VOL. XII, NUMBER 2 APRIL 1986 VOICE OF THE AMERICAN HELVETIA PHILATELIC SOCIETY 42 TELL April 1986 President Charles J . LaBlonde AMER I PEX '86 The excitement is mounting (no pun intended) as AMERIPEX draws closer . Each day it becomes clearer that the show will be one to remember for collectors of Switzer- land and Liechtenstein . Doctor Dahinden, president of the Swiss Union of Stamp Clubs, will be at AMERIPEX as well as Georg Valko, chairman of the Swiss Expertiz- ing Committee . We anticipate that Mr . Valko will present a slide show and lecture at one of our meet- ings . For postal history buffs, Paul Heininger of Bern will have some of his collection on display, even though he may not make the show himself . Paul has published a book on Bern postal history and is now working on a comprehensive Fischer Post book. For our Liechtenstein fans, Hugo Meier, Director of the Philatelic Service, will be at AMERIPEX . These are only some of the highlights . See you there. But don ' t save all of your pennies for AMERIPEX. Any day of the week, year around, Emil Tobler can put beautiful Swiss Material on your doorstep via our sales circuits . If you have not yet signed up as a buyer, you ' re missing a real good deal . Good, scarce material at reasonable prices, in the comfort of your own home, that ' s our sales circuits . Don't be left out. Finally as you may be aware, Switzerland revised postal rates on 1 January 1986 . The PTT publishes a very nice single page summary of the current postal rates. With today's emphasis on covers, especially correctly franked covers, the PTT list is a very handy item. If you would like one, just drop me a SASE. Happy collecting, 43 TELL April/1986 AMERICAN HELVETIA PHILATELIC SOCIETY OFFICERS 1985-1987 ELECTED OFFICERS APPOINTED OFFICERS AHPS REPRESENTATIVES: TELL Editor New England Chapter President . Turchik Jan Donker Charles J Steve P . LaBlonde 727 E . Pleasant Street 16 St . Mary Road P .O . Box 264 Burlington, MA 01803 Chelmsford, MA 01824 Santa Paula, CA 93060 Home : (805) 525-6362 Home: (617) 256-3904 Chesapeake Bay Chapter Office : (6171 271-71 64 TELL Associate Editor Jim Dail Vice-President Felix Ganz 705 Chapelview Drive Odenton, MD 21 113 Robert T. Clarke P.O . Box A-3843 1 708 Autumn Lane Chicago, IL 60690 Northern New Jersey Chapter : (312) 939-2889 Arlington, TX 76012 Home Frank J . Lawson (7-9 p .m .) Home: (817) 460-6092 35 Hudson Drive Office : (214) 851-8481 TELL Publisher Newburgh, NY 12550 Leroy Wanamaker Secretary & Librarian Post Office Box 1467 APS Representative Richard T. Hall Johnson City, TN 37605 E . Ben . Henson P .O. Box 2425 Home: (615) 257-6779 102 Adams Street Gaithersburg, MD 20879 After 5 p.m . (Ex. Tues . & Sat .) Burlington, VT 05401 Home : (301) 869-4009 TELL Advertising Manager Office: (202) 488-6038 Union of Swiss Philatelic John Haeleli Societies Representative Treasurer P .O . Box 8645 Ralph Soderberg Frank Young Albany, NY 12208 20160 Mack Avenue 412 North Main Street Home: (518) 482-1594 Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236 Herkimer, NY 13350 Circuit Sales Manager Home : (313) 885-4125 Home: (315) 866-7822 Emil L . Tobler Office: (315) 894-9981 98 Olde Wood Road Chairman Liechtenstein Glastonbury, CT 06033 Study Group Regional Director West Home: (203) 633-7007 Max Rheinberger John B . Ballard Slide Chairman 100 Elizabeth St ., Apt. 510 2054 East Rancho Drive Howard Bauman Duluth, MN 55802 Phoenix, AZ 85016 511 Summit Drive Home: (218) 728-3925 Home : (602) 955-6703 West Bend, WI 53095 Office : (218) 728-4264 Office: (602) 264-1856 Publicity Chairman Chm . Postal Hist. Study Grp. Immediate Past President Regional Director Central Harlan F . Stone Chm . Phil. Lit. Research Group Auction Manager P .O . Box 299 Dale R . Eggen William R . Lucas Summit, NJ 07901 P .O . Box 430 P.O. Box 2067 Home: (201) 377-7322 New Hartfort, NY 13413 Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 Office : (212) 512-4786 Home: (312) 790-2665 Office : (312) 892-7651 Chm . Revenue Sty. Group Gene Kelly 15 Stelnerstrasse Regional Director East 8253Diessenhofen Awards Chairman Switzerland Rudy Schaelchli P.O . Box 515 Millerton, NY 12546 Home: (518) 789-3594 TELL is the official journal of the American Helvetia Philatelic Society (AMPS), affiliate *52 of the American Philatelic Society(APS) and a member of the Union of Swiss Philatelic Societies and is published six times a year. Subscription for 1 985, included in the Societies dues, is $9 for North America. $15 for overseas delivery, or $11 for surface delivery. Advertising rates are published periodically. All editorial, as well as, advertising communications, should be addressed to the editor. Articles on Swiss, Liechtenstein, UN Geneva and related philately are always welcome. Opinions expressed in this journal are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the society or the editor. 