POSTALHIMAL QUARTERLY OF THE NEPAL AND TIBET PHILATELIC STUDY CIRCLE

Mr. Lok Man Siddhi, First Postmaster of Nepal (See article by J. B. Manandhar on page No. 32)

No. 59 3 rd Quarter 1989 POSTAL HIMAL is a quarterly publication of the Nepal &Tibet Philatelic Study Circle. Membership subscrip­ tions run from January through December of each year. Dues should be paid to the society representative in your area. Information on advertising rates may be obtained from the editor. MEMBERSHIP DUES USA India Nepal Rest of World One Year $ 7.50 Rs 140 Rs 273 ~ 6.00 Three Years $ 21.00 Rs 390 Rs 774 .£ 17.00 li fe Member $150.00 Rs 2760 Rs 5460 ~ 120.00 American Philatelic Society Affiliate #122 POSTAL HIMAL No. 59 British Philatelic Federation Affiliate #435 3rd Quarter 1989 OFFICERS AND REPRESENTATIVES Officers PRESIDENT: Dr. Pierre Couvreur PATRON: Mac Linscott Ricketts SECRETARY: Colin Hepper 12 Charnwood Close, Peterborough, cambs., PE2 9BI, ENGLAND EDITOR: Lester Michel 309 Yucca Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80906-2150, USA PUBLICITY: F. Westbrook 2886 carambo1a Circle South, Coconut Creek, FL 33066, USA Representatives EUROPE Co1;n Hepper, 12 Charnwood Close, Peterborough, Cambs., PE2 9 BI, ENGLAND INDIA Sohan Lal Dhawan &Sons, National Agencies, Sheranwala Gate, Patia1a .147 001, INDIA NEPAL Surendra Lal Shrestha, K'du. Dist. P.O.Box 72, 5/148 Ombahal, Kathmandu. NEPAL USA Roger D. Skinner, 1020 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA

LIFE MEMBERS: S. t:Shrestha, D. van der Wateren, W. C. Hellrig1, P. Gupta, R. r~urray, P. P1anken, Richard Hanchett, Leo Martyn, A. G. lulueta, Jr.

NEW ME~1BER: Hugh M. Mi11ar, P 0 Box 272, Listowel, ONT N4W 3H4, CANADA

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Mr. T. Urban, 0-465 Ge1senkirchen, Hans-Sachs - St~. 4, WEST GERMANY Or. D. E11is, c/o C1oonmore troft, Norton, Sheffield, S. Yorks S8 8JL, ENGLAND

TABLE OF CONTENTS page Editor's Letter...... Miche1 ... . 25 Exhibition News...... 26 About Zakang Postal Service of Tibet - in CHINA PHILATELY Ye Yushun .. . . 27 Sawari S.P.O. - Surkhet ...... S. L. Shrestha 28 Sikkim-Tibet 1903-1908: A Review . . . . . A1an Warren .. 29 Nepal Post Office Data 1972-1988. . . . . Lester Miche1. . . 29 S.O.S. - In re the Nepal Court Fee Stamps Armand Singer. 30 World Postal Day Observed...... S. L. Shrestha . 31 The Fi rst Postmaster of Kathmandu . . . . J. B. t1anandha r. . 32 An Unidentified Tibetan Item? ...... Armand Singer. 33 A Steamshi p Named INepau1"...... Roger Ski nner. . . 33 Postage, Hu1ak & Oak Inscriptions on Nepalese Stamps. K. Rajbhandary .... 34 Translation of a 'Bamboo ' Letter ...... K. W. Jones/N. Rhodes. 34 Postal Grievances - A Letter to the Editor of THE RISING NEPAL .... 35 Joint Qumo1angma - Sagarmatha Expedition Souvenirs from Lhasa - Teh Yu-Shuen .. 36 Tibetan Bi-Lingua1 Postmarks ...... Xizang 01 Min You. 37 Bhutan/Recent Bhutan Emissions ...... S. L. Shrestha 38 The Postal System of Nepal - An editorial in THE RISING NEPAL ... . 39 SHOWCASE...... , .. J. t1arsha11. ... . 40 Study Ci rc 1eMail Auction No. 48...... after 40 No. 59 Third Quarter 1989 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Dear Friends, FOR MEMBERS USE ONLY Our President, Dr. Pierre Couvreur, reports that his albums (described in One insertion. per line $1.00 the editor's letter to members -- PH No. Four insertions. per line 3.50 58, p. 15) will be sold in separate To calculate the number of lines your lots at the 5th October 1989 Bourne­ advertisement will require. count 39 mouth Auction (Christies or Robson Lowe) . characters per line. including all let­ This is an unusual opportunity to ac­ ters. numerals. punctuation marks and quire some of the finest albums made, blank spaces between ~rds. Ads will with lettering in gold for Tibet (10), be placed under appropriate headings Nepal (10) and Indian Native States. without charge for the headings. See Roger Skinner reports that a copy the Classified Ad section in the final of POSTAL HIMAL No. 58, mailed to one pages of any issue of The AMERICAN of our Indian members, Mr. Arun Bhal­ PHILATELIST for typical ad headings - ­ lacharya, 60/1 Mahendra Bannerje Road, or simply send your own ad, asking the Calcutta, 700 060, INDIA, was returned editor to place it under an appropriate without any postal notation. We must heading (at no extra cost). assume that his address has changed. DEADLINE: Ad and payment in USA dol­ Can anyone give us his current address? lars (or in mint USA postage stamps) We wish to extend our special thanks must reach the editor by the first day to Mr. J. B. Manandhar for his article of one of the following months -- Feb­ titled "The First Postmaster of Kath­ ruary. May, August. November - -in order mandu", together with the cover picture for ad to appear in issues mailed about on this issue -- and our thanks to Mr. one month later. Any change of copy Dhruba Rudra, the first Nepal Represen­ after the first insertion will be coun­ tative for our Study Circle, for sending ted as a new advertisement. these materials to us. Although he is - - - - - no longer in business as a stamp dealer, his interest 'in postal history as it WANTED relates to Nepal is as keen as ever . Thank you both for sharing this unusual bit of history, which would not have 'Bhutan. Anything: covers, FDCs, stamps, been shared with our members without proofs, essays, etc. Also loose stamps your combined efforts. & broken sets to use for postage. Write In Postal Himal No. 58, page 18, \-le re­ f irst. Nildo Harper, 510 Main St . 191 0 ported some interesting collector's items Roosevelt Island, New York 10044 under the heading: "Souvenir items from the Tibet Philately Association." Your answered due to one problem which had editor did not include the addresses of developed. One of our members had ordered the two groups of items described, as he the set of Tibetan Bi-lingual Postmarks, was somewhat concerned about the require­ consisting of 130 cards, etc., enclosing ment of payment in advance in cash, in the required cash -- all via registered the form of USA bank notes. So, on 23 airmail. After some time his letter was February 1989, he sent the required cash returned, unopened, and with no markings ($6.00), together with a covering letter to indicate why the Chinese postal system requesting the set of 4 cards marking thE had returned the letter. Your editor has successful April/May 1988 China, Japan & ordered a second set of the Mountaineering Nepal joint expedition to Qumolangmal cards. Address: Mr. TEH YU-SHUEN, clo Sagarmatha. The cards, together with "JI YOU", LHASA, Tibet Aut. Region 850 000 several other interesting items (See p. People's Republic of China. 36 of this issue.) arrived via regis­ The address for the set of "Tibetan tered mail on 1 June 1989, despite the Bi-lingual Postmarks" consisting of 130 fact that I sent my order via ordinary cards is: XIZANG DI MIN YOU, LHASA, airmail unregistered! TIBET A.R., PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. In the-;eantime I had received several We will report any further developments letters from members, requesting further as they unfold. See pp. 36 & 37. information - - letters which I have not Lester A. Michel 25 EXH I B IT ION NEVIS P.S.-- In his hurry to assemble the "News Flash" (at left) your editor forgot to FLASH! -- Roger Skinner has just in­ mention that WORLD STAHP EXPO '89, is not formed your editor that a meeting of only a rranged by the United States Postal the Nepal & Tibet Philatelic Study Service, but will have many unusual exhi­ Circle has been scheduled at the WORLD bits. It will be open November 17-20 and STAMP EXPO '89 at 3:00 PM on Sunday, November 24 to December 3, 1989 at the 26 November. -- Mary Ann Owens is the Washington Convention Center, in Washing­ Meetings/Seminars Coordinator. Due to ton, DC. Don't miss it! the necessity of tight scheduling, no more than 15 minutes before the hour STN-iP WORLD LONDON '90 and no more than 15 minutes after the As a reminder, it is not too early t o hour is allowed, in addition to the begin your planning to attend this special scheduled hour, so please be prompt. event -- i n London on 3-13 May 1990, now The meeting place will be in the Con­ only months away, for the celebration of vention Center and a program titled the 150th anniversary of the Penny Black, "Nepal and the UPU "will be presented. the world's first adhesive postage stamp. All programs at the Convention Center A very speci al meeting of our Study Cir­ are open to the public and we trust cle is being planned and we hope to have that many of our members (and espe­ the largest number of members present ciall y those living within the Wash­ since the founding of the Nepal & Tibet ington, DC area) will make a special Philatelic Study Circle. It is not too effort to attend this meeting .--Ed. early to report to Colin Hepper your own plans to attend one (and possibly two) Colin Hepper received a LARGE SILVER meeting of our Circle. -- Only t wo more for his entry of "Nepal Postal History" issues of POSTAL HIMAL will be mailed at PHILEXFRANCE '89 (July 7-17) in out before this once-in-a-lifetime event. Paris. He also met with Peter Planken and Dick van der Wateren (both Life Your editor thanks Dick van der Wateren Members of the Study Circle & both for the attractive cover (shown below) from Holland) and also Jos Gobert from posted aL the National Show, LIMPHILA Belgium. Our congratulations to Colin '89 , held in Kerkrade, Netherlands on for his fine award. May 5, 6 & 7. (See report in PH No. 58, p. 16.)

