RUSSIA--War Charity Stamps--Portraits of the Tsars--War Stamps
of 1914--Japan--War with China--The Empress Jingo--Triumphal
Military and Naval Reviews--Kiao-chow--Belgium--King
Albert--Bombardment of Malines--Private Postal
Service--Germanised Posts--Red Cross Stamps--Bogus
Stamps--Postmarks--Serbia--"Death Mask" Stamps--King
Peter--Montenegro--King Nicholas.
RUSSIA. The Empire of the Tsars has provided collectors with a few
stamps of philanthropic interest in connection with its wars. A set of
four denominations was issued in 1905 and sold at 3 kopecs per
stamp in excess of the face-value, this extra sum going to the fund
organised by the Imperial Women's Patriotic Union for the benefit of
orphans of soldiers and sailors who fell in the war with Japan. The
following are the descriptions of the stamps which were printed by the
Imperial Printing Office at St. Petersburg in the delicate colour
work for which that establishment is justly celebrated; the figure in
brackets denotes the price, in kopecs, charged for each, including the
3 kopecs charity contribution (_Figs._ 167-170):
3 (6) kopecs, red-brown, cerise, and yellow-green.
5 (8) " violet, red-lilac, and buff.
7 (10) " dark blue, pale blue, and rose.
10 (13) " dark blue, pale blue, and orange.
[Illustration: 170]
Normally the stamps are perforated 12 [x] 12-1/2, but the 3 (6) kopecs
exists perforated 13, 13-1/2; 11-1/2; and a compound of these two
measures. The 7 (10) and 10 (13) kopecs also exist perforated 13,
13-1/2. The stamps appear to have been designed by Richard Sarring,
an artist attached to the great printing works of the Russian
Government. The subjects represented are--
3 kopecs. Monument of Admiral Nachimoff at Sebastopol,
a hero who was wounded in the
Crimean War.
5 " Monument to two national heroes of the Tartar
dominion, Minin and Pascharski.
7 " Statue of Peter the Great.
10 " The Kremlin, with statue of Alexander II. in
the foreground.
The small doles of 3 kopecs per stamp collected in this manner for the
orphans' fund yielded about 50,000 roubles, roughly [L]5600.
The portraits of the Tsars never appeared on the stamps of Russia
until 1913, when a very fine portrait and view series of stamps were
issued (_Figs._ 171-187), and although not issued as war stamps
they are full of reminiscence of the three centuries of the stirring
history of the Romanofs.
The set begins with a picture of Peter the Great, after a portrait
by the Dutch painter De Moor, on the 1 kopec stamp. There is another
portrait of Peter on the 4 kopecs stamp, this one being copied from
an engraving of the picture painted by Kneller to the order of King
William III., and now at Hampton Court. Czar Alexander II. figures
on the green 2 kopecs stamp, and Alexander III. is portrayed on the 3
kopecs. The present Czar, Nicholas II., appears on the 7 kopecs brown,
the 10 kopecs blue, and the highest value in the set, viz., the 5
roubles (1 rouble = 2s. 1-1/2d.). A portrait of Catherine II., after
the painter Skorodo[~n]mow, and another of Elizabeth II. after Tchemesow,
add two more to the list of illustrious females in the stamp
collectors' portrait gallery. These are on the 14 kopecs green and 50
kopecs brown, respectively. The other Czars depicted are Nicholas
I. (15 kopecs), Alexander I. (20 kopecs), Alexei Michaelovitch (25
kopecs), Paul I. (35 kopecs), and last, but actually the first and
founder of the dynasty, Michael Feodorowitch (70 kopecs).
On three of the rouble values are views which include The Kremlin at
Moscow (1 rouble), the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg (2 roubles),
and the Romanof House (3 roubles).
[Illustration: 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184
185 186 187]
Early in the course of the present war the Russians invaded East
Prussia, and it is reported that they were using Russian stamps in
that country, but up to the time of writing, examples have not come to
hand. The only special marks yet noted in this country from Russia are
various censor marks and labels (_Fig._ 188).
[Illustration: 188]
In this war philatelic history is repeating itself, for Russia has
issued a new set of war charity postage stamps (_Figs._ 189-192) for
a fund organised by the Imperial Women's Patriotic Union, of the face
values 1 kopec, 3, 7 and 10 kopecs, each of which sells for one kopec
more than the franking value denoted. The extra kopec goes to the
fund, which is to relieve distress among widows and orphans of
soldiers and sailors killed in the war (see _Frontispiece_).