44 TELL April 1986 EDITORS COMMENT AND OBSERVATIONS STEVE P . TURCHIK Talk to me! This is our last issue before AMERIPEX . We all hope that the efforts that have gone into it will represent our society at this great philatelic happening. In yesterday's mail I received one of the Emil Tobler Circuits in the mail . I can tell you it was well worth looking through. Unfortunately, having to finish TELL, I took a couple of items and sent it on it's way to the next fellow . Why not fill out the pull-out in the centerfold and mail it today . You will find many nice items to fill out your collection. Also in this issue, you will see seven pages of auction items. I was not able to place the auction in the middle because of the excellent article by Henry Ratz . Bill Lucas tells me that the deadlines will be changed to accommodate every member wanting to bid in the mail sales . If there is doubt, send your bids anyway . Also, Bill is now looking for items for his next sale. I have been getting letters relating to membership dues, changes of address, and the like . Please send all items dealing with membership to Secretary of AHPS, Richard T . Hall . Be sure to have your dues paid well in advance . It will make his job easier and give better service. Who is Ed Chalfant? Ed is the owner of Riviera Stamps and has been a long-time advertiser in TELL . Recently I started getting price and auction list . There were many interesting and reason- able offers, I believe . Below is a picture of Ed talking with some of our members at a meeting at SESCAL, President Chuck is in the center background . Ed is front left in photo. April 1986 TELL 45 sempach 1386 Swiss vs. Habsburg 2 :0 By Henry Ratz It ' s rather unfortunate, but some of the latest of new issues in Swiss stamps show some design (or selec- tion) shortcuts. The upcoming 50 cts value commemorating the 600th anniversary of the battle of Sempach is such a dud . Subject choice and color would suggest that the old Swiss lost that battle . Yet, it was a rousing success and of historic proportion . In their never-ending de- sire to be free of any outside dominance by its omnipotent neighbors the Swiss Alliance in arms challenged early on their enemies on two major fronts: The mighty Habsburg empire on the north and east (the only " German " empire that lasted more than a 1000 years!) and the Burgundians in the west . Both were knocked out and lost their taste to try for some more again in rather " quick " 1-2-3 punches, earning the young Swiss nation the kind of respect and reputation that would enable it to grow and prosper considerably for around a half a millenium (till it crumbled soft, rotten, and leaderless under the boot of Napoleon ' s armies). THE SWISS ALLIANCE AT THE OUTSET OF THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH IN 1386 Sempach was the second battle against Habsburg . As the map on the facing page shows, the Swiss Alliance, from its original mutual defense pact sworn in 1291 among the three tiny regions of Uri, Schwyz and the Wald- stätten, had swelled in some 90 years by a considerable margin . Luck had it that the up-and-coming house of Zähringen died out prematurely thus establishing among others the two major cities of Bern and rich as free cities . By joining Zü-forces with the Swiss, the ance together with the city of Lu- Alli-zern gained much needed corner foundations, shielding the north and west flanks and its major tra- ding routes . Yet, Habsburg ' s grip over substantial terrain persisted and it was Luzern ' s time to become increasingly apprehensive about the austrian-dominated lands that surrounded it . It was time to free them once and for all of the feudal dependencies under which they fered thru centuries . It so happened suf-that cocky and ever-expanding Habsburg had other ideas . It ' s young warlord of the Austrian line, Duke Leopold the Third, had recently added substantial terrain to his empire and the new tiny Swiss nation of mountain farmers irritated the heck out of his pride and he was de- termined to teach them a lesson. Undaunted, the people from the city of Luzern under the leader- ship of Mayor Klaus von Matt, started to gnaw away at his empire by freeing surrounding towns and entire valleys like the Entlebuch, husen, Willisau, Sempach and giving Wol-them Associate citizen status (in German : Pfahlbürgerrecht).What broke the camel ' s back though was the storming and burning of the much ha- ted bailiff nest of Rotenburg by the soldiers of Luzern and their German mercenaries on December 28, 1385 .