NATIONALE POSTZEGELTENTOONSTELLING "LIMPHILA '89"

Mr. Lester A.Michel 309 Yucca Circle 5, 6 en 7 mei 1989 - Kerkrade Colorado Springs CO 80906 USA

26 ABOUT ZAKANC POSTAL SERVICE OF TIBET Doj i Wangjiu is the last who had worked with the Tibetan postal s ervice when it (An interview with Doji Wangjiu by Ye Yushun, published in CHINA PHILATELY, was run locally. For the purp03e of col­ lecting and sorting out the data about for January 1988, pp. 45-46 and sent to the history of the Tibetan Postal Service, us by Mr. S. L. Shrestha, Nepal Repre­ Ahwang Danzeng, Deputy Mana ger of the sentative of the Nepal & Tibet Phila­ Tibet Stamp Co., Mr. Liu Yuan, permanent telic Study Circle.--Ed.) council member of the Tibet Philatelic The posts and telecommunications s ys­ As s ociation and I had a special interview tem under the 'Casha' government in the with Mr. Doji Wangjiu. old Tibet was called ' Zeji'. The postal Q: Would you say something about the service operated by ' Ze ji' was called sales a nd use of stamps by ' Zakang ' ? 'Zakang' in Lhasa was upened in 1912 and A: At that time, we s old and used the stopped operation in 1959. The 47 years "lion" stamps 1 (Fig. 2). The stamps were between represented a historical period printed by the Tibet Minting Factory in i n running postal services by the lo­ the northern suburbs of Lhasa. The stamps cal ities of Tibet. After 1959, the who le were sold by ' Ze zong '. One shee t had 12 of the postal services in Tibet was r e­ stamps. When on sale, they were cut out placed by the Chinese People's Posts with a pair of scissors. The biggest founded in Lhasa in 195 4 . The five years bu yers were big merchants and Nepalese. 1954 to 1959 were a transitional period, We kept a special wooden box, very small during which the Chinese People's Posts in size. In it we put our tools , stamps and ' Zakang' co-existed. This situation and money. We had only two clerks. One resulted in the appearance of the phe­ was in charge of the box and the othe ­ nome non that there were two kinds of kept the key . stamps stuck to the same envelope, as is Q: Were there many letters to handle shown in the entire in Fig. 1. (below) at the time? A: There were people who sent letters every day. We handled several hundred ~ etters a month. Q: How many people worked in the ' Za­ kang' at the time ? A: There were one manager called ' Zi­ zong ', two clerks taking charge of sel­ ling stamps, receiving and sorting let­ ters and affixing postmarks, three ' Za ­ ~ 4" IV bas', meaning po stmen, two persons re­ ( 14 , \ ~, sponsible for connecting telephone calls -. . and one person taking care of the houses , • Q: How about your monthly pay? A: Payment was computed on an annual basis. Each year, we were gi ven 50 Ke 3 of ' Qingko' (high l a nd ba rley) and 15 0 ' Sa ng , 4 of cash, In addition, each of Fig . 1 (above) is reduced us was given a sma ll booklet, on t he in size. Fig . 2 (right) strength of which we ma y re ceive three is shown in the actual t o four ' Jin' of butter oil and a piece size of the stamp used. -­ of tea . Th e ' Zabas' who delivered let­ Ed. ters got more than us clerks, because the addressees also gave them ~oney or things as gifts. Q: Did the Chinese Pe ople's Posts and the 'Zakang' have any business relations Doji Wangjiu began to work with ' Za­ or division of labour? kang' in 1957 as 'Zezong' (meaning "se­ A: I am not quite clear about matters cretary" in the Tibetan language, which rela ting to administrative affairs. What can be interpre ted as a pos tal clerk). I know is that newspapers were delivered He stayed there until ' Za kang' was by the ' Za kang '. Once they said that closed. There were two postal clerks what was to be done when t he Gandan Mon- at the ' Zaka ng ' . As one already died, (conclude d on nex t page) 27 .... POSTAL SERVICE OF TIBET (conc luded) talogues usua lly converted them into T. astery could not get newspapers. The For instance, the second stamp of the monastery was situated high on a moun­ third set of lion stamps had the face tain and it was very hard to walk up value indicated in 'Xugang'. But foreign stamp catalogues converted it i -to two­ t~ere. So I went to a village at the f oot of the mountain and asked a vil­ thirds of a T, instead of 'Zuga ~g ' as indicated on the stamps. laber t o deliver the newspapers for two pieces of silver coin a da y . As to 3. 'Ke' is a Tibetan unit of weight. One 'Ke' is equal to 14 .000 grams. other businesses, each went it~ own wa y , ' S ,. as far as I know. 4 . ang 1S a mone tary unit of Tibet . Q: Could you say something about the One 'Sang ' is equal to six and two­ postal routes ef 'Zakang' ? thirds of a 'Tranka'. At t he t ime of A: The 'Zakang' mainly operated the peaceful liberation of Tibet , the couriers ' posts. One route started official quotition was that 15 'Sang ' from Lhasa and went westward to Yadong ma y exchange for one silver coin. via Baidi, Ja~arze. Gyangze and Polio Another route branched out from Gyangze to Xigaze via Bainang Eastward . I could SAWARI S.P.O. - SURKHET only remember that it reached Laizhao and there were not many letters t o de­ We thank Mr. S. L. Shrestha, Nepal Rep­ liver there. There were no means of resentative for our Study Circle, for a transport. The couriers had t o walk cover bearing two strikes of this S.P.O. all the way, changing at every ten kilo­ cds dated "25 JAN 1989'~ The cds at lower meters. That was in 1957 . left is dated 8.2.89. The back bears a Q: What marks did the couriers bear? clearer strike of the Kathmandu GPO and a A: They wore Tibetan clothes, with a note: "JAN 15 to MAR 2r:--Ed. yellow wrapper to carry letters slung over the back and a red-tasselled spear Lt)11.' : Lt)11.' : -: -: in hand. There was a bell tied to the spear. Mr. Doji Wangjiu took us t o see the fo rmer site of the ' Zakang'. It was a two-storeyed Tibetan building and each storey had about 60 square meters of floor space. The building faces south.

t..;otes: 1. The Lion stamps are those used by the 'Zakang'. The desig'n features a lion. hence the name. The local Tibetan post issued the lion stamp of three oc­ casions. What Mr. Doji Wangjiu r eferred t o should be the third set issued be­ t ween 1933 and 1959. 2 . 'Xugang' is a kind of copper cash . It was valued as one-tenth of a Sang. In Tibet, the postage for an ordinary mail had always been one 'Tranka', quite different from what Mr. Doji Wangjiu said. Ma ybe, postage differed fr om year to y ~ ar or ma ybe there were other rea­ sons. This problem remains to be s tudied. \~ ' ... Foreign stamp catalogues indicated the '. ' face values of Tibetan stamps with the -" · letter T, which is t he first lette r of the word 'Tranka' . For stamps with values l e ss t han a T, Foreign stamp ca-

