EDINBURGH PHILATELIC SOCIETY (93rd Season)

Newsletter No.130 Dec 2018

Secretary’s Letter It does not seem like 3 months since I wrote a note for the Summer addition and now, we have the winter coats out. Since my last note, health a bit better. It has been a busy period with the first of my Grandchildren, only Granddaughter, getting married. I still have a single night 12th Feb 19 to completed the syllabus. I put it as a member’s night and if we don’t get a better suggestion I will ask Bill Torrance to do a half evening on his Machin’s and I will bring in some GB Prestige Booklets for the other half. YOUR CHOICE. We are still waiting for someone to take over the job of Minute Secretary as Richard Squires wishes to have a break as he has been doing for a dozen or more years. Likewise, The Secretary would like to move on. Replace me and I will take over from Richard. I had a couple of nice finds for my collections at Scotex in October. And further good luck at Bass Rock Fairs in Kinross in November. A couple of comments about Gibbons monthly, fortunately it came out before the Kinross fair and I was able to add to part of my aviation display. On the front cover were a couple of cover about the Berlin Airlift. I already had some material and was able to enhance it. A piece of History which most of us should remember, I certainly did. However, one can’t always believe everything in the magazines. I read the bit on the latest GB new issues ie 70th Birthday of HRH Prince Charles in GSM. Which is correct GSM or Royal mail. In the technical table there are three differences:- Print process GSM Lithography ~ RM Gravure, Perforations GSM 14.5 * 14 ~ RM 14.5 * 15, Gum GSM PVA ~ RM Self-adhesive. My copy from Royal Mail is definitely self-adhesive, the perfs and print type I have not looked into deeply, but think it’s Gravure. Can’t find my perf gauge with edge markings. Bob Catto Notices EPS and Scottish Merger: Following an approach by and some discussions with the Scottish Philatelic Society, a motion to work towards a merger with the Scottish was passed by the Edinburgh society. Refer to the recent meeting notes for more information (13 Nov - Special General Meeting) President and Secretary’s Health: Both Bob Catto and Bill Torrance are both still recovering their health. Please continue to help out and volunteer wherever possible please. ESG Edinburgh Stamp Group meet on the last Friday of most months (3rd Fri in July with no meeting Aug or Dec) in the Methodist Church hall in Nicolson Square, it is informal, not a club. There is a small fee to cover rent and free tea/coffee and biscuits if you attend. All welcome.

Editor: Steve Cowles, email: [email protected] Web page: https://edinphil.wordpress.com/ Page 1 of 8 Subscriptions: Any unpaid subscriptions of £12.00 are due before 31st December 2018. Newsletter: I am always looking for material for your newsletter. I am happy to take material on paper or electronic form for inclusion in future issues. The contact email address is in the footer of page 2 onwards. My thanks to Robin Sherman and John Law for their recent contributions. Minute Secretary: Please note the society is still looking for a ‘Minute Secretary’ for our meetings. Secretary: As Bob mentions earlier, he would welcome someone to take on the role of Secretary. Steve Cowles

Life on a lonely Pacific Island in the 1950s an article from Robin Sherman Many of us collect material originating from remote islands in the Pacific and whilst there are a number of autobiographies written by people who have lived in such places in the early years of philately, not everyone has read one and may not realize how lonely some expatriates were or how difficult were the primitive conditions. Communication with home and the outside world generally, relied on the odd passing ship, which exacerbated the feeling of being totally cut off. In some cases, there was a small local expatriate community within which one could find friendship and whilst life could be stressful, it might not always be considered too lonely. However, in quite a few islands, the local plantation manager or other official might be the only expatriates there and after two or three years, it was common for them to want to get back to “civilization” again. This did not necessarily mean that they returned to their home country: just another island with a more substantial expatriate population, such as in Fiji or Samoa. A few years ago, I purchased a British Solomon Islands cover, commercially used from Vanikoro, a small island in the remote Santa Cruz Group belonging to the Solomon Islands. I bought it because the stamps had been cancelled in February 1959 by a circular undated H.M. Customs cachet, there being no longer a post office on that island. It also bore a straight-line VANIKORO cachet and a Honiara transit postmark dated 3 APR 1959. However, on receiving the item, I was even more delighted to find that it contained a hugely interesting and humorous (despite being somewhat sarcastic and a little racist, by today’s standards) three-page letter giving a real flavour as to what life must have been like for a lonely expatriate on one of those islands, all those years ago. The cover:

Unfortunately, the letter to Miss S.M. Young, a librarian in Worthing, has faded so I quote its contents below and I hope you enjoy what L.W. Filewood of the Kauri Timber Company Limited had to say. (What a wonderful surname, don’t you think, for a man in his position.)

