THE STAMP THROUGH THE AGES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 35, 11 February 1939, Page 12

THE STAMP THROUGH THE AGES

Twopence will buy you a postage stamp that will carry a tetter for you to any* part of the British Empire, whether its destination is two streets away or thousands and thousands of miles. Add another stamp or two, and your letter can go to any part of the world, still at a very small cost. Travel is cheap—by post!

Motors, ships, trains, aeroplanes, all help to speed the letter on its way, until it finally reaches the postman's mail bag, to be delivered with the familiar shrill note of a whistle. It is all very modern and efficient, and, indeed, one is inclined to think of the delivery of mails as a fairly young enterprise, yet, actually, there has been a postal service in existence in Britain since the days of Good Queen Bess.

Letters and parcels sent by the “poste” were carried by horsemen, who, however, were forbidden by a special proclamation to take any that were not signed by the Queen or her Ministers. But the Queen's Postmas-ter-General Thomas Randolphe, decided that not only Royal or Government letters should be carried, and issued a proclamation of his own, directing the postman to accept any letters and to forward them on their way within fifteen minutes.

The postman, riding hard through fair weather or foul, to deliver with all speed his packets and parcels, was a familiar figure during the next 200 years or so, and the sound of his horn announced the arrival of the mail until the days of the coach arrived, and the delivery of letters and parcels was made by lumbering, swaying vehicles.

The carrying of mails is a Government service these days, but in former times the Master of the Posts, Messages and Couriers, paid his Soverign a large sum of money for the privilege of directing the postal service, then sold the right to carry mails to various people—pocketing the difference! Later, the posts became the monopoly of the Duke of York, and. when he came to the Throne, of the Crown. They have remained the property of the Crown and consequently the Government, ever since.

From the beginning of the seventeenth century private postal services were discouraged by acts of Parliament, Royal proclamations and fines, but since the Government service was often inefficient, private posts were being set up continually, and were well patronised while they lasted.

In 1680, William Dockwra decided he would start a postal service, cosTTng only one penny, and to operate only in London. Previously, letters had

LADYBIRDS TO THE RESCUE ladybird, fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children are gone. Children have long known the rhyme, but the sugar-beet farmers of North lincolnshire are not likely to repeat this, for they have been welcoming the ladybirds. The more the merrier. It seemed at one time as if there were no hope of a beet harvest this year, for in some mysterious way the crops bcame infested with black aphis, a pest very similar to the green aphis <or greenfly) known to rose-growers. Day after day the black death ravaged the sugar-beet, destroying it so rapidly that farmers began to think all their labour had been in vain. Then the ladybirds came. How they knew there was a royal banquet waiting for them is not known. They came in thousands. Old folks said the thunder brought them; but, whatever the explanation might be, they no sooner arrived than they settled on the sugar-beet and beg<m eating up every black aphis within reach. They laid eggs from which hungry ladybird grubs w r ere hatched, and these are now feeding so quickly on the pest that farmers have already seen a big improvement in their crops. At last there is hope of a harvest, thanks to the ladybird.’

been carried from one part of the city to another by special messengers, but Dockwra opened about 500 receiving offices, where letters could be left, and from which, every hour, they were sent to one of seven main offices. Here they were sorted, and sent off, and since anything from four to twelve deliveries were made in a day, the Londoners were very well served. Dockwra even thought of insuring letters, as we do to-day, when we register them.

The Government soon stepped in and stopped Dockwra’s competition. He was fined £lOO, but since the excellence of his system could not be overlooked, he was given a present of £5OO a year, and appointed official controller of the post he had started. You can see how our post offices had their beginnings in Dockwra’s receiving offices.

It was 1840 before postage stamps, such as we know them, were used on the covers of leters, but Dockwra used a special post mark on the letters he received. In doing this he was following the example of a Postmaster-General, Henry Bishop, who held office from 1660 to 1663.

Bishop used a circle showing the date on which the letter was posted; Dockwra used a triangular mark, with additional heart-shaped marks to show whether the letter had been posted in the morning or the afternoon. So really these postmarks served the purpose of the stamp and the cancelling mark in use to-day. Then there were what were known as franking marks. If you have ever seen a letter marked with the words ‘•On His Majesty’s Service,” and bearing no stamps, you will have seen a letter that has been franked, or, in simple words, passed through the post post without payment.