28 SIKKIM-TIBET 1903-1908: A REVIEW This book brings together the archives -- Alan Warren of the postal service and the research of Tibet philatelists over the years, (from the series on postal history of to obtain the best overall picture of Indian military campaigns, by Brig. D. events and the documented markings used S. Virk, published jointly by the Phila­ during this period. Brig. Diljit Virk telic Congress of India and the Army jointed the India postal service in 1939 Postal Service Associ.ation, New Delhi, and was assigned to the Army Postal Ser­ 1989; hardbound, 150 pages, 17 x 24.5 cm, vice three years later. Since retiring 250 Rupees.) as director of the Army Postal Service, In his column on INDIA 89 on page 2 of Virk has devoted much time to military POSTAL HIMAL No. 57, Wolfgang Hellrigl postal history with the publication of mentions this excellent new book on the four books in addition to this new postal history of the Sikkim-Tibet cam­ title. paign. The book consists of three parts. I obtained my copy of Virk's book by The first, by Virk, constitutes the main sending $25 in D.S. bank notes by reg­ body of the text. He describes the ef­ istered mail to The Secretary , Phila­ forts to build the Sikkim Road and the telic Congress of India, 56 Dr. S. Sir­ establishment of the Tibetan Frontier kar Road, Calcutta 700 014, India. Commission under Col. Younghusband. Virk describes the temporary and ex­ NEPAL POST OFFICE DATA 1972- 1988 perimental post offices established for --Lester A. Michel the road builders, followed by the Field Post Offices of the expeditionary forces. Some months ago, Roger Skinner sent In each case the author provides the me a copy of a report titled "NEPAL - dates of opening and closing the offices, NUMBER OF POST OFFICES BY ZONES 1983/84 where known. He quotes extensively from TO 1986/87", which appears on page 35 documents and archives of the India Post (lower right corner of the page) in Office to indicate the conditions and this issue. In Roger's covering letter purposes for which the offices were to he remarked that it would be helpful if be used. someone could provide the names & t ypes A number of covers are illustrated, of post offices in each of the zones. even a few in color, showing various Can any of our readers provide such a markings. Themail routes and transit list ? times are discussed as well as the clo­ I recalled the list of Nepalese Post s ing of the FPOs in 1908. This fir st Of fices as at 31.1 2 .197 2. om Appendix part is followed by a series of appen­ 11, pp. 126-130, which appeared in "The dices which tabulate the various mili­ Native Postmarks of NEPAL" by Wolf gang tary units and their officers, the post Hellrigl & Colin Hepper, which lists offices (civil and FPO) with their 626 post offices of all t ypes. opening and closing dates, the postal Then I also recalled a bit of related officers during the 1903-08 period, the information in a government folder sent postal rates in effect at that time, to me by Mr. S. L. Shrestha,- our Nepal and a list of the handstamps and seals Representative, in which the total num­ used during the period. This first sec­ ber of Post Offices in 1982 is listed tion concludes with a two-page biblio­ as 1,590. graphy. Finally, the brief report on page 32 The second part of the book was pre­ of this issue (lower right corner of the pared by Dr. Wolfgang Hellrigl and tabu­ page) gives the total number of post of­ lates the postmarks used during the fices of all t ypes as 2,022. period, with dates and illustrated exam­ So we note that, in little more than ples of each recorded marking. The a quarter of a century, the number of final part of the book is the reprinted post offices in Nepal has grown from diary for 1903-04 of the superintendent 626 to 2,022. It is almost a certainty of field post offices of the Tibet mis­ that the postal system of Nepal has sion and force . He was required to send grown more rapidly than any other coun­ such records to his superior who passed try in the world. Every postal system them on to the Director General of has its problems and Nepal may have had India posts. many, but surprisingly few - - or so it seems to me. 29 S. O. S. In re the Nepal Nalis Dastoor or Court Fee Stamps --Armand E. Singer In PH, No. 26 (Summer 1981), p. 20, I MORE SINGER PUBLICATIONS discussed all the shades, papers, denomi­ That peripatetic author, Prof. Dr . nations and printings of the pice & rupee Armand E. Singer, writes interesting values of the court fee stamps that I had works in other areas than Nepal & Tibet found to date, namely: 1,2,4,8,25, SO & phi lately , mountaineering , etc . Some 75 pice; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9;10,15,20 & 25 of you mi ght enjoy reading the following rupees -- twenty (not counting paper co­ articles by this prolific author: lors) in all. They were the same number and denominations already listed by S. L. Prof. Dr. Armand E. Singer, for many Shrestha in his own fine article, in years a member of the Department of Philately (the Nepal Philatelic Societ y's Foreign Languages at the West Virginia Journal), 5, No. 1 (Jan. 1978), pp . 