisx was certainly a pretty severe test ankle, he murmured. “H'm. at a price!” He started at once to wash the wound and bandage it temporaril: to try to stop the bleeding. Probabiv |and was relieved to he |aged to get |the zari {making 1 asked hi At the b that he ha < not reall v 1o look only been grazed and w badly hurt at all. Semehow we man off miy boot and puttee trylng to bathe the wourd antiseptic lotion, K. m from the lid of his drawi and after with some a splint Ibox. Just as he was going to examira 1 a couple of shots rang o1 I thought at first that more Havas: were returning. but 1 turned out tr be merely the Somali constahulai: fte « n that the raide were de: ugh 1 don't belleve there could have been much doiub: about It after my blood-thirsty order lex had finished with them. K. carefully examined the stontl; onstructed grass-thatched hut whick had evidently been used as a dweliing house und a &tore for trophles. In he found a considerable quantity o the ammunition weed by the Havast ooking utensils, and several sk!v including that of a fine loness » hiE s THE 3 were. T think, ght bodtes and four rifles d several home made goatskin and Wwe cided to burn the lair o as 1o mal an impression on any roving bands and make it clear that a superfor force had arrived and had utter! wiped out the party. To enconurage the young soldiers 1 asked K. to have the dead askari burled and fire the customary three volleys over hi grave. To my surprise and amusemen heard a “feu de joie though this time ir rs. ae evident ed the edu on the It wa to remain night, and art galani early next morning that 1 was in for a bad time had no morphine or chloroform and not even a proper supply of bandages Runners were sent off at once to Mar sabit in the hope of finding the dootor allotted to the frontier. or at any rate the Indian assistant surgeon Before leaving Nairobi I had taker the precaition of buying three bottles )f veronal tablets and these were t only sedatives in nir possession During the night I took a whole hot tle of the tabloids. but did not ceed in getting any sleep. Next mornin the trek b was placed on the er, which was. how shortness of the poles, very diff negotiate over the broken My orde alked beside for ) K we were vn we hegan me a doctor would have amputated at once. behind i the nce guard ght. 19 Cor History; Written on Poétége Sfarhps Sesquicentennial Issue Recalls Story of Origin of Commemorative Stamps at Centennial Celebration of 1876. HE recent issue by the Post Office Department of a Sesqui centennial postage stamp adds another stamp to the pational historical collection depicting American history. The period cov- ered by the stamps ranges from the landing of Columbus to the present hour. The “'Sesqui stamp,” as it will undoubtediy be called, commemorates, as have all others, an outstanding event in the Nation's life--thig time the one hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary of its birth The stamp is of the “special deliv ery” size, 2-cent denomination, red in color, hearing a columnar supported Liberty Bell in its center. surmounted by the word “‘Sesquicentennial.’ flanked on either side by the dates 17761926 The practice of the Government in portraying the history of the Nation by means of stamps is not old. It is well within the memory of the pro- verbial oldest inhabitant. It dates only from the vear —the anni- versary of the centennlal of the N . The Centennial stamp. therefore. has a birthday anni versary of its own at this time, if one chooses so to say In the above year the Government at the Centennial Exposition in Phil- adelphia. as a part of its Post Office Department’s exhibit, displayed a ma chine which manufactured stamped envelopes. o distinguish the en- velopes from the -regular issue & spe- cial stamp design was used. It con sted of a shield inclosing a mounted postboy, a train of cars, telegraph pole and wires as its principal figures. X ok ¥ 'l‘m-: stamps were intended to be sold at the Philadélphia office only, but the demand for them in a short time became so general that they were offered for sale throughout the coun- try. From this response. no doubt, the Post Office Department took a cue. For when the Columbian Fair was held in Chicago in 1893 there was struck by the department a series of adhesive stamps commemorative of very of America by Colum- s his marked the first commem orative series. Adhesive stamps themselves are not descended from hoary antiquity, though letters;’ which they are de- signed to convey “poste haste” to the addressee, are the children of yellow- ing time. Even postal systems antedate stamps by several centuries. Irregu lar pogtal systems existed in ancient Persia,"Rome and early France. Let- ters delivered by an organized postal system came into use in America in 1639, The first adhesive stamps known to use appeared in England around 1840, under the