When franking was first used, it was a privilege possessed by the King’s Ministers, and the members of both Houses of Parliament. All these men were required to sign their names on the outside of their letters, but all of them were not honest, and would supply signed—and consequently franked—letter-covers to their friends. Some would even sell franked covers, and when this was discovered, and the additional fact that franked covers were being forged, the whole system was abolished.

This was done in 1839. In 1840 the postage stamp was introduced, but of this, and its inventor, who was also responsible for many reforms in the postal service, you will be able to read later.

ALPHABET RIDDLES.

Which letters are always busy ? B’s. Which letters are found throughout the world ? C’s. Which letters like luxury? E’s. Which letters are always talking about

themselves? I’s. Which letters make moise noise? J’s. Which letters are longest? L’s. Which letters do we eat in spring? P’s. Which letters are poorest? O’s. Which letters are often outside cinemas? Q’s. Which letters are annoying? T’s. Which letters are sensible? Y’s.

CROWS UNITE

The crows in the tree-tops in a garden at Wick Scotland, were continually quarrelling, but one day lately they forgot their disputes and showed a surprising unity. A black cat had caught one o? the crows, and the victim made loud protests, so that at once there was a chorus of indignant squawking from the trees. Then in mass formation a flock of crows swooped to the ground. The cat was stealing off with its prey, but the crows formed a noisy circle round it and it could not pass. They were so menacing that the cat dropped the crow, which flew off. safe.

“THE OLD WINDMILL."

Jeanne and Tony loved going to the old mill dowii the lane, although the sails no longer turned in the wind, and the cottage where the miller lived was almost tumbling down. They liked to listen to his tales of years ago, especially one about an old friend who came late to his house one night and left early the next morning without saying good-bye. “All he left,” the miller told them, “was a letter, thanking me for my kindness, and telling me good luck would be mine one day. Good luck indeed! It's bad luck I’ve had ever since.”

“Perhaps the good luck is hidden in the mill,” Jeanne said. “Let’s search for it, Tony.”

They looked into every hole and corner, but there seemed nothing but spiders everywhere. “There isn't any good luck here,” said Tony in disgust, wiping his dirty hands upon his pocket handkerchief, “and it’s going to rain. Look how dark it is!”

As he spoke great drops of rain began to fall, and a flash of lightning lit the sky.

“We can't go for a little while Jeanne said. “We shall get so wet

A great gust of wind shook the mill as she spoke. “I wish we had let the miller’s luck alone,” Tony said in a small voice. Just as he spoke, something fell with a thud at their feet. “Oh!” said Jeanne. “What is that?”

It was a shabby leather bag. They opened it eagerly, and saw golden coins lying inside. It was a bag of soverigns. “It’s the miller's luck!” shouted Tony. “Let us go and take it to him.’ T Then another strange thing happened. The old mill began to turn again. The miller heard it and ran out to see wh<£. had happened. He looked at the coins in amazement. “Good luck has come at last!” he shouted. “He said it would! He hid this for me in the old mill sails, and that is why they would not go round.”

And the old mill is still turning, the old cottage is till there, and the old miller is still enjoying his good luck.

THE SHAH’S TRICK

According to legend the Koh-i-Noor, the famous diamond now in the Royal crown, has a history going back nearly two thousand years. It has had many owners. In 1739. for example, Nadir Shah obtained it by a trick after conquering another ruler who then owned the diamond. Nadir Shah insisted on carrying out the ancient Oriental custom of exchanging turbans as a sign of friendship. His victim could not refuse, and was compellled to give up his turban, in which he had concealed the Koh-i-Noor.

•H ST A SPANIEI

“Sarah is easily offended,” said her master, puling one of her long ears. I Sarah is a golden cocker spaniel I who bounces like a rubber ball and , wriggles like a centipede to show her | pleasure when a friend comes to tea. [ After she has been ordered to be quiet she sits down as close to you as possible, looking up into your eyes in such a sentimental manner that you feel shy. But, although she has such an ingratiating manner, Sarah is easily offended. She cannot bear to have her intelligence doubted.

When her master tells Sarah to sit down she sits, and when he tells her to wait she waits. Sarah has been properly bought up. The other day, the son of the house came home on leave and took Sarah out. He wanted to leave her for some time, so he told her to sit down, tied her to some railings, and left her.

When he returned an hour later Sarah was still sitting exactly where he had left her, but she had bitten through the leather leash. It was Sarah’s way of saying, “I am not the sort of dog that needs to be tied up. Kindly remember on future occasions that there is no need to regard me as an untrained puppy.”

And the son of the house was not ashamed to say long afterwards that he quailed before the reproach in the eyes of a faithful dog.