52 - University , has sent us copies of two 53. George Alevizos's Mail Sale auction very interesting articles he has pub­ catalogue No. ·14, lot No. 205, 14 Feb. lished recently . The first, titled 1989, offers what he calls a complete "PHILATELY", begins by defining the set, values 1 pice to 25 rupees, twenty word as "Stamp collecting and study . in all. I still suspect that these are By extension, interest in all phases all the denominations ever printed, but of postal systems." He then sketches Dr. Mac Ricketts's price list (circa the background of his subject, going 1960) offered a 12 - pice value, which he back 100 years and more, referring to termed obsolete. More than one dealer many sources found in the literature of or collector, over. the years, has writ­ the western world. t en me to claim the existence of will- o' The second . art icle, t HIed "MOUNTAIN­ - the wisp denominations, to wit: 7, la EERING", requires a somewhat longer and 20 pice and 30, 50, and 100 rupees. definition, followed by this statement : Shrestha, however, specifically notes "The climbing of mountains is one of in his article that twenty- five is t he the few outdoor sports to have aired a top value (p. 53). large body of serious, often excellent One way or the other I would greatly literature, fictional as well as factual." appreciate it if collectors would go He then considers the "Background from through their holdings to see whether Ancient Times up to the Advent of Roman ­ perhaps we can lay t hese ghost s once & t i ci sm" , f ollowed by an examination of for all. Do any of these putative de­ Nineteenth Century writings, concludi ng nominations exist or not? with Twentieth Century literature. He Be it noted in passing : the different ends with a two-page bibliography , a num­ values occur on white, gray, and blue ber of which this person has not read . paper, of varying shades and textures, One excuse being the simple fact that some values on more than one paper. your editor has followed both 'hobbies' There are several errors already found since boyhood . Can you imagine the fun in the value panels, some no t listed by these two 'old timers' have when they Shrestha. Since whole sheets must be get t ogether? -- I recently received a very rare if not unobtainable, it is letter from Julie Marshall (one of our difficult to be sure all the errors Australian members), in which she men­ have been caught. Though the design tions that Tasmania is her "home state", appears to be made from just one cliche and that "we always climb Mt. Wellington reduplicated for all the values, the when we go home each Christmas". - - So I letters and· numbe r s in the value panels can now 'dream' that Prof. Singer and I seem to have been individually typeset ma y get together on a mountain with for each value and for each cliche of Julie. Perhaps Dick van der Wateren and each value. Hence, errors are possible a few others would like to join us! - -Ed. in each case. Some values exist part imperf. Please report your findings t o our editor and/or to me, 248 Grandview Ave ­ nue, Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S.A., 26505 . 30 Barros has said that in today's world, things are constantly developing, and so are demands. Clients and users rightly demand an excellent quality of services, speed , teliability and security. This is precisely why the post is cur­ rently going through one of the most ex­ citing periods in its history , he said, adding that the long neglected, with very NEWS FROM KATHMANDU little support for its plans for moder­ nizing, revitalizing and adapting to WORLD POSTAL DAY OBSERVED this era of accelerating development, the post is again striving to take up (Our thanks to Mr. Surendra Lal Shresthal the challenge thrown down to it. Nepal Representative for the Nepal & Ti­ The post has too many values born of bet Philatelic Study Circle, for sending noble causes and sprjng from tradition us this article which appeared in the English language newspaper, THE RISING and an outward-looking attitude to fail in its mission, he added. NEPAL, for 10 October 1988 (Ashwin 24, The Director General appealed to all 2045)-- Ed.) those responsible at national level for Kathmandu, Oet. 9 (RSS): management and in particular for bud­ The World Post Da y is being celebrated geting, planning and implementing re­ in Nepal by organising a variety of pro­ sources to actively support the post in grammes today. its efforts to mddernize and to adjust The Universal Postal Union (UPU) which to the rapid pace of development so was set up by 22 countries in Berne, the that it can respond promptly and effec­ capital of Switzerland on 9th October, tively to its customers' needs. 1874 completes its 114 years of existence For its part, the Universal Postal today. Union is trying to expand its activi­ Nepal had become a member of the UPU ties in the field through its technical on 11th October 1956. At present UPU has assistance programme in conjunction with a total of 168 member countries. the beneficiary postal administrations, The world post stands under the motto he said, adding that its aid can only of universal nature of the post , with be complementary and can only support its slogan "The Post Always and Every­ the effors of the national administra­ where". tions themselves. In a radio statement given on the oc­ In any field, development is primarily casion of the World Post Day today, Mini­ a matter for the countries concerned, ster for Communications Hari Bahadur Bas­ he said and added "give the post the net expressed the hope that the National tools it needs. and it will do the job Communications Policy and Programme- expected of it". 2045 B.S., Mr. Basnet said that Nepal ~t present Nepal dispatches postal had been giving emphasis to promoting and materials to 16 countries directly and improving her domestic postal system af­ receives postal materials from 23 coun­ ter becoming a member of the UPU on one tries directly. hand and increasing her postal contacts Nepal has direct surface mail links with other countries on the other. with eight countries and air mail links The Minister also threw light on the with ten countries. various steps taken to make the postal Likewise, money order service is made services more dynamic, speedy, reliable available at 254 district and area post and effective. offices ,of the five development regions. He added that the measures taken have A money order revolving fund of six contributed greatly towards improving million rupee~ has been set up to solve the postal services . the problem of money order payment. In a message Director-General of the Likewise, saving bank services are International Bureau of the Universal available at 91 area and district post Postal Union Adwaldo Cardoso Botto De offices.

31 THE FIRST POSTMASTER OF KATHMANDU Man Siddhi f or consultation. Arranged by --J. B . . Manandhar Mr. Khadga Siddhi, I interviewed, on 15th Chaitra, 2043 B.S., his 88-year old bro­ (Submitted via Mr. Dhruba Rudra, first ther, in feeble health and hard of hear­ Nepal Representative of the Nepal & Ti­ ing , at their an~estral home at Makhan bet Philatelic Study Circle. - -Ed.) Bahal in Kathmandu. My impressions, af­ When I was associa ted, directly or in­ ter the interview, are as follows: - directly , with 'HULAK' - the house Jour­ a) Lok Man Siddhi was a Dittha of the nal of the Postal Training Centre (HMG/ Postal Services Department . Nepal), I used t o i mpa rt some general b) Nearly 82 years ago, Yog Siddhi knowledge t ype of information on postal used to go to his grandfather's of­ matters under the title of 'Do you know ? ' fice to learn the three R's. Ac­ in Nepa l i. In this series I introduced cording to him, the post office was Maj o r Ca ptain Bijay Jung Pan~!1 as t he l ocated on the second floor of the Talukwala (Director General) of Ne pal building having the golden window, Postal Services in 1935 B,S(2)And I sta­ adjoining the temple of Sweta Bhai­ ted, ih one of my articles. that Gos­ rab in the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar wara Hulak (the General Post Office) was Square, Kathmandu. first stationed in front of the ~anuman c) Under Lok Man Siddhi's jurisdic­ Dhoka palace. tion, there were, altogether, 42 Now , a s I happened to go through my post offices in those days. Mr. old notes, I came across one important Siddhi was so powerful that he was personality who should be remembered by instrumental at the time of the Pa­ all interested in Nepalese postal h is­ jani (annual reappointment and dis­ tory. He is Mr. Lok Man Siddhi , the missal) of all postal employees of first postmaster -- then termed a Nayab the kingdom. Mukhiya of Nepal Hu lak Ghar (directorate d) Lok Man Siddhi visited China as a cum post office). He was appointed on Bhariya Naike (the chief of porters). 15th Poush 1935 B.S. (ca. 28 Decembe r e) Lok Man Siddhi died after 9 days of 1879 A.D.) under the director-genera l ­ illness, when Yog Siddhi was nearly ship of Jamor Captain Bijay Jung Pandey. 11 years old. He passed away 1 ~ At that time he drew Rs 15/- per month. months after his return from China. Under him there was one Nausinda (assis­ References: tant), two Janchaki Jamdars (line over­ (1) The Postal Training Centre - Hulak seers) and one postman on pay-roll to No . 2, Asar 2021, page 20. run the post office. On the basis of (2) Manandhar, J.B., "Goswara Hulak", government documents it can be said that (the Gorkhapatra Daily dat ed 16th he (Mr. Lok Man Siddhi) served the pos­ Magh 2023 B.S.). tal service in diff erent capacities. He is traced in one of the documents of the (With Thanks to Messrs. Yog Siddhi Gub­ year 1~59 B.S. (ca. 1907 A.D.) as Nayab haju, Tej Siddhi Gubhaju, Khadga Siddhi Dittha of Nepal Hulak Goswara Ghar dur­ Gubhaju and philatelist Jai Hari Jha, ing the premiership of Chandra Shumsher without whose help and information this J .B.R. article would not have been possible in Amidst the difficulties of locating this form. --J. B. Manandhar, the writer.) Lok Man Sidhi's home and his decendants, one day, while attending the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Salt Tra­ 1988 POSTAL SERVICE DATA ding Corporation, Kathmandu, it suddenly occurred to me that my two colleagues, The number of district , area and vil­ Messrs. Tej Siddhi Gubhaju and Khadga lage panchayat post offices was 2,022 Siddhi Gabhaju, might be the relatives by the end of the last fiscal year -- of the man in question. 31 December 1988. This represents an To my surprise, they were none other additional 78 post offices in the past than the sons of the late Mr. Siddhi Man year. Siddhiand grandsons of the late Lok Man The Postal Services Department is re­ Siddhi. As they did not have any know­ ported to have recovered revenues total­ ledge of their grandfather, t hey refer­ ling Rs. 67.6 million (sixty-seven point red me to their eldest brother, Mr. Yog six million rupees) during the last fiscal year.--Ed. 32 AN UNIDENTIFIED TIBETAN ITE}{? A STEAMSHIP NAMED "NEP AUL" Some , months ago Mr. Surendra Lal Roger Skinner, our USA & Canada Rep­ Shrestha, Nepal Representative for the resentative, came across a listing for Nepal & Tibet Philatelic Study Circle, the P & 0 shipping line steamer "Nepaul" sent me a photocopy of a light orange that ran between Japan and India. The perforated stamp pair on a piece of co­ following information came from the vore bearing two different violet can­ Hong Kong Study Circle Bulletin No. 203, cels with two different dates as indi­ page 7: cated by what appears to be Tibetan 27 NEW 'SUNBURST' COVER - With refer­ manuscript: ence to Mr. W. R. Wellsted's Appendix 11 to Bulletin 201 we quote below a possible answer to this question, put forward by our Secretary, Mr. R. Kirk:- '~r. Wellsted refers to a possibility that the "sunburst" could be a ship­ board cancellation used between Shanghai and Yokohama. On comparing steamer dates More recently your' editor received a between the two places, it could well letter from Pro£. Dr. Armand E. Singer, have been used on P & 0 steamers." who now holds this interesting item, in SHANGHAI DATES which he asks for help from o~r readers. From Shanghai: 21.10.64 Uncertain. He states that Mr. Shrestha said that "Nepaul" struck a rock off Yokohama the item came from some Tibetan refugee From Shanghai: 2.11.64 COREA (Chris­ material. Furthermore, Prof. Singer tianson), Shanghai, 3.11.64, , Yoko­ states that the writing is in the Tibe­ hama 8.11.64 tan language but that he cannot identify To Shanghai: 2. 6.65 NEPAUL (Soames), any words that he 'knows. He observes Yokohama 28.5.65, Shanghai 2.6.65 that the dates seen on both the cancel To Shanghai: 2. 7.65 NEPAUL (Blake), 'bridge' and the handwritten numbers to Yokohama 27.6.65, Shanghai 2.7.65 the left of the two cancels apppar to Since the known examples have passed be the same, and asks: "Is the item re­ through the BPO's at either end, the 'lated to some sort of revenue payment covers were not posted in the moveable & is it a Bhutan rather than a Tibet box on the quayside and the adhesives item -- or, possibly, a Sikkim? 11 should have been cancelled at the PO. Professor Singer would be pleased to Could the sunburst have been used by hear from any of our members who could the Admiralty agent to cancel adhesives shed some light on this item. His ad­ missed by the relevant P.O ~? dress is: 248 Grandview Avenue, Morgan­ There is no reference in the P & 0 town, WV 26505, USA. Or, if you prefer, Nautical Reports to postal matters other you may write to your'editor.--Ed. than "mails left" , "mails taken -on board". etc., so therefore there can be no cor­ ~~~ roborations from that source. The six "A SANCTUARY FOR THE HllIALAYA" covers above are the only sunburst co­ vers known to me. Should any member As your editor was putting the 'finish­ know of other ones, I would be willing ing touches' on this issue, the daily to check them with my Shanghai-Yokohama mail brought the September 1989 issue of tables." the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and the above Roger observed that it might be of in­ title caught my eye, as the 'table of terest to some of our members that the contents is on the cover. Turning to British used the name of our favourite page 391, I discovered that the article country for its ships -- and it might and the photographs were by Galen Rowell, explain that others thought were from my favorite climber-photographer-author. Nepal?? (Does anyone o'ut there have any Anyone who is in the least concerned covers that might relate to the subject? about the future of one of the earth's Roger's discovery just might provide an most beautiful wild areas will find the answer to some puzzlers.--Ed.) article well worth reading.