direction of Sir Roland Hill, who fills the role of ‘‘Benjamin Franklin" for the “tight little island.” In the vear 1847 the adhesive stamp idea crossed the Atlantic and became, through the United States Post Office, part and parcel of American domestic and business life. In that year Con gress authorized an adh stamp. Tt was offered for sale in New York on July 1, after being tried out at a few smaller .post offices beforehand. A curious fact registered about stamps of 1847 is that they did not take so well. The first fiscal year of their existence shows only 860,380 stamps struck. For something like two years before the “stamp act” of 1847 there wére {ssued by individual post offices ‘‘post- masters’ provisionals.” These stamps ‘were adhesive, local in character, and are today the rarest and most val- uable stamps in all America. Previous to the use of the adhesive stamp—and this with particular refer- ence to America—Iletters for maliling were folded skillfully and sealed witha wax wafer. The address of the person for whom the letter was intended was written on the outer side of the folded Igtter. The letter paper used was of a. very tough quality, made necessary by the double duty it was conipelled to do. Ppstlfn was collected from the sender or the reciplent of the letter, as the might be, and was go erned entirely by the number of shee and the distance carried, or to be car- rled. * ok x ANY no doubt who read these lines recall, stored in some spot sacred to family memory, a bundle of faded yellow packets bearing dates a gone by, mementoes of love and adventure from some one of the to the ‘‘western cvunsent Armvand, the | though the brain that inspired it has | long perished in the dust The adhesive stamp has another na- tional value than that of an educa tlonal one—a patriotic one. Expres slon of this value is found in the per sonal stamp. the stamp bearing the likeness of the Presidents. This prac tice of placing a national character upon the postage “square’ seems to be as old as the adhesive stamp itself The first stamps of England bore the imprint of Queen Victorla. Those of the United States bore the imprints of Washington and Franklin. respec tively, as they are today That lessons in patriotism are in culcated by such a practice is not to be doubted. Children, and even grown-ups of alien birth. read in them the characters of the great men who laid the foundations of the republic. They soon learn to notice. associate with the country and revere the men whose likelinesses appear on the stamps. Washington unquestionably comes in for the gr rt of this homage of these growing citizens. There is not a day that hundreds of thousands of letters and other articles of post do not go through the mails bearing his image Ben Franklin. whose homely phil osophy is known to every schoolboy through “Poor Richard's Almanac,” is scarcely one whit less a public character today than the Father of His Country. Hlis likeness also ap pears on hundreds of thousands of pleces of mail a day, reminding the public constantly of his services to the Nation and his character. The enumeration might go on indefinitely The stamps of the Columbian series | (the first commemorative series) sued to commemorate the discove of America by Columbus were in sis teen denominations with the follow ing subjects: 1-cent, Columbus in Sight of Land: 2-cent, Landing of Columbus: 3-cent, Klagship of Columbus; 4-cent. Fleet of Columbus: -cent, Columbus Sollciting Aid of lsabella: 6-cent, Co lumbus Welcomed at Barcelona: § cent. Columbus Restored to Favor: 10.cent, Columbus Presentng Natives ls-cent. Columbus Announcing s Discovery: 30-cent, Columbus: at la Rahida: 60-cent. Recall of Coltmbus $1. Isabella Pledging Her Jéweis $2. Columbus in Chains; $3. Co $4. Isabella-Columbus; $3 Columbus * % X ¥ THE next commemorative series of outstanding _character. though not in chronological order, was the Louislana Purchase Serles of 190 The series fs reminiscent of the early days of the republic when the vast territory west of the Mississippi was the possession of France. Iis his torical significance is commensurate with the greatness of the Nation to day. The subjects selected for this series were: 1-cent. Robert R. Living iston. United States Minlster to France. conductor of the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase 2-cent. Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States at the time of the pur | chase and the heyo of ft: James Mon the matter of the purchase and who. with Livingston. closed the negotia tions; 5-cent, William McKinley, who. as President, approved the acts of Congress officlally connecting the Gov ernment with the commemorative ex position. and, 10-cent, map showing territory of the Louisiana Purchase. In the history of the Nation, a ro- mance of unsurpassed grandeur. there is no more intriguing chapter than that ‘of winning the West." Its popu- larity in picture and discourse is without depth, breadth or height. It 1s unmeasured and immeasurable. Tt s full of action. independenc: ness and littleness of character, grandeur and nobility of soul. It charms and fires the imagination. In- dlans race across the plains, cowboys :I.np under the stars and awake with iwn to drive over the endless mesas their clove-hoofed eharges, miners dig for gold and the hushand sings be- tween the plow handles end gazes steady, blue-eyed, toward the cabin in the clearing from which curls a faint wisp of smoke. In 1898 the Post Office Department wrote this story on a serles of stamps. There were nine in all and the pageant pre sented ran: 1-cent. Marquette on the Mississippi: 2.cent. Farming in the West; #.cent, Indlan Hunting Buffalo; b-cent, Fremont on the Rocky Moun tains; 8-cent, Troops Guarding Train: 10-cent. Hardships of Emigration; 50. cent, Western Mining Pro&pector; $1, Western Cattle in a Storm: 3, mnu-w“ River Bridge. The . mean- Tumbus Describing His Third Vovage. | roe, special ambassador to France in ¢ Omaha Expost Omaha sippi ar tion held that year The Pan-American 1901, and in quick succession the Purchase series (1904) Jamestown serfes, 1807 | Yukon-Pacific Z.cen | and the Hudson-Fu same denomination the Panama-Pacific the Victory 3-cent stamp of 1818 Pilgrim Tercentenary series of the Huguenot-Wallaor series of 1924 the series of 1 1 special for the Woodrow Wilson f this vear. For came the the Alaska special of 1903 on special of the the same vear series, 19121913 the 19260 son Memorial and Sesquicentennial stamp * % o amp) uT Concord of this Lexington especial in- tes the ope group the series is of terest as it ing battle of the Revolution. Tt con tains three denominations described s follows: One-cent. Washington at Cambridge. representing the general taking command of the Continental troops: cent. the Birth of Liberty representing the battle of lLexingt and Concord; 5-cent, the Minute M Of deep interest. commem also, is the Woodro Wilson stamp honoring the sreat war President. The 13-.cent stamp. Its subject the portrait of President Benjamin Harrison and which was abandoned in 1921 following discon tinuance of war-time postage. has been reissued to meet the demand for its use on parcel post packages unde: ihe 1926 postal rates. The first issus was placed on sule Indianapolis Ind. The students of Shepherd College Shepherdstown. W. Va., were respor sible in part for the reissuance of thi stamp. giving in their unique petit for its reinstatement in the postal cycle the following reasons 1. America was discovered on sve of the thirteenth of the month The original republic consisted ¢ thirteen colonies 3. The first official fl {stripes and thirteen st 4. Our national emblem. the Ame: lcan eagle. requires thirteen letters 1o spell it; also, our motte, “E Pluribus Unum." 5. The first words to pass over the Atlantic cable were sent on the thir teenth day of the month 6. Our silver is written ail wer with thirteen h the crown are thirteen stars: the eagle displaved has a branch with thirteen leaves in one claw and thirteen thundetbolts in the other. On his breast is a shield bearing thirteen bars and from his beak is & ribbon bearing a motto with i thirteen letetrs. Each wing has thir teen feathers and it takes thirteen letters to spell “quarter dollar.” 7. There are thirteen letters in John Paul_Jones' name 1 8. There were thirteen ships in the first American Navy 9. Perry’s victory on Lake Erie was {won on ‘the thirteenth day of the month 10. The Stars and Stripes raised over Fort Sumter on the day of the month. 11. Gen. Pershing on June 13, 1917 ‘The thirteenth amendment the Constitution freed the country slavery 13. It would not cost more to mihe a 13-cent stamp than any other one Old stamps have an intrinsic valu and stamp collectors are as numerous as the sands of the sea. This valu- is heightened by the rarity of the stamps and their historical ¢ Of all stamps sought by stamp col lectors—and American stamps only are referred too—the ‘“postmaster's provinclals” are the rarest and the highest listed in the collector’s cata logue. There is, for instance, the Bos cawen, N. H., “previncial.” of which it is said that only one is in existence. It is @ o-cent stamp and listed ar $12,000. Another rare one is the Brat- tlebore. Vt.. “provincial,” valued—or rather. listed—in the neighborhood of $10.000. The Alexandria, Va., “‘provin clal” is also a rar In regard to this stamp. only ¢ the news papers carried an item of one being sold by a lady in Alexandria to a tamp collector for $5.000. The Alex andria stamp is a 5.cent one. Old stamps, not unlike goods sold must be in fine condition to bring the best price. 'Torn, discolored, dirty or oblitergted figures detract from the price of the rarities. which had fc & had thirteer | were 130 reached France aracte: