Merry Christmas !
Readers
are requested to send reports of philatelic activities in their area for
publication. Short write ups by the readers about their journals, societies,
publications and philatelic requirements can be sent for inclusion in this
bulletin to j.jyoti9@gmail.com and by post to –
Ms. Jeevan Jyoti, c / o
Mr. Ajay Srivastav, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun –
248002. India
Note- This bulletin is
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Those who wish to receive it regularly please reply giving the name of your
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RAINBOW
Dear Reader
I am
pleased to release December 2016 issue of Rainbow Stamp News. With this issue it completes
9 years of publication. Recently SIPA Diamond 2016, national level exhibition
was held in Chennai. The exhibition was very well organized by South India
Philatelists’ Association with support from India Post. Heartiest
congratulations to all the team members and participants of the show.
I wish to draw the attention of all readers and philatelists to the fact that One Frame class needs to be suitably recognized in stamp exhibitions. One frame Class is the future of philately. Now Philately has become a hobby of very limited number of people. The interest towards this hobby is decreasing day by day...Most of collectors have become passive now.. It is because of other dominant electronic entertainment gadgets in today's life. Most of the exhibits displayed in the exhibitions have become quite old. Some collectors even don't change it and continue to display them as it is since a long time in the philatelic shows. Moreover the philatelists don't have time to prepare 5-7 frame exhibits. It is time to give proper recognition to One Frame class like T-20 cricket so that number of participation with a variety of subjects could be increased. The present trend of awarding marks and a certificate in one frame class should be changed and normal souvenir or generic medals at least be given in One Frame Category. This will attract many philatelists to start again who forgot that once they were philatelists and had locked their collections in almirah .
The year 2016 is going…let’s all welcome the New Year 2017. Wishing all Readers of Rainbow a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
I wish to draw the attention of all readers and philatelists to the fact that One Frame class needs to be suitably recognized in stamp exhibitions. One frame Class is the future of philately. Now Philately has become a hobby of very limited number of people. The interest towards this hobby is decreasing day by day...Most of collectors have become passive now.. It is because of other dominant electronic entertainment gadgets in today's life. Most of the exhibits displayed in the exhibitions have become quite old. Some collectors even don't change it and continue to display them as it is since a long time in the philatelic shows. Moreover the philatelists don't have time to prepare 5-7 frame exhibits. It is time to give proper recognition to One Frame class like T-20 cricket so that number of participation with a variety of subjects could be increased. The present trend of awarding marks and a certificate in one frame class should be changed and normal souvenir or generic medals at least be given in One Frame Category. This will attract many philatelists to start again who forgot that once they were philatelists and had locked their collections in almirah .
The year 2016 is going…let’s all welcome the New Year 2017. Wishing all Readers of Rainbow a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
This is
all for this month……Happy Collecting !
-
Jeevan Jyoti
Contents
§
From the Desk of Naresh Agrawal
§
Recent Indian Issues
§
In The News
§
Doon Philatelic Diary
§
Beginners’ Section
§
Specialized Section
§
New Issues from Other Countries
§
Promotional Section
§
Philatelic Clubs and Society
§
Blogs & Websites on Philately
§
Current Philatelic Magazines –
Newsletter
It is pleasing that two
noted philatelic societies in India recently conducted National Level Exhibitions .One by EIPA
dedicated to Nature and Environment held at Bhubaneswar and the other one at Chennai organized by SIPA. Thanks to
societies for organizing the shows. Both
the shows chose excellent venues, good quality frames in good numbers, good
overall ambiance, reasonable standard of exhibits and overall very good impact.
I personally could not visit the shows but the regular updates on social media
and my personal discussions with a few of the visitors / participants gave
me very good impressions about the
shows. My heartiest congratulations to the organizers, sponsors and DOP for its
support to make the shows great success.
Well, from these shows,
I could find out one thing which I would like to discuss. In spite of the fact
that the venue is good, spacious, having good facilities; its locational
importance can not be ruled out. Every show is considered to have a great
success if the same is attended by good number of visitors apart from the
participants, organizers, dealers and volunteers. So the venue should be so chosen that it is
easily accessible, general public is attracted and visit of its own, transport
is easily and cheaply available. In National Levels shows, the organizers should
try to procure good venue in the heart
of the city to mark a event a great success though they may have to bear the
extra financial burden.
In these two
exhibitions the judging has been more or less satisfactory. The jury was a
group of dedicated philatelists who were ready to deliver, share, discuss and
even accept the flaws, if left in judging. I feel this is the way jury should
act. We accept that not every one can be satisfied but a few words of conversation can help the
participant in a big way. Here again,
the participant needs to be updated with the rules and guide lines such as
SREV,GREV etc. to help them to better
understand the exhibiting and judging criterion & so to make better
exhibits for the purpose of winning better awards. Organizers need to furnish
the guide lines before hand along with the prospectus.
In these exhibitions, I
am surprised by the low recognition being given to One Frame Exhibitors. I
understand making one frame exhibit is tough as in a framework of 16sheets one
has to tell the complete story with best of the most befitting material displayed. It is said that one frame
exhibit suits to the topics which can not be elaborated philatelic-ally. If
this is the case, the organizers should not accept the entries on this plea. I
feel making one frame exhibit for the topics which are expandable and have lot
of philatelic material available, is difficult as the most suitable, selective
material should find the place in 16 sheets and complete the story. However, giving away certificates only is not
fare. Generic medals in form of token of appreciation / remembrance should be given at
least. There is need to train Indian philatelists to prepare better One Frame Exhibits. PCI should display some
exhibits on its site with detailed comments on judging those so that visitors
of the site might understand the judging
and exhibit better. Comparative study of exhibits can be given by displaying
more exhibits. Discussion boards may be formed for
different classes. What I mean to say is applied solutions of preparing
One Frame Exhibit. Detailed discussion
of subject to be chosen, material to be selected and displayed, selection of
title for the exhibit, presentation criteria & nature, extent and type of
write up, balancing the exhibit pages and the frame etc. should be held.Though importance is to given to
each class of exhibiting but One frame needs more attention in todays’
scenario.
While
discussing with some of my veteran philatelic friends, I could note that every
one appreciated the act of recognizing
and honoring veteran philatelists by giving
“Life Time Achievement Award” or some other honor. It was very nice act
of SIPA that it recognized the promotional activities of some of the
distinguished philatelists.I would suggest here that societies should honor
other philatelists living in other parts
of India too as philately is not a localized hobby. It is a National,
International even I say universal hobby. Long back Chhattisgarh Philatelic Association
and Gujarat Philatelists’ Association had recognized and honored many
philatelists of other states too .
Well, social media is quite active now as every information
and updates are handy. Whatsap, Facebook
very active media now. Philatelic material sale /purchase is quite easy . Discussion groups are quite
informative. New philatelic identities have come on the surface. The use of
these sites/groups/aps is highly appreciable. These sites have also helped to
promote virtual exhibiting.
There is nothing specific for now to discuss. We are all
looking forward for next National Level
Exhibition by PSI, Mumbai dates of which are eagerly awaited.
Wishing all the readers, friends a very Happy New Year as my
next interaction with you all on this
column will be in January 2017.
Till then happy philately happy life.
Naresh Agrawal
09425530514
Recent Indian Issues
1 November
2016 - 50th Anniversary of Haryana –
Rs 5
14 November 2016 – Children’s Day 2 x Rs 15 + MS
19 November 2016 -
Third Battalion The Grhwal Rifles – Rs 5
3 December 2016 – AIIMS – Rs 5
Recent Special Covers
21 Nov
2016 Project 15 A StealthDestroyers, Mumbai
25
November 2016 SIPA Diamond 2016 – Chennai
25
November 2016 Luz Church – 500 Years – Chennai
25
November 2016 – Narmadapex 2016 Marble Rocks Bhdaghat, – Jabalpur
26
November 2016 - Xavier Institute of
Development Action & Studies Jabalpur
26
November 2016 - Maharaja Agrasen, Jabalpur
PERMANENT PICTORIAL
CANCELLATION & SPECIAL COVER ON MOODBIDRI
Two permanent pictorial Cancellations have been released on 18th Nov. 2016 in Karnataka on famous Jain pilgrimage centres Moodbidri (thousand pillar temple) and Venur (Bhagwan Bahubali), both in the South Kannada District.
- Sudhir Jain
In The News
Recent
Stamp Exhibitions
CHINA 2016 – 33rd Asian International
Stamp Exhibition
CHINA
2016 is being held at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center,
Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China from December 2 - 6, 2016.
CHINA
2016 (33th Asian International Stamp Exhibition) has been organized under the
Patronage of the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (FIAP) and Recognition of
the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP).Mr Surajit Gongvatana is the
FIAP Co-ordinator of CHINA 2016.
This
exhibition is organized by the All-China Philatelic Federation, jointly with
the State Post Bureau of The People’s Republic of China, The People’s
Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and China Post Group.
Mr.Surendra
A. Kotadia is National Commissioner for CHINA - 2016 from India.
Heartiest Congratulations to all participants !
Shubrajyoti Behera, Praful Thakkar, Ashwani Dubey, Dinesh Sharma,Surendra Kotadia, Prashant Pandya, Jeevan Jyoti
China 2016 : Awards List : Indian Participants
Name of Exhibitor
|
Title of Exhibit
|
Class
|
No. of Frames
|
Marks
|
Award
| |
1
| Shubhrajyoti Behera | Wonders of Nature - Conserve it or Lose it | Youth: 16 -18 Yrs |
3
|
74
| Silver |
2
| Praful Thakkar | Speed Post The Early History of India's Premium Mail Service | Modern Philately |
5
|
73
| Silver |
3
| Ashwani Kumar Dubey | World Scout Movement | Thematic - Culture |
5
|
72
| Silver |
4
| Rajesh Bhura | Mahatma Gandhi "Man Of Millennium" | Thematic - Culture |
5
|
70
| Silver |
5
| Dinesh Chandra Sharma | Philately as a Teaching Tool | Literature |
-
|
70
| Silver |
6
| Ramachandirann K | India Postal History - Focus on Tamilnadu | Literature |
-
|
68
| Silver Bronze |
7
| Meena Mutha | Global Education | Thematic - Technology |
5
|
66
| Silver Bronze |
8
| Praful Thakkar | Collector's Guide to First Day Covers & Folders of India with Set of Stamps, Se-Tenant Stamps & Miniature Sheets | Literature |
-
|
66
| Silver Bronze |
9
| Pramod Kumar Saraf | Feathered Wonders - A Study according to their classification | Thematic - Nature |
5
|
65
| Silver Bronze |
10
| Praful Thakkar | Collector's Guide to British India Bazar Post Cards - Edwardian & Georgian Period | Literature |
-
|
65
| Silver Bronze |
11
| Baroda Philatelic Society | Vadophil | Literature |
-
|
65
| Silver Bronze |
12
| Surendra Kotadia | Booklets of Post Independence | Modern Philately |
5
|
65
| Silver Bronze |
13
| Jeevan Jyoti | Rainbow Stamp News | Literature |
-
|
64
| Bronze |
14
| Meena Mutha | Jainism and Today's World | Thematic - Culture |
5
|
62
| Bronze |
15
| Aaqib Panki | Miniature Sheets on Birds | Youth: 10 -15 Yrs |
3
|
61
| Bronze |
16
| Andalib Panki | Magnificent Orchids | Thematic - Nature |
5
|
60
| Bronze |
17
| Pawan Kumar Jhunjhunwala | A Journey of 2nd Millenium through World Philately | Thematic - Culture |
5
|
56
| CP |
One Frame Exhibit
| ||||||
Sr. No.
|
Name of Exhibitor
|
Title of Exhibit
|
No. of Frames
|
Marks
| ||
1
| Sridhar K. | Philatelic Diplomacy |
1
|
65
| ||
Source : Indian Philately Digest
SIPA Diamond 2016, Diamond Jubilee Stamp Exhibition
25th - 27th November 2016
SIPA Diamond 2016 National Level Stamp Exhibition was organised
by South India Philatelists’ Association, Chennai with the support of
Department of Posts at St. Bede’s Centenary Auditorium, Santhome, Chennai,
Tamilnadu from 25th to 27th November 2016.
Shri Balakrishna Das, Sh.Amarchand & Sh. Karunakaran were
honoured with "Life Time Achievement Award" for their contribution to
philately & SIPA. Mr Mahesh Parekh won the best exhibit award with Gold
Medal in the Non- Thematic Category. Mr Saket Bajaj received the Best Exhibit Award with Large
Vermeil Medal in Thematic Category. Mr
Anil Reddy won the first prize in One Frame Category and Deepthi
Sudharsan got First Prize in Junior Clas)
Mr. Jagannath Mani of Bangalore received special recognition at
SIPA DIAMOND 2016 for his efforts for the promotion of Philately on whatsapp through
'STAMP TODAY'.
Star Winners of SIPA Diamond 2016
Mahesh Parekh, Saket Bajaj, Anil Reddy&
Deepthi Sudharsan
Lifetime Achievement Award
1.Sh
Balakrishna Das
2.Sh.Amarchand
3.Sh.
Karunakaran
Special Recognition
Jagannath
Mani
Sh Balakrishna Das, Sh.
Karunakaran
& Sh.Amarchand
Jagannath Mani – special
recognition
Jury Members: (1) Shri Sunder Bahirwani, (2)
Shri Rajesh Kumar Bagri and (3) Shri Prashant H. Pandya
Apprentice Jury: (1) Shri Ghouse Ali Zameer and (2) Shri G. Natarajan, Director Postal Services, Department of Posts.
Apprentice Jury: (1) Shri Ghouse Ali Zameer and (2) Shri G. Natarajan, Director Postal Services, Department of Posts.
Mahesh Parekh, Aditya Asthana, Souvik Roy, Eeshita
Roy,Vignesh,Ajay Srivastav,J.Jyoti, Naresh Agrawal,Sandeep Chaurasia, Ajit
Kumar Rout,Dr Saumitra, Anup Kumar Ghosh,Dr. M K. Sudhakar & Dr Arun
Result - Stamp Design Competition by India Post
Stamp
Design Competition on theme "Picnic" Entries of following
participants have been selected as prize winning entries.
1st Prize Winner Name- Mr. Gauravdev HB, Mangalore, Karnataka
2nd Prize Winner Name- Ms. Sukanya Behera, Sundargarh, Odisha
3rd Prize Winner Name- Ms. Soujanya Hati, Purba Medinipur, West
Bengal
BANDUNG 2017
Shri Sahdeva Sahoo has been appointed
National Commissioner for this exhibition. Intending
participants are requested to contact Shri Sahoo for forms .
Prof. Sahadeva Sahoo
"Saswat", D-3, B. J. B.
Nagar
Bhubaneswar 751014 (India)
Bhubaneswar 751014 (India)
Phones +91 9337103542 (mobile)
+91 674 2432251 (land line)
emails : sahadevasahoo@gmail.com
sahadevas@yahoo.com
Exhibition Name
|
BANDUNG 2017
|
Venue
|
Trans Studio Convention Center, Bandung, INDONESIA
|
Date
|
3rd - 7th August 2017
|
Category
|
Specialised World
|
Competitive classes
|
Traditional Philately
Postal History
Postal Stationery
Thematic Philately
Youth Philately
Philatelic Literature
One-Frame Exhibit
Modern Philately
|
Total frames
|
Ca 2 200
|
Frame fee
|
US $75
|
Frame fee for Youth Class (per exhibit)
|
free
|
Frame fee for One-Frame exhibit
|
US $100
|
Frame fee for Literature Class (per exhibit)
|
US $ 85
|
Frame fee for Modern Philately
|
US $75
|
Deadline Entries
|
30 November 2016
|
Deadline Acceptance
|
25 January 2017
|
Deadline Payment
|
31 March 2017
|
Website
|
www.bandung2017.org
|
Consultant
|
Mr Michael Ho
|
General Commissioner
|
MrTono Dwi Putranto
|
MELBOURNE
2017
MELBOURNE 2017, 34th FIAP Asian International Stamp Exhibition will be held in Melbourne, Australia from 30 March to 2 April 2017.
Mr. Madhukar Jhingan is the Indian National Commissioner for the
MELBOURNE 2017.
MELBOURNE 2017 will have
following classes:
FIAP Championship Class, Traditional, Postal History, Postal
Stationery, Aerophilately, Astrophilately,
Thematic, Maximaphily, Revenue, Open, Youth, Literature, One Frame and
Modern Philately (1980 onwards).
The Entry Fee for One-Frame
Exhibit is US$80, and for Literature the Fee is US$55 per exhibit. The
participation is free for Youth Class. The Entry Fee for all other classes is
US$55 per frame.
The
Entry Forms are now available for download http://stampsofindia.com/MELBOURNE2017.htm
Those
interested in participating may please contact Mr. Madhukar Jhingan, National
Commissioner for India of MELBOURNE 2017.
Two Slovak postage stamps won first prize at the Stamps Contest
The Slovak Post won first place in the
categories The Best Printed Stamp and The Best Miniature Sheet
of the World in
the twelfth year of China’s Annual Best
Foreign Stamp Poll contest
in Beijing.
The winning stamps were chosen by the public in voting during in
September in China. More than 60,000 respondents participated.
The Best Printed Stamp of the World is Umenie: Alfons Mucha,
released on 25th November 2015, with a motif of Mucha’s painting called Buď
Pozdravený, Požehnaný Prameň Zdravia (Hail, Blessed Source of Health) dedicated
to the baths in Piešťany. František Horniak made the picture into a steel
engraving. The stamp received the best award in Slovakia as well as abroad.
An issue of stamps released on 26th June 2015 dedicated to 550
anniversary of Academia Istropolitana received another first place award in
Beijing in the category The Best Miniature Sheet of the World. Late-gothic
documents connected with the intellectuals’ activities working at this first
college in the area of today’s Slovakia were used. The author is Dušan Kállay,
engraving realised by František Horniak.
“A miniature sheet based on one of the
hand-written pages’ decoration of a Bratislava missal middle-age manuscript was
definitely interesting to the Chinese public,” said spokeswoman of Slovak post
office Iveta Dvorčáková for
the TASR newswire.
Slovakia has received awards in the China Annual Best Foreign
Stamp Poll contest in the past, in the years 2007 and 2008. Both of them were
1st places – in 2007 for Geological Location Šomoška and Sandberg, in 2008 for
Bratislava castle.
Europa 2017 Theme
The theme of Europa 2017 stamps is “Castles”. Europa postage stamps. are
special stamps issued
by European postal administrations/ enterprises under the aegis of PostEurop in
which Europe is the central theme. EUROPA stamps underlines
cooperation in the posts domain, taking into account promotion of philately. Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a
tangible symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation and
in 1993, PostEurop became
responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps. Over the years, EUROPA stamp has gained
more interest within the Postal community as well as with philatelist, and
reflects the engagement from the members in diligently participating in the
competition.
02.01.2017 Denmark - 1 souvenir-sheet (2x 25.-
DKK)
12.01.2017 Russia - 1 stamp
20.01.2017 Finland - 1 stamp (domestic value =
1.20 €)
Obituary
Ranjit Singh, very well-known worldwide
philatelist and dealer, passed away on November 25, 2016 at New Delhi. He was
87 years old. He worked in Telegraph Office in the Post & Telegraph
Department retiring in 1987. From his student days he was interested in
correspondence and had friends all over the world and this led to his interest
in collecting stamps. Learning languages was also another hobby and he used to
correspond with his worldwide contacts in their language. He knew about 30
languages. He authored “Sikh Heritage Through Stamps” in 2012. Above all he was
a great human being who encouraged a large number of philatelists. His next two
generations are also active in philately. Source -
Stamps of India
Kindly accept, on behalf
of the organizations I represent and my family and myself, our sincere and
heartfelt condolences and please convey the same to our members.
I knew Yogesh for more
than forty years and thought of him as a gentleman philatelist; I was always
impressed with his personality, his philatelic and other knowledge, his
dedication to the hobby we both loved, his sincerity and courtesy. I also
remember him as one of the first few philatelists to be the National
Commissioner for India and the excellent work he did at FINLANDIA. It is
unfortunate that the Almighty called him so abruptly when he was President
Elect of the Philatelic Congress of India (the National Federation of India)
and he would have been the President in a short time.
We should all be
thankful to the Almighty for having given the opportunity of having known the
dear departed for a long period of time.
The loss of a dear
friend at any age is a great loss and we pray that the Almighty grants you and
the organization the strength to bear this irreparable loss!
May his soul rest in
eternal peace!
Yours in
bereavement,
-VISPI S. DASTUR
Doon Philatelic Diary
Shri Badrinath Dham
The temple of Badrinath also known as "Badrinarayan" is situated on the banks of river Alakhnanda amidst the two mountains "Nar" and "Narayana". It is one of the major "Char Dhams" and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. As such there is no direct reference about this temple in Hindu mythology but there is mention of the deity "Badri" in the Vedas which is considered as the highest literary source of all the mythological records. Some historians believe that the temple was a Buddhist shrine during the reign of emperor Ashok but was later converted into a Hindu temple and the idol of lord Vishnu was established by Adi Shankaracharya in 8th century AD. The idol of Lord Vishnu "Badri Nath" is made of black stone (Shaligram) and seated in a "Padmasan" posture. The statue is considered by many Hindus to be one of eight swayam vyakta kshetras, or self-manifested statues of Vishnu. Other interesting legends are also associated with the history of this temple.
According
to one legend, Lord Vishnu was mesmerized by the beauty of this area and wanted
to unseat Lord Shiva who was residing at that time in this area with Devi
Parvati. He came in disguise as a small boy, crying loudly and disturbing them.
Parvati asked the reason for his crying and he replied that he wanted Badrinath
for meditation. Shiva and Parvati found that it was Lord Narayan in disguise.
They then left Badrinath and moved to Kedarnath. One other legend
associate it with the "Badri", a type of berry found in this region.
When Lord Vishnu was meditating here, Devi Laxmi took the form of
"Badri" shrub in order to provide him shade. Thus the name
"Badri Nath" was associated with this temple.
The
temple is primarily divided into three parts, i.e. "Garbha Griha",
"Darshan Mandap" and "Sabha Mandap". It is opened to
worship for six months from May to November. During winters the idol is carried
to Pandukeshwar and is worshipped there. Although Badrinath is located in the
far north of India, the head priest, or Rawal, is traditionally a Nambudri
Brahmin from the far South India in Kerala. This tradition was begun by Adi
Shankaracharya. The Rawal is assisted by the Garhwali Dimri Pundits belonging
to the Village Dimmer. The Rawal has been accorded high holiness status by
Garwhal Rifles and also the state governments of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
He is also held in high esteem by the Royals of Nepal.
The
temple has undergone several major renovations, due to age and damage by
avalanche. In the 17th century, the temple was expanded by the Kings of
Garhwal. After significant damage in the great 1803 Himalayan earthquake, it
was rebuilt by the King of Jaipur. It is believed that once the Shraddha
Karma is performed here, the descendants need not perform the yearly ritual.
There is hot sulphur spring outside the temple which is also known as Tapta
kund. People take bath in it. Lord Vishnu is worshipped at five different
places called "Panch Badri". These are "Vishal Badri" (Badrinath),
"Yog Dhyan Badri", "Bhavishya Badri", "Vridh
Badri" and "Adi Badri". At present it is managed by "Shri
Badri-Kedar Mandir Samiti". The committee also provide the devotees with
the facility of getting prasadam by post. The post office at Badrinath
is very beautiful and resembles a temple.
Beginners’ Section
Journey of Philately in India
-Swamynathan R.
Philately was introduced to India by English officials during the
late 1800. Later, after independence the Indian philately community continued
the Philatelic activity with C.D.Desai becoming the first Indian President of
Philatelic Society of Indic(PSI).
1. Phases of
Philately Journey in India
a. 1889-1896(Initial Period)
-- In 1889, the stamp shop "Bombay Philatelic Company"
was opened in Bombay and C.F.Larmour in his interview in 1896, mentioned that
"About six years ago we began to awake the fact that Philately is the
pleasant pursuit possible for idle moment."
("Bombay
Philately Company" is the only philately shop in India to survive 100
years, now closed.)
-- First Philately Book-- "The Post Office of India" by
A.G.Sen 1875
-- First Philately Journal -- Indian Philatelists, May 1894
-- First Philately Society -- "Bombay Philatelic
Society" Jan 1896
-- First Philately Exhibition was held from 20th to 23rd January
1908 in Calcutta.
b. 1897-1957
Philately activities were
mainly carried under the leadership of British collectors who stayed in India.
b. 1958-1969
Philately activities and
exhibition were carried out by philately societies in India and in many cases in collaboration with Indo
American Society
d. 1970-2001
Philately exhibitions were
carried out by active involvement of India Post in Philately and Philately
societies in India.
e. 2002- Till Date
Philately exhibitions are
carried out by active involvement of Philately societies in India in
cooperation with India Post.
2. Important
Philately Events
a. On 8th March 1897,
Philatelic Society of India(PSI) was formed headed by Mr.Stewart Wilson.
Philatelic Journal was their official magazine.
b. On 18th December 1941,
Empire Philately Society of India(EPIS) was formed under the leader ship of Jal
Cooper. "Stamp Journal" was their official magazine.
c. 1941 --Opening of first
Philately Bureau in India at Mumbai GPO(21st June 1941)
d. 1954--Stamp Centenary
Exhibition
This was the first International Philatelic Exhibition in
India(INDEPEX). This exhibition was the first effort in India to Promote
Philately by government of India.
e. 1967-- First Philately
Conference at New Delhi
A
National Philately seminar was organised at Vigyan Bhavan by India Post. A
special postal cancellation was prepared.
f.
In 1968, The National Philately Museum was inaugurated at New Delhi.
g. 1970--First National Exhibition(INPEX) at Delhi from 23rd
December 1970 to 6th January 1971.
This is the first National Philately exhibition organised by India
Post. This National Level exhibition was organised on regular intervals at
various cities. This National Philately Exhibition encouraged the exhibitions
to be held at State and District levels all over India.
h. 1973-- Second INDEPEX
i. 1973-- First Stamp book for children to be published in India
titled "Romance of Postage Stamp"
j. 1975 -- Philately Congress of India(PCI) was formed.
k. 1977 -- First Asiana Stamp Exhibition held at Bangalore
l. 1979 -- Introduction of logo(Peacock) for India Philately
Museum
m. 1980 -- First INDEPEX under the patronage of FIAP
n.
1989 -- A few important aspects of INDIPEX 1989
--
First Stamp Booklet with Stamp Panes issued
--
Last Air Mail Post Cards(set of 7).
--
"Youth Philately" was formed by Philately Congress of India(PCI) and
in collaboration with India Post. "Mayur" was their official magazine
which used to be published quarterly(now closed).
m.
2011-- Introduction of MyStamp in INDEPEX
o. 2016 -- 75th Anniversary of
Mumbai Philately Bureau. Seminar was held at Mumbai GPO, conference
hall. Concept of "Open Philately" was discussed for the first time.
3. Important
Philately Journals published from India
a. Philately Journal of India(since 1897)
b. Stamp Journal
Started in 1940 edited by Jal Cooper, later by P.M.Medhora
c. Ind-dak
Started from 1st January
1977 and edited by Col. L.G.Shenoy,
later by
d. SIGNET
Started in late 1970's when PCI was formed in 1975
All the above journals are out of circulation as of today. SIGNET
has been restarted recently after a long gap.
4.
Philately Exhibitions held in India
Philately Exhibitions in
India has been basically an EVENT to exhibit the collections of the
philatelists either in the competitive or non competitive classes.
A.
Exhibitions by PSI and EPIS
--
Exhibition of Postage, Fiscal and Telegraph Stamps(1908)
--
Stamp centenary Exhibition 1954(EPIS)
--
Diamond Jubilee Philatelic Exhibition(DIJUPEX)-1957
--
National Philatelic Exhibition(NAPEX)-1965
--
Silver Jubilee EPIS--1966
--
Platinum Jubilee Exhibition(PLAJUNEX) 1972
--
Philex -1983 (non competitive)
--
Epispex-Stampco 92-1992, Diamond Jubilee of EPIS
--
Philex-1996(non competitive and curtain raiser to PSI 100 years celebrations,
CENTIPEX)
--
EMPIREX 2001
--
INPEX 2013
(all the above exhibitions
were held at Mumbai)
B. Exhibitions of 1950's
a.
Stamp Centenary Philately Exhibition held in Delhi
b.
Stamp centenary Exhibition 1954(EPIS) held in Mumbai
c.
Diamond Jubilee Philatelic Exhibition(DIJUPEX)-1957 held in Mumbai
C. Exhibitions of 1960's
Exhibitions
of 1960's were mainly organised by Indo American Society(Stamp Wing) at
Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai, Chennai
(The
earliest known to me exhibition was in 1960 in Calcutta, 1962 in Bangalore,
1964 in Mumbai and the last is 20th Exhibition in Mumbai)
D. Exhibitions from
1970-2001
Nine
National Philatelic Exhibition held since 1970 onwards which includes INPEX(6),
CENTIPEX, MILLIPEX, EMPIREPEX. State level PEX also started later. Uttar
Pradesh had held its first 8 days display in 1971 as UPPEX and Kerala State had
5 days display at Trivandrum in 1972 as KERAPEX. During 1972 Philatelic Society
of India held a 5 days display in Bombay. Other states also started their
display, like MAHAPEX, GUJUPEX, RAJPEX, BIPEX, ORPEX, TANAPEX and MAPPEX in
1973. KARNAPEX, APPEX, GOAPEX, then WEBPX, DAKIANA, NORPEX, NEPEX, KASHPEX,
SIKKIMPEX, CGPEX etc, started in 1975. Later, India Post introduced District
Level and Regional level PEX also. Other Philatelic Associations like SIPA and
local Philatelic Clubs are also organizing the Philatelic display. During these
exhibitions India Post had released various special covers with Special
Postmarks and other Philatelic materials.
--
National Level Exhibitions
01. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (1970, New Delhi)
First
National Philatelic Exhibition’s Conducted in 1970 at New Delhi from 23d
December 1970 to 6th January 1971 with 15 special covers with various
cancellation pictured on monuments of Delhi.
02. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (1975, Calcutta25th to 31st Dec 1975)
--logo not sited
03. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (1977 Bangalore)
04. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (1982 New Delhi)
05.
Indian National Philatelic Exhibition (1986 Jaipur)
06. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (1993, Calcutta)
07. CENTIPEX in
1997(centenary of Philatelic Society of India 1897 to 1997, held in Mumbai),
Stamp issued
Two stamps on the
Philately Society of India were issued
08. Millipex 2000 (held in
Bhubaneshwar, the land of rising sun on the occasion of new millineum)
Two stamps were issued
09. EMPIREPEX-INPEX in
2001 held at Nashik
Four stamps were issued
10. Indian National
Philatelic Exhibition (2002, Bhubaneshwar)
National Philately
Exhibition was held at OUAT Convention Centre, Bhubaneshwar. Dates: 26th
February 2003 to 3rd March 2003
The exhibition was
organised by the Orissa Philatelic Association with the patronage of the
Philatelic Congress of India only.
-- Exhibitions from 2002 onwards
After 2001, the first
National level Philately Exhibition with support of India Post was INPEX 2013
at Mumbai World Trade Centre organised by PSI and with support of India Post on
occasion of 115 years of PSI. In 2009, Stampmania, first one frame philately
exhibition was held in Baroda organised by Baroda Philately Society and with
support of Indian Post.
E. International
Philately Exhibition (INDEPEX)
a.
1954 -- Stamp Centenary
b.
1973 -- NA
c.
1980 -- Post Card Centenary, 125th Anniversary of India Postage Stamp
d.
1989 -- NA
e.
1997 -- 50 Years of India Independence
h.
2011 -- Centenary First Airmail
Conclusion:
Indian Philately had a
enthusiastic journey of more than 125
years and wish a very wonderful future.
Specialized Section
MAGIC SQUARE IS MORE THAN A PUZZLE GAME (Pt II)
© Dr.Satyendra Kumar Agrawal
The magic
square is a simple concept and one that has been around for thousands of years.
Mathematicians, artists and mystics have long been fascinated by the
mesmerising patterns that they produce.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S “Broken Diagonal” Magic Square
Some
great mathematicians studied magic squares in the 18th and 19th century – but the most notable aficionado
wasFounding Father of United States, Benjamin Franklin; also athinker,
politician, scientist, musician, statesman, author and an inventor who liked to
spend his spare time constructing particularly innovative variations. In one
evening in his 40s he composed a 16x16 square that he claimed was "the
most magically magical of any magic square ever made by any magician".
The
conventional magic square has n rows and n columns, and must include every
number from 1 to n². So, the 3x3 has every number from one to nine and the 4x4
every number from one to 16. Also the rows, columns and diagonals add up
to the same number.
In Franklin’s
Magic square, if each number in the square is represented by a line of that
length, then it follows that these line segments can be joined head to tail to
form a larger line – and this line will have the same length whichever row,
column or diagonal you choose.This invention of ‘broken diagonal’ made him,
magic square legend.
The
8x8 square in the stamp is not strictly a magic square since the full diagonals
do not add up to 260. But the rows, columns and broken diagonals – colour-coded
in the stamp – do.
Benjamin Franklin’s “Broken Diagonal” Magic Square
Magic squares have a long history. At various times they have acquired
magical or mythical significance, and have appeared as symbols in works of art.
In modern times they have been generalized a number of ways, including using
extra or different constraints, multiplying instead of adding cells, using
alternate shapes or more than two dimensions, and replacing numbers with shapes
and addition with geometric operations.
“GEOMAGIC SQUARE” – filled with Geometrical shapes not numbers
Mathematicians,
artists and mystics have long been fascinated by the mesmerising patterns that
they produce.
“Geomagic
squares” are an entirely fresh way to appreciate the subtleties of magic
squares, and provide beautiful geometric patterns, too. They are filled with
geometrical shapes rather than numbers. Instead of every row, column and
diagonal having to add up to the same number, the shapes in each row, column
and diagonal had to fit together to create the same master-shape.
They were
invented byBritish recreational mathematician Lee Sallows in 2001. He found
4,370 squares like this, consisting of the palominos from one to nine, and
making the same target shape - many more than he expected.
Here depicted a 3x3 Geomagic square in the middle,
and the squares around the periphery show how the polyominoes from the
corresponding rows, columns and diagonals can be pieced together to form the
same shape
CONSTRUCTION OF MAGIC
SQUARES
Through the times several methods for constructing
Magic Squares have been created depending on the class and Order.One of the
most famous methods is named after Simon de la Loubere, a seventeenth century
Frenchmathematician that learned it as ambassador to Siam now Thailand.
Simon de la Loubere
La Loubere method is one of the most popular
methods to create Magic Squares of Odd Order. The main characteristic of this
method consists in filling the Cells of the Diagonals in sequential order and
moving upward and to the right. One starts with a 1 halfway along a side, as
the stamp shows, and then progress diagonally (NE) with the rule that if you
leave the square on the top, you reappear on the bottom, and if you leave the
square on the right you reappear on the left. Each free square you reach you
must write down the next number up, and if a square is not free, you place the
new number on the square below it.
Loubere Magic Square
Method of Knight’s Tour
Method of Knight’s Tour is used to
construct a Magic Square of Order 16 with a Closed Circuit or Reentrant
published by the author Joseph S. Madachy, in 1979, in the book Madachy’s
Mathematical Recreations.
This method consists, starting in an
Initial Cell, to which the number 1 is attributed, to fill numeric and
sequentially the Cells, from 1 to n², of a Square of Order n, using the
characteristic movements of a Knight Jump, as in the Chess game. Once the Tour
is established, between the Initial Starting Cell and the Final Arriving Cell,
and if be possible to proceed it, i.e., to “jump” from the Final Arriving Cell
to the Initial Starting Cell with a legal Knight movement, the Tour is said
Closed or Reentrant and, in this case, the Initial Starting Cell can be anyone
and the Rows, Columns, and Main Diagonals add up the same Magic Sum.
Magic Square of order 16 with aMagic Sum 2056 prepared using Knight Jump rule on the game of Chessa Most-Perfect Magic Square
Most-Perfect
Magic Squares
It is a Pandiagonal Magic Square of Doubly-Even Order with additional
two proprieties as depicted in the stamp below. It was published by Kathleen
Timpson Ollerenshaw in her book “Most-Perfect Pan diagonal Magic Squares: Their
Construction and Enumeration” in 1998 at the age of 85. She also published a
paper in 1980 where she explained one of the first general methods for solving
the Rubik Cube Puzzle.
Most-Perfect Magic Square of Order 8 with two additional properties
2(1 + n²) = 2(1 + 82) = 130examples: (59 + 38 + 7 + 26) = (48 + 33 + 18 + 31) = (41 + 4 + 32 + 53) include Wrap-Around = 130
And (1 + n2) = (1 + 82) = 65
Examples: (1 + 64) = (34 + 31) = (25
+ 40) = (35 + 30) Broken Diagonal = 65
PATCHWORK Magic Squares
It is an Inlaid Magic Square that contains within it others Magic Squares of other shapes in
which the Sum in each Direction is proportional to the number of Cells. The
most common Shape is Magic Rectangle, but Diamond, Cross, Elbow and LShapes can also be found.
These Shapes are Magic if the Sum in
each Direction is proportional to the number of Cells.UK born David M. Collison
(1937-1991) is credited for its creation.
The Patchwork Magic
Square of Order 14 containing
Four Magic Squares, 4 × 4, in the Quadrants；one Magic Cross, 6 × 6, in the Centre；four Magic Tees, 6 × 4,
on the Centre Sides；and four Magic Elbows, 4 × 4, in the Corners.
All the Shapes sum
to a Constant directly
proportional to the number of Cells in
a Row, Column or Diagonal
IXOHOXI Magic Squares
IXOHOXI Magic Squares are
a special series that can not only show common properties like other Magic Squares and still include
alternative properties as Symmetries,
Rotations and Reflections.
IXOHOXI Universal 88 Magic Square
Two
other types of Magic Squares are also available, as cachets and pictorial
cancellation for two FDC’s of Macao 2014 and 2015 sets devoted to science and
technology. These are John R. Hendricks’s “Inlaid Magic Squares” and “Yang Hui
Magic Circles”.
“Inlaid Magic
Squares” “Yang Hui
Magic Circles”
“Tiling
Schemes” and 12 “Dudeney Patterns” for Magic Squares are also depicted on
margins of two Sheetlets issued in Macao 2014 and 2015 science and technology
series.
“Tiling Schemes”
12 “Dudeney Patterns”
Practical uses of Magic Squares
Magic
squares may seem esoteric, but their cultural impact is evident whenever you
open the newspaper or walk into a toy shop. The two most popular puzzles of
recent years – Sudoku and the Rubik's Cube – are both consequences of a
centuries-long preoccupation with them.
They
have found many uses and applications in non-mathematical settings, for example
in sporting fixture-lists, cryptography and biological experiments.
In
1782, Euler set the "36 Officers problem", a frivolous puzzle that
led to much deep academic work and discoveries. Can you make a 6x6 Greco-Latin
made up of six regiments of six officers each of different ranks so that no
rank and regiment is repeated in any row or column? Only in 1901 was it proved
that this was impossible.
Rubik's Cube
The Pony Express
The Pony Express was a private mail service delivering
messages, newspapers, mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri,
across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, California, by horseback, using a series of relay
stations.
Officially operating as
the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company of 1859, in 1860 it became the Central
Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. This firm was founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell, all
of whom were notable in the freighting business.
William H. Russell,
Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell
During its 19 months of
operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days.
From April 3, 1860 to October 1861, it became the West's most direct means of
east–west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest
of the United States.
Pony Express advertisement, Smithsonian
National Postal Museum
Pony Express Postmark, 1860, westbound
The idea of a fast mail
route to the Pacific coast was prompted largely by California's newfound
prominence and its rapidly growing population. After gold was discovered there in
1848, thousands of prospectors, investors and businessmen made their way to
California, at that time a new territory of the U.S. By 1850, California entered the Union as a
free state. By 1860, the population had grown to 380,000. The demand for a
faster way to get mail and other communications to and from this westernmost
state became even greater as the American Civil War approached.
In the late 1850s, William Russell, Alexander Majors, and
William Waddell were the three founders of the Pony Express. They were already
in the freighting and drayage business. At the peak of the operations, they
employed 6,000 men, owned 75,000 oxen, thousands of wagons and warehouses plus
a sawmill, a meat packing plant, a bank and an insurance company.
By
utilizing a short route and using mounted riders rather than traditional stagecoaches,
they proposed to establish a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri,
and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days, a duration many
said was impossible. The initial price was set at $5 per 1⁄2 ounce
(14 g), then $2.50, and by July 1861 to $1. The founders of the Pony Express
hoped to win an exclusive government mail contract, but that did not come
about.
Russell,
Majors, and Waddell organized and put together the Pony Express in two months
in the winter of 1860. The undertaking assembled 120 riders, 184 stations, 400
horses, and several hundred personnel during January and February 1861.
Alexander
Majors was a religious man and resolved "by the help of God" to
overcome all difficulties. He presented each rider with a special edition Bible
and required this oath, which they were also required to sign.
Oath
sworn by Pony Express Riders − "I, ..., do hereby swear, before
the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee
of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane
language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or
fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will
conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as
to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God."
The
Pony Express demonstrated that a unified transcontinental system of
communications could be established and operated year round. When replaced by
the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized and became part of
the lore of the American West. Many in our generation would have been familiar
with the Pony Express comic books! Its reliance on the ability and endurance of
individual young, hardy riders and fast horses was seen as evidence of rugged
American individualism of the Frontier times.
From
1866 until 1889, the Pony Express logo was used by stagecoach and freight
company Wells Fargo, which provided secure
mail service. The United States Postal Service (USPS) used
"Pony Express" as a trademark for postal services in the US. Freight
Link international courier
services, based in Russia, adopted the Pony Express trademark
and a logo similar to that of the USPS.
In 1860, there were
about 157 Pony Express stations that were about 10 miles (16 km) apart along
the Pony Express route. This was roughly the distance a horse could travel at a gallop
before tiring. At each station stop the express rider would change to a fresh
horse, taking only the mail pouch called a mochila (from the Spanish for pouch or
backpack) with him.
The employers stressed
the importance of the pouch. They often said that, if it came to be, the horse
and rider should perish before the mochila did. The mochila was thrown over the
saddle and held in place by the weight of the rider sitting on it. Each corner
had a cantina, or pocket. Bundles of
mail were placed in these cantinas, which were padlocked for safety. The mochila
could hold 20 pounds (9 kg) of mail along with the 20 pounds of material
carried on the horse. Included in those 20 pounds were a water sack, a Bible, a
horn for alerting the relay station master to prepare the next horse, and a
revolver. Eventually, everything except one revolver and a water sack was
removed, allowing for a total of 165 pounds (75 kg) on the horse's back.
Riders, who could not weigh over 125 pounds (57 kg), changed about every 75 –100
miles (120 –160 km), and rode day and night. In emergencies, a given rider
might ride two stages back to back, over 20 hours on a quickly moving horse.
It is unknown if riders
tried crossing the Sierra Nevada in winter, but they certainly crossed central Nevada. By 1860
there was a telegraph station in Carson City, Nevada. The riders received $100 a month as pay. A
comparable wage for unskilled labor at the time was about $0.43–$1 per day.
Alexander Majors, one of
the founders of the Pony Express, had acquired more than 400 horses for the project.
He selected horses from around the west, paying an average of $200. These averaged about 141⁄2 hands (4 feet
10 inches or 1.47 meters) high and averaged 900 pounds (410 kg) each; thus, the name pony was appropriate, even if
not strictly correct in all cases.
The
approximately 1,900-mile-long (3,100 km) route roughly
followed the Oregon and California Trails to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, and then the Mormon Trail (known
as the Hastings
Cutoff) to Salt Lake City, Utah. From there it followed the Central Nevada Route to Carson City, Nevada before
passing over the Sierra into Sacramento, California.
There were 184
stations along the long and arduous route used by the Pony Express. The
stations and station keepers were essential to the successful, timely and
smooth operation of the Pony Express mail system. The stations were often
fashioned out of existing structures, several of them located in military
forts, while others were built anew in remote areas where living conditions
were very basic. The route was divided up into five divisions. To maintain the rigid
schedule, 157 relay stations were located from 5 to 25 miles (8 to 40 km)
apart as the terrain would allow for. At each swing station, riders would exchange
their tired mounts for fresh ones, while ‘home stations’ provided room and
board for the riders between runs. This technique allowed the mail to be
whisked across the continent in record time. Each rider rode about 75 miles
(120 km) per day.
The first Westbound Pony Express trip left St. Joseph on April
3, 1860 and arrived ten days later in San Francisco, California, on April 14.
These letters were sent under cover from the East to St. Joseph, and never
directly entered the U.S. mail system. Today there is only a single letter
known to exist from the inaugural westbound trip from St. Joseph, Missouri to
San Francisco, California.The mailing depicted below is on a pre-stamped
(embossed) envelope, first issued by the U.S. Post Office in 1855, used five
years later here.
The messenger delivering
the mochila from New York and Washington, DC, missed a connection in Detroit
and arrived in Hannibal, Missouri, two
hours late. The railroad cleared the track and dispatched a special locomotive
called Missouri with a one-car train to
make the 206-mile (332 km) trek across the state in a record 4 hours 51 minutes,
an average of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). It arrived at Olive and
8th Street, a few blocks from the company's new headquarters in a hotel at Patee House at 12th and Penn Street
and the company's nearby stables on Penn Street. The first pouch contained 49
letters, five private telegrams, and some papers for San Francisco and
intermediate points.
The identity of the
first westbound rider to depart St. Joseph has been disputed, but currently
most historians have narrowed it down to either Johnny Fry or William Richardson. Both Expressmen were hired at St. Joseph for A. E. Lewis'
Division which ran from St. Joseph to Seneca, Kansas, a distance of 80 miles
(130 km) which they covered at an average speed of 12 1⁄2 miles per hour (20 km/h),
including all stops. Before the mail pouch was delivered to the first rider on April
3, 1860, time was taken out for ceremonies and several speeches. First, Mayor
M. Jeff Thompson gave a brief speech on the significance of the event for St.
Joseph; then William H. Russell and Alexander spoke.
Majors addressed the
gala crowd about how the Pony Express was just a "precursor" to the
construction of a transcontinental railroad. At the conclusion of all the speeches, at
approximately 7:15 p.m., Russell turned the mail pouch over to the first rider.
A cannon fired, the large assembled crowd cheered, and the rider dashed to the
landing at the foot of Jules Street where the ferry boat Denver, under a full head of
steam, alerted by the signal cannon, waited to carry the horse and rider across
the Missouri River to Elwood, Kansas Territory. The first horse-ridden leg of
the Express was only about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from the
Express stables/railroad area to the Missouri River ferry at the foot of Jules
Street. (In later rides, the courier
crossed the river without a horse and picked up his mount at a stable on the
other side.) Then, on April 12, the mail
pouch reached Carson City, Nevada at 2:30 p.m. The riders raced over the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, through Placerville, California and on to Sacramento. The first westbound mochila delivered via the
Pony Express reached its destination, San Francisco, on April 14, 1860 at 1:00 a.m.
Bringing with it was a letter of
congratulations from President Buchanan to California Governor Downey along with other official government communications, newspapers
from New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, and the St. Joseph Gazette, along
with other important mail to banks and commercial houses in San Francisco. In all, 85 pieces of mail were delivered on
this first trip. On April 9 at 6:45 p.m.,
the first rider from the east reached Salt Lake City, Utah.
As the Pony Express Mail service existed only
briefly in 1860 and 1861 there are consequently very few surviving examples of
Pony Express mail. Also, contributing to the scarcity of surviving Pony Express
mail is that the cost to send a 1⁄2-ounce (14 g) letter was $5.00 at the
beginning, (about $130.00 to today's standards). By the end period of the Pony
Express, the price had dropped to $1.00 per 1⁄2 ounce but even that was considered expensive
(equivalent to $26 in 2015) just to mail one letter. As this mail service was
also a frontier enterprise, removed from the general population in the east,
along with the largely unaffordable rates, there are consequently few pieces of
surviving Pony Express mail in the hands of collectors and museums. There are only 250 known examples of Pony
Express mail.
In 1860, riding for the Pony
Express was difficult work − riders had to be tough and lightweight. A famous
advertisement allegedly read:
Wanted: Young, skinny,
wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death
daily. Orphans preferred.
The Pony Express had an estimated 80 riders who
were traveling east or west along various points of the route at any given
time. In addition, there were also about 400 other employees, including station
keepers, stock tenders and route superintendents. Many young men applied for
jobs with the Pony Express, all eager to face the dangers and the challenges
that sometimes lay along the delivery route. Waddell and Majors could easily have
hired them at a much lesser rate, but instead paid them a handsome sum for that
time − of one hundred dollars a month. Famous
American author Mark Twain, who saw the Pony
Express in action first hand, described the riders in his travel memoir Roughing
It as:
"... usually a little bit of a man". Though the riders were small,
lightweight, generally teenage boys, their untarnished record proved them to be
heroes of the American West for the much needed and dangerous service they
provided for the nation.
"Billy" Richardson, Johnny Fry, Charles
Cliff
This was the site of
Sportsman's Hall, also known as the Twelve-Mile House. The hotel was operated
in the late 1850's and 1860's by John and James Blair. A stopping place for
stages and teams of the Comstock, it became a relay station of the central
overland Pony Express. Here, at 7:40 a.m.,
April 4, 1860, Pony rider William (Sam) Hamilton, riding in from Placerville,
handed the Express mail to Warren Upson who, two minutes later, sped on his way
eastward.— Plaque at
Sportsman Hall.
Pony Express Monument
Probably more than any other rider in the Pony Express,
William Cody (better known as Buffalo Bill) epitomizes the legend and the folklore, be it
fact or fiction, of the Pony Express. Numerous stories have been told of young Cody's adventures as
a Pony Express rider. At the age of 15 Cody was on his way west to California
when he met Pony Express agents along the way and signed on with the company. Cody helped in the construction of several
way-stations. Thereafter, he was employed as a rider and was given a short
45-mile (72 km) delivery run from the township of Julesburg which lay to the
west. After some months he was transferred to Slade's Division in Wyoming where
he made the longest non-stop ride from Red Buttes Station to Rocky Ridge
Station and back when he found that his relief rider had been killed. The
distance of 322 miles (518 km) over one of the most dangerous sections of the
entire trail was completed in 21 hours and 40 minutes, and 21 horses were
required to complete this section. Cody was present for many
significant chapters in early western history, including the gold rush, the
building of the railroads and cattle herding on the Great Plains. A career as a scout for the Army under General Phillip Sheridan following the Civil War
earned him his nickname and established his notoriety as a frontiersman.
William
Cody, aka Buffalo Bill and Frank E. Webner, Pony Express rider c. 1861
A number of riders did die
while in the service of the Pony Express. Only four days after the first run on
the Express trail was complete, an employee was killed after being crushed by
his horse. In July, another rider died when thrown from his animal at a
crossing of the Platte River. Still another lost his way in a December
snowstorm and froze.
The Pony Express stations
also made for easy targets during the Pyramid Lake War, a series of escalating
conflicts with the Paiute that erupted around a raid of the Williams Station in
Nevada. The military eventually stepped in to escort riders for a short period,
but Russell, Waddell, and Majors lost more than $70,000 over the war.
Stolen Pony Express mail. Notation on cover
reads "recovered from a mail stolen by the Indians in 1860" and bears
a New York backstamp of May 3, 1862, the date when it was finally delivered in
New York. Cover is also franked with U.S. Postage issue of 1857, Washington,
10c black
During its brief time in operation, the Pony
Express delivered approximately 35,000 letters between St. Joseph, Missouri,
and Sacramento, California. Although the Pony Express proved that the
central/northern mail route was viable, Russell, Majors and
Waddell did not
get the contract to deliver mail over the route. The contract was instead awarded in March 1861 to Jeremy Dehut, who had taken over the southern Butterfield
Overland Mail Stage Line favored by Congress. The so-called 'Stagecoach King', Ben Holladay, acquired the Russell, Majors and Waddell stations for
his stagecoaches.
The Pony Express grossed $90,000 and lost $200,000. In
1866, after the Civil War was over, Holladay sold the Pony Express assets along
with the remnants of the Butterfield Stage to Wells Fargo for $1.5 million.
The Mochila
In 1869
the United States Post Office issued the first U.S. Postage stamp to depict an
actual historic event, and the subject that was chosen was the Pony Express.
Until
then only the faces of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were found on the face of U.S. Postage. Sometimes
mistaken for an actual stamp used by the Pony Express, the 'Pony Express Stamp'
issue was released in 1869 (8 years after the Pony Express service had ended)
to honor the men who rode the long and sometimes dangerous journeys and to
commemorate the service they provided for the nation. In 1940 and 1960
commemorative stamps were also issued for the 80th and 100th anniversaries of
the Pony Express respectively.
Pony Express 100th anniversary, issue of 1960
References
1. Majors, Alexander & Cody, William (1873). The Pony Express: Bringing Mail to the
American West. The Western Miner and Financier
2. Bradley, Glenn Danford (1913). The story of the Pony Express. A. C.
McClurg & Co.
3. Godfrey, Anthony (1994). "Pony Express National Historic
Trail Historic Resource Study".
National Park Service.
New issues
from other Countries
Israel
18
November 2016 : Tourism in Jerusalem
"Everyone
has a city, and its name is Jerusalem" wrote poet Natan Yonatan,
reflecting the wide range of emotions that this magical city evokes in the
hearts of billions of people around the world. For thousands of years this
magical city has been at the center of existence for people of different
religions and cultures who consider it to be the place where God chose to be
revealed and where He will judge mankind at the end of time.
Pilgrims of all religions choose to come to Jerusalem to follow their religious sentiments, to see the places they admire and to walk in the footsteps of the saints who have molded the essence of their faith. Thus for example, Christian believers can walk the alleyways of the Old City along the traditional Via Dolorosa and touch the stones they believe to be holy.
Throughout
history, representatives of many different empires ruled Jerusalem, leaving
their mark upon the city by erecting magnificent buildings representing their
own culture. The Ramparts Promenade, which runs along the top of the Old City
walls and was built in the 16th century by Turkish Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent, provides tourists with a wonderful viewpoint overlooking the roofs
of the Old City interspersed with minarets atop mosques, church towers and domed
synagogues.
From
atop the walls, visitors can also see the new city of Jerusalem, which began to
be built in the mid-19th century. During that tumultuous time, the European
powers attempted to emphasize their presence in Jerusalem by erecting
magnificent large buildings, which continue to adorn the streets of the city to
this day. Tourists can stroll along Jaffa Road, one of the main streets of the
city, or ride the light railway that was installed in recent years, gazing at
buildings such as the Generali Building, which was constructed by
representatives of Italy and features a winged lion, the symbol of the city of
Venice.
In
1892 the first railway line in Eretz Israel was completed, running between
Jerusalem and the Jaffa port. The First Train Station, built at that time,
served the city for decades. A new train station was built in the late 20th
century in the southern part of the city, and the old building was renovated.
It now serves as a tourist attraction, providing visitors with a delightful
combination of culinary art, culture and atmosphere on the old train platforms.
Visitors can walk or bike along the old train route, which is now a well kept
park.
The
Jerusalem Biblical Zoo provides an enjoyable break from visiting historical
sites. Here tourists can see animals mentioned in the Bible alongside rare and
endangered species. Direct contact with the adorable animals in the petting zoo
melts the hearts of the young as well as the young at heart.
The
peak of the Mount of Olives provides enchanting views of the city of Jerusalem,
including those mentioned above and many more. Its abundance of historical
sites makes Jerusalem one of the most fascinating cities in the world. And in
the words of poet Natan Yonatan, "Everyone has a place in Jerusalem that
he calls love."
Malaysia
21
November 2016 : Places of worship
On 21st November, Post Malaysia launched “Places of
Worship stamps” showcasing the
well-known places of worship of various faiths in Malaysia. five
stamps depict the images of the Kapitan Keling Mosque in
Penang, St Francis Xavier Church in Malacca, Sri Kandaswamy Kovil temple and
Gurdwara Sahib Shapha in Kuala Lumpur, and Perak Cave Temple in Perak.
Promotional
Section
Launch of "Philamart" the
philatelic market place exclusively for Indian residents
On
this website anybody from India can buy or sell stamps. Payment gateway is also
integrated for accepting the payments. Various
categories are created for Indian Philately including thematic, literature and
accessories. The search and advance search is available.
PHILAMART
app is available on Google Play. With the help of app all the features are
available and accessible. Buy
Now and Auction formats are available for listings. As an inaugural offer
listings are free till 31st December,
2016.
- Pratisad Neurgaonkar - Pune
Blogs
& Websites
Philatelic Clubs & Societies
Chandigarh Philatelic Club
Deccan Philatelic Society – Pune, Maharashtra
Ludhiana Philatelic Club
Numismatic &
Philatelic Association of Vellore Fort http://numismaticphilavellore.site40.net/index.htm
Philatelic Society of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Rajkot Philatelic Society – Rajkot, Gujarat
Gujarat Philatelic Association - Ahmedabad
The Army Philatelic Society, Pune
AcknowledgementAnanthapuri Stamp Bulletin November 2016
RAINBOW STAMP CLUB
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Current Philatelic Magazines – Newsletters
VADOPHIL, Editor -
Prashant Pandya and published by Baroda Philatelic Society, Vadodara. Website -http://www.vadophil.org/
ITS Stamp
News - Quarterly - Editor: Suraj Jaitly Publisher: Indian Thematic
Society website - http://itsstampnews.blogspot.com/
Ananthpuri
Stamp Bulletin - Monthly e -stamp
bulletin of Anathapuri Philatelic Association, Thiruvanthapuram
Journal
of the Army Philatelic Society : Editor – Col Jayanta Dutta
Stamp of India Collectors’
Companion - India’s
first weekly e-newsletter edited by Madhukar and Savita Jhingan from Stamps of
India, New Delhi. E- mail: mjhingan@yahoo.com Website: www.stampsofindia.com
India Post – Quarterly
Journal of the India Study Circle publishes original articles submitted by
members of ISC.
GPA News – Published by Gujarat
Philatelists’ Association, Ahemadabad.
Stamps Today – Stamp & Coin
Magazine edited by Vijay Seth
Courtesy - News and Image Resource to this
issue :
International Stamp News; Indian Philately
Digest , Stamps of India ; Prashant Pandya – Vadodara, Madhukar
Jhingan - New Delhi Suresh R – Bangalore, Dr Satish Sondhi, Esheeta Basu Roy-
Kolkata,Kasinath R., Jagannath Mani- Bangalore, Sudhir Jain Satna (MP)
Address for communication:
Jeevan Jyoti,
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Chandrabani, Dehradun – 248002. India
Last date for receiving write ups – 25th of every month.
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