--Ed. 33 TRANSLATION OF A 'BAMBOO' LETTER --Kenneth W. J on e s POSTAGE, HULAK & DAK I NSCRIPTIONS ON NEPALESE STAMPS (This article, published in POSTAL HIMAL --Krishna Rajbhandary No. 56, p. 50, was featured in a dis­ cussion of that issue in LINN'S STAMP The postage stamps of Nepal, since NEWS -- one of the most popular weekly their issuanc e in 1881 (circa), do not phi latelic newspapers in the USA . The bear any inscription as to the purpose same article brought a n interesting r e ­ for which these stamps were released. sponse from Nick Rhodes and which we This practice was followed for about eight decades. now share with our reade rs.--Ed.) In the course of time-, it was realized 21 Dece mber 1988 that the purpose of the issue should be Dear Mr. Jones, clearly stated on the stamps, following I was very interested to read your the practice of other countries, the article in POSTAL HIMAL on your "' Bam­ stamps were issued with the following boo' let ter". I have alway s calle d such variations in the inscriptions: items "Palm-leaf land grants" - certainly the Nepalese call them "Tara Patra" 1. POSTAGE Curiously enough, the first which translates as 'palm set of stamps issued on (FI/?i c:rs ), leaf' o r 'palm letter' in my dictionary . 22-6-1957 was t he CROWN series Howeve r, bamboo is certainly more avail­ in 12 denominations with the able in the Kathmandu valley than palm­ inscription 'POSTAGE ' in Dev­ trees! ? nagari script. These are the The impo rtance of you r d o cument is first stamps in which mention that it is the latest refe r e nce I have was made of the purpose for seen to a sum of money expressed in wh ich these stamps were "Shivakas", or rather "Damma Shivakas" released. as it is written. I had located docu­ 2. HULAK TIKAT Next, we find the stamps ments with this term dated between AD bearing 'HULAK TI KAT' in Dev­ 1359 and AD 1447, but none later! I nagari script. The first have a docume n t in my own collection specimen p f such issu e is the dat e d AD 1568 with mo n e y expressed in lOp Bird carry ing a letter "Tankas" - a denomination, variations (Airmail) stamp released on of which were used from then until the 16-10-1958. end of the Malla period in AD 1768. 3 . DAK TIKAT The third t ype has the in­ I specialise in the coinage of Nepal - scription 'DAK TIKAT' in Dev­ so this n ew informatio n is very welcome nagari and also ' Postage' in indeed, particularly as it indicates the Latin. A set of 14 such purchasing power of the Dhivaka. I would stamps in different denomina­ now like to find out when - presumably tions was issue d in 1959 o n between AD 1511 & AD 1568 - the curre ncy the admission of Nepal to the system changed, and what were the rela­ UPU . On 13-4-1960 the Rs. 5 tive values of the (Damona) Dhivaka, Mo nal Bird was released with the PIa and the Dam, which were the the same impression. smaller d enominations at t his period . Inc idental l y , many c o ngratulations o n 4. POSTAGE IN LATIN The fourth type of finding someone t o translat e the text. stamps bear the word 'Postage' I have 11 such items, only one earlier in Latin -- the lOp Tribhuvan than yours, but have not been- able to stamp was issued on 18-2-1961. read them full y - only dates, King's 5. IIU LAK TIKAT/POSTAGE Lastly, we come names, sums of money, etc . - words that t o the stamps bearing 'POSTAGE' I can make out myself. in Latin and also 'HULAK TIKAT' I look forwa r d to the next document; in Devnagari. The First Elec­ (Your editor has one of these items and tion stamp was issued on 1-7- also wrote to Ken Jones, enquiring about 1959. the possibility of getting a translation. Ken wrote back, expla ining that his Mos tly , the r eafter, the stamps bear the translator lives in Nepal and that com­ purpo se f o r which they were issued, i. e . munication by mail is slow . He assured postage and/or hulak tikat. me that n ew information will be passed On to our readers.--Ed.) POSTAL GRIEVANCES ments only a few steps away. The post office guards' function during all this (A letter to the editor of THE RISING drama was apparently one of mere decor­ NEPAL -- an English language newspaper. ative interest. This item was sent to us by Mr. Dhruba "A clandestine visit through the back Rudra, first Nepal Representative for rooms and sorting areas of the post of­ our Study Circle. The issue in which fice is equally revealing. Here (al­ the letter appeared was dated 13 Febru­ lowing myself a modicum of poetic exag­ ary 1983 -- more than six years ago. -­ geration) the scene falls somewhere be­ We print it now for two reasons: (1) to correlate this letter with the editorial tween a paper shredders' convention and the aftermath of a Wall Street ticker titled "The Postal System of Nepal" in the same newspaper ca. six years later, tape parade. Letters already cancelled at their place of origin receive addi­ and (2) because your editor and his wife tional cancellations on the soles of sent some money to a grandchild about shoes. And it is also here that much one year ago via the USA postal service mail, inadvertently or otherwise, could but the letter & money never arrived -­ go astray. Certainly nothing would apparently due to the actions of a have prevented me, or anyone else, from thief who was almost certainly working selecting valuable looking items at in the USA within the postal service. random and simply walking off with them. So we observe that problems within the "Being a guest in this country, I re­ Nepal Postal Service are similar to alize it is rather poor form to criti­ prJblems in the USA postal service.--Ed.) cise my host government; and Ido so in The letter reads as follows: "Good to a spirit not of malevolence but rather see your page one coverage of postal em­ in the hope that some constructive ac­ ployees being urged "to work honestly" tion will come of it which will, in (Feb. 11). The headline carried a turn, benefit the country as a whole. double meaning, both applicable I think. Nepal has many good things going for it "With outgoing international mail, -- but the postal system isn't one of postal items have a good chance of ar­ them. " riving at their destinations. With in­ Signed, Howard R. Houck coming mail, however, it's barely more Thamel, Feb 12 than a 60 percent chance. This state­ ment reflects my personal experience during the past six months and is based t£M.. upon concrete certainty , not specula­ tion -- i.e., items and correspondence t«..MBER IF POST IFFIC£S BY ZIJ£S 1983/84 TO 1986/87 I know to have been sent, or have pos­ ted myself from outside the country, Z(}£ tM 83184 84/85 85/86 Nov87 • Chg from the U.S., U.K., Thailand, Singa­ pore and Australia. llechi 120 123 123 12~ ~ "A visit to the General Post Office Koshi 169 173 l7S m 8 does not exactly inspire confidence Sagarsatha 135 139 1~7 H7 12 either. People are generally served in Jal\clkpur 160 170 179 178 12 accordance with their ability to push Bagaati 215 217 2~ 237 22 and shove. During rush periods, the Harayani 137 1~1 140 142 5 LUlbini 152 152 1S2 1S2 10 overall impression is more that of the SaJ'(jaki 158 1&4 170 170 12 Bombay railway station than of a govern­ Ohallilagri 97 101 105 106 9 ment department. Security suffers as Rapt i 105 108 110 109 ~ well. The day before your story ap­ Bheri 86 90 ~ 91 5 peared, my wife's leather shoulder bag Karl\clli 67 69 75 75 8 was slashed by three men while she was Seti 96 100 101 101 5 waiting to buy stamps in what, with Mahakali 118 121 125 125 7 some imagination, could be called a "queue." She, having quick reflexes, I£M.. Totals 1821 1868 1940 194-\ 123 This represents a 7 ~ growth for the three year period. was lucky, and the thieves got nothing. SoUI'Cl!: Dept of Postal Services, Central Bureau of No t so, however, a Japanese tourist Statistics, 1988. Statistical Pocket Book, Nepal 1988. five minutes earlier. She was robbed Courtesy of Sidhartha M. Tuladhar. of cash, passport and personal docu- 35 JOINT QUMOLANGMA (MT. EVEREST) - SAGARMATHA EXPEDITION POSTAL CARDS AND COVERS FROM LHASA All illustrations are approximately half-size, compared to the actual items. The "maxi­ mum" cards are in color and postal cancels are in black. Other markings are varied, but are mostly in red. The souvenir cover (at l owe r left) is not included in the US $6.00 offer. See address on page 25.--Ed.