[Illustration: 193 194]
JAPAN. The rapid modern rise of our Far Eastern Ally to power is
marked upon a few interesting stamps of a commemorative character.
Japan's successful war against China (1894-95) was commemorated by an
issue of four stamps in 1896. These are of two denominations, each of
which is in two varieties, an outcome of an Eastern etiquette which at
a later date was evinced in the stamps of the Republic of China.
The Japanese stamps in question portray two heroes of the war; the
denominations were 2 sen and 5 sen, but that there should be no
suggestion of any inequality in their admiration for the two heroes,
the Japanese postal authorities had two stamps of each denomination
prepared so that each warrior figured on a 2 sen and also a 5 sen
stamp. Thus neither could be regarded as being valued higher than the
other, and neither could be said to be given greater prominence. One
of the portraits (_Figs._ 193, 194) is that of the late Marshall,
Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, chief of the staff of the Army of the
Japanese Empire, and the other (_Figs._ 195, 196) is the late
Lieutenant General Prince Kitashirakawa, Commander of the Imperial
Guards engaged in the subjugation of Formosa.
[Illustration: 195 196]
At a later date, 1901, there was a proposal to commemorate the
services of the late Lieutenant General, and a 3 sen stamp was
announced; its design was to comprise the imperial crest (the
chrysanthemum) and a Formosan Shinto Shrine. The stamps were
heralded as about to be issued in time for the festival of the Shrine
celebrated at Taipeh on October 27 and 28, 1901.
In 1905, as the outcome of Japanese military successes in the East
against China and Russia, full administrative control was taken over
Corea, and a special stamp of the value 3 sen was issued to mark the
amalgamation of the Japanese and Corean postal services.
Yet another pair of stamps commemorates somewhat ancient history; they
were issued in 1908 and bear the portrait of the Empress Jingo-K[^o]g[^o]
(_Fig._ 197), who is stated to have been Regent from 201 to 269 in
lieu of her son Ojin. She waged a victorious war against Corea. The
legend goes that the god Sumiyoshi acting as pilot for her on the sea,
caused gigantic fishes to surround the boat and keep it afloat when a
great storm threatened to send the ship to the bottom.
[Illustration: 197 198 199]
The next two stamps (_Figs._ 198, 199) were issued on April 30, 1906,
to mark, according to the inscriptions the "Campaign of the 37th and
38th years of Meiji. Memorial Postage Stamp of the Triumphal Military
Review--One Sen five Rin" (or, for the higher value--Three Sen). In
the centre is a trophy of arms, including a field gun, rifles, and
ammunition, and the Imperial flag, the Crest or Chrysanthemum, within
a wreath of rice plant and pine. In the spandrels are the five-pointed
stars, badges worn by the Japanese soldiers.
[Illustration: 200]
Two years later a great naval review was held at Kobe, and although no
special adhesive stamp was issued, a quaint postmark representing the
bow of a battleship was used (_Fig._ 200).
[Illustration: 201 202]
The stamps already mentioned under Japan have only a commemorative
association with war. In 1910 the 3 sen carmine stamp then current
was specially overprinted with Japanese characters (_Fig._ 201),
signifying war or field service. These were prepared for and issued to
the Japanese military and naval forces in China and Corea, and it is
very probable that the Japanese forces recently co-operating with the
British at Kiaochow used stamps of this kind, but with the overprint
on the new 3 sen stamp illustrated (_Fig._ 202).
BELGIUM. Brave little Belgium, whose King is the outstanding hero
of the present war has not hitherto had any occasion to provide
collectors with war stamps since the first Belgian issue of adhesive
postage stamps in 1849-50 with the portrait of Leopold I. (_Figs._
203, 204). But the German invasion, and the gallant efforts to
frustrate it, have left their mark imperishably in the stamp album.
The last current ordinary stamps of Belgium were in four designs by M.
Ed. Pellens, a professor at the Antwerp Acad['e]mie des Beaux Arts, and
these included a good portrait of King Albert (_Figs._ 205-208).
