The Postage Stamp in War Part 6

CHAPTER V.

RUSSIA--War Charity Stamps--Portraits of the Tsars--War Stamps of 1914--j.a.pan--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 j.a.pan. 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 170]

Normally the stamps are perforated 12 12, but the 3 (6) kopecs exists perforated 13, 13; 11; and a compound of these two measures. The 7 (10) and 10 (13) kopecs also exist perforated 13, 13. 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 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. 1d.). A portrait of Catherine II., after the painter Skorodonmow, and another of Elizabeth II. after Tchemesow, add two more to the list of ill.u.s.trious 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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 193 194]

j.a.pAN. The rapid modern rise of our Far Eastern Ally to power is marked upon a few interesting stamps of a commemorative character.

j.a.pan'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 j.a.panese 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 j.a.panese 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 j.a.panese 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 j.a.panese 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 j.a.panese 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-Kogo (_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 G.o.d 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 j.a.panese soldiers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 201 202]

The stamps already mentioned under j.a.pan have only a commemorative a.s.sociation with war. In 1910 the 3 sen carmine stamp then current was specially overprinted with j.a.panese characters (_Fig._ 201), signifying war or field service. These were prepared for and issued to the j.a.panese military and naval forces in China and Corea, and it is very probable that the j.a.panese forces recently co-operating with the British at Kiaochow used stamps of this kind, but with the overprint on the new 3 sen stamp ill.u.s.trated (_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 alb.u.m.

The last current ordinary stamps of Belgium were in four designs by M.

Ed. Pellens, a professor at the Antwerp Academie des Beaux Arts, and these included a good portrait of King Albert (_Figs._ 205-208).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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), Luttich (Liege), 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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.