Editor: Steve Cowles, email: [email protected] Web page: https://edinphil.wordpress.com/ Page 2 of 8 Letterhead and Mr. Filewood’s account of life on Vanikoro:

“Dear Miss Librarian,

Yours of 22nd. October is acknowledged and we trust that the information contained herein will enable you to include us in your “Lonely Isles” collection. Incidentally, you can give the lonely part of it both barrels.

1….. Your letter was received by the motor vessel “Citos” which arrived here February 16th.

2….. We receive regular mail by ships of this line, the West Pacific Line, 4 or possibly 5 times per year. Occasionally, a small government vessel or a trader will pass this way bringing mail from Honiara, the capital of the B.S.I., and we would thus get an odd addition to both the sending and receiving of mail.

3….. White population is, at the moment 9 and alas, all are male and all are employees of my company, engaged in the extraction of Kauri pine logs for shipment to Brisbane and , which villages, should they be known to you, are in Australia.

4….. The actual village of Peou, which should really be spelt with a more odorous spelling, is the Native village about a quarter of a mile from Company headquarters, but for reasons of convenience and usage, the latter has now become Peou. Headquarters is graced, or maybe that is not the correct word, by myself and a book keeper, the rest of the Company slaves being housed in them thar hills, about 15 miles away, five by water and 10 by road, up where the tall timbers are. They occasionally come down to headquarters on weekends for some liquid relaxation, spending their leisure, or out of work time in the bush, in a similar manner, or possibly, since they are all very cultured loggers, truck drivers, tractor drivers, bushmen and the like, in bird watching, nature study and in reminiscing of the delights of civilization, such as they are.

5…… Population (indigenous) is about 150 of the usual shiftless Melanesian type, at present being inculcated into the realms of self-government and the benefits deriving therefrom, by a benevolent Government, in a similar manner to which their African and Indian brothers have been taught. They feast upon yams, taro, pana, manioch, bananas, paw paws, melons, pineapples, mangoes, fish, wild pig etc. They now also possess a knowledge of and a liking for beer, spirits, corned beef, tinned fruit, tinned fish, shirts, trousers, cigarettes, etc., and are rapidly approaching the time when they can take over the B.S.I., safe in the knowledge that they are competent to conduct their own affairs.

6…… The company employs about 150 other Natives, recruited from outlying islands in the Santa Cruz and Reef Islands Groups, about 100 and 150 miles away, respectively, recruiting and repatriation being carried out either by myself or the Foreman in a 35 foot open launch. Very pleasant with 25 Natives of a very sweet smelling variety, in a good strong blow or a heavy sea, perhaps 50 miles from land.

7……. The island itself is about 15 miles long by about 8 miles wide and lies 11 degrees 40 minutes South latitude and 166 degrees 57 minutes East longitude, at least that is what the map says. It is dominated by a peak, Mount Kopogo, over 3000 feet high, so it is not difficult to imagine the terrain which is very rough and mountainous. Jungle growth is very thick up to about 1000 feet where rain forests are more

Editor: Steve Cowles, email: [email protected] Web page: https://edinphil.wordpress.com/ Page 3 of 8 open for another 1000 feet whilst the last 1000 is mostly scrub and fern. Good progress through the bush, with Natives cutting a track, is a mile per hour.

8….. There is no wild animal life except pigs and there are a few small tree snakes, not of a venomous species, but there are plenty crocodiles up to 17 feet long. Bird life is not very great, but this is one of the few places where the Cardinal Honeyeater, from which the famous Feather Money, once the legal tender of the Reef Island Group, was made. The red breast and neck feathers were used to make discs of varying sizes from 3 inch diameter up to 12 inches and being valued at from about £3 to £20. Another bird, the Golden Whistler is a very beautiful black and gold bird with a very clear note, not unlike the Australian Coachwhip Bird, whose note closely resembles the cracking of a whip in the distance. Pigeons are also plentiful.

9….. Fish, crayfish and sea turtles abound on the reef which almost surrounds the island and in the lagoon within the reef. Sharks are also plentiful. Tropical fruit such as mangoes, pineapples, paw paws, soursop, bananas, and the like are in profusion, as are the tropical vegetables manioch or tapioca, yams, pana, taro, etc., whilst tomatoes, beans, lettuce, cucumbers and similar ones grow well if soil is used only once.

10….. All supplies, including fresh meat, butter, etc., come from , Australia by the ships of the A.W.P. Line referred to earlier. Their names are Aros, Citos, Milos, and Delos and they are Swedish owned. The Greek names given to the ships stem from the fact that the owner of the Line is, or was, Swedish consul in Greece. The ships are about 7,000 tons gross and load and carry away from Vanikoro, about 3 to 4,000 logs per year, or about 3 1/2 million superficial feet of timber. We do not mill timber here, our mills being in Brisbane and Melbourne. Both sawn timber for furniture and boatbuilding and veneer for plywood is produced from Kauri, which is a very good type of timber.

This will probably go out by the next log ship, Delos which will be here about the end of March, via Honiara or Santo (New Hebrides). Unfortunately you have placed surface mail stamps only on the envelope and as I am not sure whether you would like it airmailed, I will leave it as it is. You, of course, will not get it for perhaps three months, whereas had it been airmailed as we usually do it, either from Honiara or Australia, you would get it much quicker. With luck, you would get it a week after it left here, but under this way it will go to Australia by a ship which may take a fortnight and then wait there for another to England.

We have no real Post Office here and therefore no cancellation stamp, but so that you will have an authentic Vanikoro stamp, I will stamp it with the customs stamp and superimpose the plain Vanikoro stamp over it. I usually do this when anyone wants a stamp from our pearl of the Pacific.

I hope this is of some value to you and that you will have received a reasonably clear picture of life in this outpost of the empire.

.. Yours faithfully, The Kauri Timber Company Limited, VANIKORO. L W Filewood Manager Robin Sherman Recent Meetings summaries 11Sept - Presidents Evening (Isle of Man) Bill Torrance showed his collection of approximately 23 years of stamps from the Isle of Man, arranged in chronological order. His display started with the UK produced regionals SG 2 (1963) both with and without phosphor bands and continued with SG 1 and SG 3 etc. and had very few gaps all the way through part 2 of the display to 1996. The page layouts were cleanly laid out and easy to read with descriptions, dates and other relevant details and covered many subjects. Particularly prominent were Motor racing, pastoral scenes with birds and animals. We saw plenty of boats, trains and trams including the early horse drawn trams and mountain railway. Amongst these were the occasional commemorations of pottery, Celtic and Norse Crosses and maps relating to King Olafs travels. We also saw some more adventurous stamp designs such as the ‘Holographic’ £5 QE2 stamp, Booklets of Postman Pat visiting the island and Thomas the Tank Engines Dream.

Editor: Steve Cowles, email: [email protected] Web page: https://edinphil.wordpress.com/ Page 4 of 8 David Mekie gave a vote of thanks and confessed that having given up on collecting ‘UK’ stamps many years ago this display had rekindled his interest as well as providing a fine first display of the season.

02 Oct - Icy waters + Famous Scots – Ken Norris The first half of the evening was a display of philatelic items with a connection to the Antarctic. There were items from the various issuing authorities to be found in and around the Antarctic, including Australian Antarctic Territory, British Antarctic Territory and Ross dependency. The various Falkland Islands Dependencies, such as South Georgia and Graham Land, were also represented. Several of the ships connected with the Antarctic were featured, including RRS Bransfield, RRS John Briscoe, RRS James Clark Ross and HMS Endurance. Cachets from all of these sips were seen on various covers. There were also cachets and sometimes postmarks from the many islands in the region, including Elephant Island, Brabant Island, Heard Island and Island. Two of the Australian stations, Mawson and Davis, were also featured. Stamps depicting many aspects of the Antarctic were on display, including several issues showing penguins and others commemorating explorers of the region. The earliest issues seen were from the 1950s, but some of the later ones were issued in the 21st century. We were even shown some small pocket calendars issued by the Falkland Islands Philatelic Bureau. The second half of the evening was devoted to “Famous Scots”. Many of those featured were to be expected, including John Logie Baird, Alexander Fleming, Alexander Graham Bell and Andrew Carnegie. There were many others not so well known, or even downright obscure, such as George Brown (a Toronto journalist), John Witherspoon (a signatory of the Declaration of Independence) and the Reverend Henry Duncan (founder of the first savings bank). There was even one Englishman, Lord Lister. Not all of them came from the dim and distant past; there were people such as Gordon Brown, James Black (developer of beta blockers) and Princess Margaret. The vote of thanks for this varied and colourful display was given by Bob Catto.

16 Oct - South America – David Cumming David Cumming pointed out that his display would concentrate on the stamps of Chile, 1853 to 1959 in the first half of the evening. The first 50 years of Chilean stamp designs were dominated by one image, that of Columbus, and we were shown several sets issued between 1853 and 1909 bearing a range of images of Christopher Columbus. There were also later designs from 1910 to 1934 showing Heroes of Chile, including Admiral Cochrane, a Scot, and Presidents of the Republic of Chile. The later period, from 1930 to 1959 included many sets of stamps celebrating the Air Service in Chile. In addition to the postage stamps on display, there were such fascinating items as the Valparaiso postage dues from 1894, which were oval handstamps on buff paper, issues of Chilean postage dues, postal fiscal stamps, Ministry of Marine officials, telegraph stamps and “Acknowledgement of receipt” stamps. The second half of the evening began with a selection of stamps from Nicaragua. These began with the stamps from 1862 to 1880 with a range of different cancellations. There were pen cancellations (five different versions), concentric circles and stars. We were also shown “tombstone” cancellations from several Nicaraguan cities, including Managua, Corinto, Rivas and San Juan del Norte; some examples were seen on covers and a prepaid postcard. A range of official stamps and definitives from 1890 to 1898 completed the section on Nicaragua. The final section of the evening was a display of early Brazil, beginning with the first “Numerical” series from 1843 (including one with small figures which was a forgery). These were followed by issues from 1845 and 1850, all of which were black, and the 1854 set which were coloured. A range of pictorial issues, postage dues, definitives and newspaper stamps covering the period from 1866 to 1920 concluded the evening’s entertainment. The vote of thanks for this fine display of seldom seen material was given by Mike Sharp.

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30 Oct - Heraldry – Alan Watson This proved to be a colourful lesson in “the Gentle Science”. As with any science, Heraldry has its own language. Alan introduced us to the subject by defining and illustrating many of the terms used. Shields can come in different shapes, with the fields having different colours. We were introduced to “ordinaries”, discovered that fields can be cut diagonally or quartered, and learned about diminutives. All of these terms were illustrated by means of colourful stamps, cachets, postmarks, covers and even a Greetings Telegram. One memorable example was a cover from a region affected by cholera. The cover had been “cleaned inside and out” according to the circular handstamp, which had a heraldic device at its centre. Charges (items that make up the design on the shield) were illustrated– one example being the well- known “Maltese cross” was shown. Supporters appear to hold up the shield, and many examples were seen, including dragons, the double headed eagle of Austria and Indian elephants. There were many examples of those who use heraldic devices, including universities, schools, churches and the Papacy. The arms of several states, including Eire, Norway, Sweden, Canada Australia and New Zealand were seen and all are familiar to philatelists. Scottish civic arms were on display, including those of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Shetland and Aberdeen. It appears that puns and rebuses are allowed in heraldry; Berlin, Berwick and Berne all have a bear depicted on their arms. The second half of the evening provided a section of colourful sets of stamps depicting arms of various places. There were the town and city arms of East Germany (issued in the 1980s), Jersey Parish arms (1978), French Provincial arms (issued from 1943) and similar issues from Switzerland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Alan explained that this last section was included simply because they were, in his words, “nice stamps”. This display was a masterclass in how to collect and display thematically. The vote of thanks was given by Bill Torrance.

13 Nov - Special General Meeting and Members’ Letter ‘A’ night The meeting was opened by the President, Bill Torrance, with 26 members attending. He began by explaining that the Scottish Philatelic Society have raised the possibility of the two Edinburgh based societies (EPS and SPS) merging, and the meeting had been called to vote on the following motion:- The Edinburgh Philatelic Society and the Scottish Philatelic Society will jointly arrange a programme of fortnightly meetings for the season 2019-20 open to all members of both societies, with the intention that the two societies should merge from the beginning of season 2020-21. The meeting was told that we were to decide whether we thought this proposed merger was desirable and that the SPS would be debating a similar motion at their next meeting. A discussion followed, with concerns being raised about subscriptions, the cost of hiring the venue, the “pass-round” system or “the boards” and the Packet. The President then called for a vote and the motion was carried 25 for, 1 abstention. Those present were reminded that much work remains to be done and there are some problems to be overcome. The evening’s entertainment began with Mike Humphries’ display of “Arctic Circle”, a selection of material from countries bordering the arctic. David Mekie provided us with “Alcohol” in the form of cards used to promote different (and rather unusual) brands of Rum. Mohamed Nidham Al Bulushi’s contribution was “Airlines”; a series of self made covers depicting aircraft from various national airlines. Peter Brand chose as his theme the “Arms of Cities” 1964 issue from France with stamps and maxicards being on show. Stephen Weir kept up the continental theme with a selection of material from the “Allied Occupation of Germany”. Bill Black completed the first half with a display of stamps from “Ascension Island”.

Editor: Steve Cowles, email: [email protected] Web page: https://edinphil.wordpress.com/ Page 6 of 8 The second half began with twenty sheets from different countries from “Africa”, from the collection of Bill Torrance, and continued with “Another b****y scientist” from Richard Squires. On this occasion, the scientist was Robert Koch. Tom Wilkie displayed “A year of Austria”; the year chosen was 1978. Bob Catto showed “Apollo”, a selection of material depicting the various flights of NASA’s Apollo space program. Sid Morgan showed “Birds “A”” – a selection of extremely colourful bird stamps from countries beginning with “A”. Richard Cuthbertson’s contribution was “Avo”; this puzzled everyone until he pointed out that this was the currency of Timor and showed a selection of issues from Timor. The vote of thanks for this colourful and varied display was given by Robin Sherman.

27 Nov - West Africa – Ian Anderson Ian started his display with a history lesson, displaying a large map showing the southern part of the Gold Coast. We then learned about the development of the railways in that region which were started by the government around 1900 with the ‘Gold Coast railway’ and how the telegraph operators handled mail. We then went on to see a Thematic collection displaying postcards, covers illustrating the postmarks, photographs and even tickets and cigarette cards relating to the building and operating of these railways. We saw many examples of postmarks TPO (Travelling Post Office) which developed into TPO1, TPO2 and TPO Western in line with the expansion of the lines and traffic. Mail to and from the railway companies and employees were also displayed and additional postal marking such as UP, DOWN and multiple postmarks illustrated the routes taken by some of the items. The second half was entitled Ghana ‘Unusual’ and Ian explained that with the developing independent country came changes in constitutions, the use of different printers and monetary issues, and overprinting of stamps was common. At times this was done at the last minute, often locally on stamps which had already been distributed and often by employees unskilled in such work. We then saw many examples of artists and proof materials, printings with missing colours, offset colours, shading errors and specimen overprints. In addition the errors in the overprints were numerous. We saw offsets, inverted, double printings, misplaced, smudged and missing overprints. This display also highlighted the fact that the administration of the design, printing and distribution of the stamps from the USA (often straight to collectors) had a major impact on some of the designs. These noticeably included a President Lincoln commemoration and several space exploration themes. John Law gave a vote of thanks for a thoroughly interesting and educational display of great interest especially to those railway enthusiasts. Steve Cowles and Richard Squires

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For the Diary EPS Agenda Speaker 11 Dec 2018 Charity Stamps John Law

15 Jan 2019 10 sheets or more All members 29 Jan 2019 Society Visit Dundee & DPS 12 Feb 2019 …tba 26 Feb 2019 Czechoslovakia / Birds Mike Humphries / Sid Morgan 12 Mar 2019 Committee Entertains Members 26 Mar 2019 Society Meeting Lanarkshire Lanarkshire PS 9 April 2019 Bit of this and Some of that The Catto's 23 April 2019 AGM + Social William Torrance

Other Publicised Events Location First Sunday of each Margaret Graham’s Stamp Fair Social club, Beach Lane, Portobello Month Sun 20 Jan 2019 Glasgow Postcard & Stamp Fair Bellahouston Leisure Centre, 31 Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow Sat 9 Feb 2019 Bass Rock Postcard, Stamp & Cig. Card Kinross Church Centre, High Street Fair 13-16 Feb 2019 ABPS Spring Stampex Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London. N1 0QH 23 Mar 2019 North-East Postcard, stamp & Collectors 408 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry Fair Fri 12 & Sat 13 April ASPS 90th Congress/National Dewar's Centre, Glover Street, Perth 2019 Exhibition Sat 18 May 2019 Bass Rock Postcard, Stamp & Cig. Card Kinross Church Centre, High Street Fair Sat 15 Jun 2019 Bass Rock Postcard, Stamp & Cig. Card Blackadder Church Hall, High St. North Fair Berwick Sun 16 Jun 2019 Glasgow Postcard & Stamp Fair Bellahouston Leisure Centre, 31 Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow Fri 18 Oct and Sat 19 Oct SPTA-SCOTEX 2019 Dewar's Centre, Glover Street, Perth 2019

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