[Illustration: 203 204 205 206]
These stamps were manufactured at the Belgian State Stamp-printing
factory at Malines, and as the factory was destroyed in the
bombardment of the town late in August, it is unlikely that more of
these stamps will be printed. The Belgian authorities had been
preparing a new issue of stamps before the war, and had ordered
machinery in England, which at the time of writing is not delivered,
but which will probably be delivered to the Government at Havre, where
temporary arrangements will be made to supply Belgian stamps to the
inhabitants of the small part of the country not in the hands of the
enemy, and incidentally to be ready to reorganise the Belgian postal
system as the Germans get driven further and further back to their
own country.
[Illustration: 207 208]
Early in September, 1914, it was reported that a private postal
service was working between Ostend and Blankenberghe, and Brussels,
Namur and Nivelles at a charge of 1 franc per letter, but no
information is yet to hand of any special stamps or postmarks being
used in connection with the service.
[Illustration: 209]
The Germans have conducted the posts in Belgium with a view to the
requirements of their own countrymen in the temporarily conquered
land, and incidentally to make profit out of the Belgians and out of
philatelists. There will no doubt be many interesting curiosities in
the postmark line arising from the Germanisation of the names on the
cancelling cachets, such as Lowen (Louvain), L[:u]ttich (Li[`e]ge), Kales
(Ostend), etc. But the chief philatelic interest attaches to the issue
of special stamps, or rather the ordinary German stamps, overprinted
in Gothic type "Belgien", and with the currency surcharged in centimes
(_Fig._ 209). Of these there are four denominations, 3 centimes on 3
pfennig brown, 5 centimes on 5 pfennig green, 10 centimes on 10
pfennig red, and 25 centimes on 20 pfennig blue.
The Belgian Government authorised the preparation of stamps for
collecting funds for the Red Cross, and these made their appearance
on October 3, 1914. There are two sets of three values--5, 10 and 20
centimes. The set in the smaller size portrays King Albert (_Figs._
210, 211), and the larger size stamps bear a picture of a monument
commemorating the Belgian War of Independence, 1830 (_Figs._ 212,
213).
[Illustration: 210 211 212 213]
The Belgian Red Cross stamps were for some time rather difficult to
obtain, as it appears that the stock was left behind at post offices
to which the Belgian authorities have not had access since their
removal to Havre. Undoubtedly vast numbers of these stamps could
have been sold in England and elsewhere had they been procurable from
Belgian sources.
[Illustration: 214 215]
The interest aroused in the Belgian Red Cross stamps, and the
difficulty in obtaining them, has probably been responsible for the
attempt to exploit collectors with a set of three labels purporting
to be "new Belgian stamps, sold in Flanders only during two days.
The emission was very small, only 15,000 series, which were paid the
double of the nominal value, i.e., 70 centimes." The "stamps" are
figured 5 (green), 10 (red) and 25 (blue), but no "c" or centimes.
They bear within a fancy frame lettered BELGIQUE at top and BELGIE
below portraits of King Albert and his Consort (_Figs._ 214, 215).
Messrs. Alfred Smith & Son submitted these "stamps" to the Belgian
postal administration, and were told that not only are they not
official stamps, but that "they have apparently been obliterated
with a stolen or forged date-stamp." The "postmark" reads ROULERS--5
OCTO--18-19--1914.
The Belgian Government moved to Havre in France on October 13, 1914,
and there they have a special post office using the postmark _Fig._
216. The headquarters of the habitations of the Belgian Government are
reckoned part of Belgium, and while the Belgians may send letters to
their different addresses in Havre or to Belgium, for the unit rate of
10 centimes (1d.), letters for France, even for another part of Havre,
are treated as foreign letters, and require to be prepaid at the 25
centimes (2-1/2d.) rate.
There are also Belgian military postcards at present in use by the
soldiers, and a variety of military postmarks, of which _Fig._ 217 is
an example.
[Illustration: 216 217]
An interesting trio of covers has been received from a young marine
who was with the Naval Brigade at Antwerp. The first, dated October 6,
1914, has the postmark (_Fig._ 218).
[Illustration: 218 220]
On the 11th he was evidently interned in Leeuwarden (_Fig._ 220)
Holland, his letter being censored (_Fig._ 39). On the 27th he wrote
from Groningen, where most of the naval brigade men were interned. The
letter has the Groningen machine cancellation, and _Fig._ 221 struck
in violet:
PORTVRIJ
FRANC DE POST.
Militaires ['e]trangers
intern['e]s dans les Pays-Bas.