r------

M( I- - A - ~icj\ Q.( ~" )'1t~Ca.. C ir I cszloro.dD 5pri~ (,0 ~oe--,~",/ - US - A -- - .------' 36 TIBETAN BI- LllfGUAL P03 'l!'1ARKS

September 1st, 1986 was the 21st anniversary of the declaration of autonomy of the Tibet Region of the People's Republic of China. The "Tibet Stamp Company" in Lhasa produced for that occasion a set of 130 cards with the bi-lingual date stamps of February 28, 1987 of each of the following types of Tibetal Fost Offices: 7 District Head Offices 71 Country Post Offices 5 Country Sub-Post Offices 37 Pos tal Stations 10 Postal Agencies The cards measure 4 3/16" by 2 5/8" and are franked with the lt fen stamp of the R.23 series depicting a Tibetan style building (see il­ lustration) • r------.- --

The set of cards is obtainable for US$10.00 I., . in banlmotes from: * ,'.'j . ... -. XlZANG DI MIN YOU 1I~t,. LHASA, TIBET A. R. PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC I "':I"! ...... ; ...... ~ , .' " OF CHINA. f " I \" I. ' }~ ..... ' ...... I j...... ' ;~ I \ ..• - .. VI' ,'~-,.': ,.

------The 7 Postal Districts area 1 Lhsashi with 19 offices.. - Head Office in Lhasa 2 Xigazediqu " 26 " ".. " Xigaze 3 Nagqudiqu " 16 " .. If Nagqu 4 Nyingchidiqu " 23 " " " " Nyingchi n If 5 Qamdodlqu " 19 " If Qamdo 6 Shannandiqu " 18 .. " " " Shannan 7 Ngaridiqu .. 8 .. " .. .. Shiqanhe FDR