[Illustration: 221]
SERBIA. Revolutionary disturbances have assisted the changes of the
stamps of Serbia. Michael Obrenovich III., who figures on the issue
of 1866, was assassinated on June 10th, 1868, by the friends of the
abdicated prince, Alexander Karageorgevich. Milan IV., his successor,
had a troublous reign; during his period the country was recognised
as a kingdom with Milan as king, but he abdicated in 1889 in favour of
Alexander, his son. The portraits of Milan and Alexander figure on the
stamps of their respective reigns, and in the case of Alexander we
get one of those philatelic issues which must imprint on our minds the
memory of notable or notorious events. It is within the memory of
most of our readers that Alexander and his consort, Queen Draga, were
assassinated by a number of military officers in 1903, and the house
of Karageorgevich once again ruled in Serbia in King Peter, the
present monarch. At the time of the assassination a new series of
stamps bearing the portrait of Alexander was in readiness for issue,
but before they were sent out under the new _regime_ the effigy of the
murdered king was almost completely obliterated by the overprinting of
a design of the Serbian Arms (_Fig._ 222).
[Illustration: 222 223 224]
The year following the grimmest of all the royal tragedies of Serbia
the surviving dynasty commemorated its centenary, and issued perhaps
the most sensational stamp series known to collectors. These will go
down to posterity as the "Death Mask" stamps, although the curiosity
of artistry which led to this designation probably owes more to the
excited imagination of the Serbian and foreign public than to any
gruesome intent on the part of revolutionary artists.
The Coronation stamps of King Peter, issued September 21, 1904, are
of large size, and in two designs, by G. Janovic. M. Mouchon was the
engraver, and the stamps were printed at the French Government Stamp
Printing Factory in Paris. The names of the designer and engraver
appear in microscopic letters below the design of each stamp. The
first design (_Fig._ 223) shows a medal on which the profile of the
new King Peter is superimposed upon the profile of the founder of the
dynasty "Kara," or Black George. The names inscribed upon the medal
are KARA GJORGJE at left, and PETAR I. at right. To the left and right
of the medal respectively are the centennial dates 1804-1904, and
below are the Serbian Arms, with the motto SPES MIHI PRIMA DEUS. Along
the top of the stamp in Sclavonic characters is KRALJEVINA SRBIJA
(Kingdom of Servia), the value in PARA is in the lower left corner,
and the word POSHTA in the lower right corner. This design was used
for all the para values.
For the higher values in dinar (_Fig._ 224), the same frame design
is used, but for the medallion what may have been the reverse of
a Coronation medal is shown. This is reputed to be an allegory
representing the successes of the guerilla leader Kara-George,
founder of the dynasty against the Turks in 1804. There is a minute
inscription on the medallion below the picture signifying THE DAWN OF
LIBERTY, 1804.
These stamps were at first received by collectors with disdain and
some disgust; the memory of the tragedy of June 10th, 1903, was still
too fresh to allow the world to join readily in any jubilation over
the centenary of a dynasty which had been dragged from obscurity after
many years, to occupy a throne lately emptied by the foul hands of
assassins. It is even said that the early sales of the stamps were
entirely disappointing. But this was all changed from the moment
rumours of a cunning intrigue attached themselves to the issue.
It is probably--almost certainly--an accidental effect produced by the
drawing or engraving of the two heads, one over the other, that they
produce in more ways than one, other composite "faces." By masking the
lower part of the profile of Kara George it is possible to distinguish
a new face with an ugly gashed brow; but the alleged "Death Mask" of
Alexander is seen by turning the stamp upside down, and regarding that
portion of the inverted profiles which may be marked off in triangle
fashion with the chins as the base of the triangle. There is certainly
a curious and hideous effect, but similar, if less ghastly, artistic
curiosities occur in numbers of other stamps, and in many other forms
of pictorial representation, and in the case of the Serbian Coronation
issue it is probably pure accident. _Fig._ 225 represents the current
type of Serbian stamp, with a military portrait of King Peter.
[Illustration: 225 226 227 228 229 230 231]
MONTENEGRO. Tsar Nicholas of Montenegro has not given us any special
war stamps, but the warrior King's portraits, at various stages in his
career appear on the stamps issued in 1910 for his jubilee. The 1 para
shows him as he was during his student days in Paris (_Fig._ 226), the
2 and 20 paras show him with his bride at the date of their marriage,
1860 (_Fig._ 227). The other values show various portraits of the
King, including one of him on a charger leading his troops to battle
(_Fig._ 228).