37 BHUTAN fu1 chieftains of Bhutan ar e the penlops (Our thanks to Mr. S. L. Shrestha, Nepal of Tongsa, Paro, and Taka, and the jong­ Representative foiour Study Ci~c1e, for pens of Thimbu, Punakha, and Angduphorang. this one-page ent ry (p. 38'1) in THE Area about 16,800 square miles; popu­ STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK, 1890. Although lation about 20,000 i n 1864, but now much this was written about 100 years ago, larger . . much of its contents would be about the The chief towns of Bhutan are Punakha, same today . Don't you agree ?--Ed.) the capital, a place of great natural strength; Tashichhu Jong, Paro, Angdu­ BHUTAN . An independent State in the phorang, Tongsa, Tarka, and Biaka . Eastern Himalayas, between 26 45' and The people are nominally Buddhists, but 28 N. latitude, and between 89 and 92 their religious exercises consist chiefly E. longitude, bordered on the northeast in the propitiation of evil spirits and and west by Tibet and on the south by the recitation of sentences from the Ti­ British India. Extreme length from east betan Scriptures. Tashichhu Jong, the to west 160 miles; extreme breadth 90 chief monastery in Bhutan, contains 300 miles . priests. The original inhabitants of Bhutan, The military resources of the country the Tephus, were subjugated about two are insignificant. Beyond the guards centuries ago by a band of military for the defence of the various castles, colonists from Tibet. In 1774 the East there is nothing like a standing army. India Company concluded a treaty with In 1864 it was estimated at 6,000. the ruler of Bhutan, but s i nce then re­ The chief productions of Bhutan are peated outra g ~s on British subjects com­ rice, Indian corn, millet, two kinds of mitted by the Bhutan hill men have led cloth, musk, ponies, chowries, and silk. from time to time to punitive measures, Muzzle- loading guns and swords of highly usually ending in the temporary or per­ temered steel are manufactured. manent annexation of various dwars or The trade between British India and submontane tracts with passes leading Bhutan amounted in 1888- 89 to Rs. 153,000 to the hills. In November 1864 the imports from and Rs. 252,000 exports to eleven western or Bengal dwars were thus India . The chief imports are toba cco , annexed. The Bhutanese at firs~ acqui­ European cotton goods, betel-nuts, and esced in the annexation, but in January rice: the chief exports, wool, musk, 1865 attacked an English outpost, and . ponies, and caoutchouc. it was found necessary to send an expe­ See Report on Explorations in Sikkim, dition into their country. Peace being Bhutan, and Tibet, 1856-86. Edited by restored , a treaty was signed (Novembe r Lieut . - Colonel G. Str ahan. Dehra Dum, 1865) by which the rulers of Bhutan re­ 1889. ceive a subsidy of ·Rs . 50,000, on con­ dition of their good behaviour. This gives the Indian Government an effective control over them, while the occupation RECENT BHUTAN EMISSIONS of two strong positions at Buxa and De­ The Bhutan Philatelic Bureau has sent wangiri, within a few miles of their us details on three sets of stamps is­ front ier, serv·es as a material guaran­ sued in recent months. They include: tee against further aggression. The government of Bhutan resembles · 1. WORLD AIDS DAY - - a set of three that of Tibet, the chief authority being issued on 1.12 .89 nominally divided between the Deb Raja, 2 . SEOUL OLYMPICS ISSUE a set of or secular head, on the one hand, and eight plus two souvenir sheets. All the Dharma Raja, or spiritual head of items available perf. and imperf. the State, on the other. Practically, with issue date on 15.2.89 the Deb Raja is a mere instrument in the hands of powerful barons (pen10ps 3. TITIAN (GREAT ARTS) ISSUE -- a set and jungpens), while the Dharma Raja is of 12 denominations plus twelve sou­ only supposed to be concerned with the venir sheets -- all issued on 15. 2.89 spiritual welfare of his people. In theory the Deb Raja is supposed to be the incarnation of his predecessor, and is chosen in infancy. The most power-

38 THE POSTAL SYSTDi OF NEPAL tem who· work towards bringing disreput e (This Editorial appeared in THE RISING to the system. Also, the provision made some months ago to open some dis­ NEPAL -- the [nglish language daily -­ t r ict on holidays can also be described for 20 February 1989, and wa s sent to a s a step aimed at enhancing efficiency. us by our faithful Representative for The poste restante section of post Nepal, Mr. S. L. Shrestha.--Ed.) offices· has been providing valuable ser­ At a time when the many means of world vice to tourists. The contribution of communication ar e advancing at an un­ this section to tourism development, precedented pace, there can be no ex­ however modest this may be, cannot be cuse for postal services to lag behind. negated. The post office could work The postal system is a relati vely cheap­ towards further streamlining this ser­ e r means of cOlllllunication and hence its vice with the suggestions of the tour ­ popularity as a common means. This sys­ ist s . An area where the postal system t em should, in its turn, justify its needs to· f·ocus attention is to further avid acceptance by the people by stri­ develop the efficiency of the postmen. ving towards further reliability. The Sometimes letters which have arrived at pos tal syst em needs to stubbornly dis­ the post office are received by t he ad­ courage act ivities which could wo rk to dressee only after a gap of some days . diminish the people's fa ith in t he sys­ This tendency is seen even in cases tem, and should be effortful i n promo­ where the address· is easily accessible ting ef ficiency, as a close synonym of within the city. Measures should be 'the po stal system' is 'efficiency. The devised to have letters promptly de ­ postal service in Nepal has come .a long livered, and t his would go a long way way since its incept ion. How f a r t his in boosting public confidence in the has been po ssible because of the ef forts post office and also in further develo­ of our pos tal system and how mu ch is the ping an important element 10 .the com­ result of external elements s uch as the munication sector which the postal sys­ development in world transport ation sys­ t em undisputedly is. tems could be an i nteresting subjec t for study . Ho·wever, the fact of the mat ter is that the postal service has made a positive contribution to the country's AN UNUSUAL PUBLICATION! communication sector. The distribution Julie Marshall, a reference librari an of let ters has been somewhat encour aging at La Tr obe University, has sent us a compared to the case of a few years ago. copy of her article titled "Th·e Postal The introduct i on of services such as History and Early Stamps of Nep al". stamp cancellation should go a long way This interesting and informative arti cle in boosting the public's co nfidence in appeared in The Australian Philatelist , the postal system and its efforts to Volume 1, No:-2, November/December 1987 strive for betterment. However. this is (pp. 13-20). The article is lavishly not to say that all is well on the pos­ illustrated (some in color) and we have tal front. Instances of theft of ma il, selected page 14 as our SHOWCASE item loss of letters and inconsistencies in for this issue. (See next page.) Note the distribution of mail persist, which the concise but thorough descriptions are to the detriment of the postal sys­ of the· items on this page -- character­ tem. Complaints relating to such cases istic of the entire article. -- Julie should be taken up by the postal authori~ mentioned that this new journal discon­ ties and remedial measures taken effec­ tinued the use of color in illustrations tively • . Actions taken by the authori­ after this issue -- due to costs -- some ­ ties against p~ople within the postal thing this editor can appreciate! system who were found responsible for Reading the introduction we learn that theft of mail and other unscrupulo':1s she "is the author of an extensive a n­ acts are indeed laudable. Such actions notated bibliography on British relations should be taken in the future also with ~ith the Indian-Tibetan border regi on: sternness and earnestness so as to weed and that "Her collection of Nepal was out all elements within the postal sys- awarded a silver medal at Stampex in Ade ­ laide" (in 1986). Congratulations to you Julie.--Ed. 39 t:' .~;. - . ,. •

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40