The Postage Stamp in War Part 5

CHAPTER IV.

FRANCE--Napoleon's Minister of Posts--The Second Republic--The Presidency--Empire--French Expeditions to China and Mexico--Sedan--Metz--Strasburg--The Siege of Paris--Balloon Post--Pigeon Post--Peace--Military Frank Stamps--The German Invasion, 1914--Red Cross Stamps--War Postcards and Postmarks.

The postal arrangements of France have been deranged oft-times within the past century by war and revolution. It is just a century since the famous episode of the Lavalettes occurred. The Count de Lavalette was Director of Posts under Napoleon, and in 1814 he did his best to upset the organisation and fled on the approach of the Allies. The following year he returned to his post, and after Waterloo he was arrested on a treason charge and sentenced to the guillotine. The Countess made desperate efforts to gain the clemency of Louis XVIII., but without avail. In the end she gained permission to go to her husband in his prison. She went in a sedan chair with her daughter, and an old servant of the family. The gaoler left the couple to their last farewell, and on his return saw the broken-hearted wife a.s.sisted out by her two companions. A little later he approached the Count, who lay collapsed upon his bed covered in a large cloak, and his face buried in his hands. It was some time after ere the gaoler discovered that his prisoner was the lady, and that the Count had got clear away.

French stamps provide a very interesting record of the political changes in the country, and provide one of the best ill.u.s.trations of how stamps demarcate the periods of a nation's history. We have dealt at some length with this aspect of French stamps elsewhere,[5] and limit our account here to a short pictorial one. The first French stamps (_Fig._ 137) are inscribed REPUB. FRANC., and followed in the wake of the revolution of 1848 when M. Etienne Arago was in charge of the post office. They were first issued January 1, 1849, after the election of Prince Louis Napoleon to the Presidency. The head on the stamp engraved by the elder Barre is not the head of Liberty, as is commonly supposed, but that of Ceres, the Italian G.o.ddess of Agriculture, who was the same as the Greek Demeter or "Mother Earth," appropriate for the design of the stamps of a country which is "one of Ceres' chiefest barns for corn." Napoleon's _coup d'etat_ of December, 1851, was followed by the issue in 1852 of stamps in which his portrait takes the place of Ceres (_Fig._ 138). Late in the same year the Empire was proclaimed, so in 1853 the abbreviated inscription REPUB. FRANC. was altered to EMPIRE FRANC. (_Fig._ 139). Napoleon's successes in Italy and elsewhere were acclaimed by adding the victor's crown of laurel to the portrait on the stamps in 1863 (_Fig._ 140). His various expeditions are marked for the collectors in a most interesting range of Army postmarks, used in the Crimea, China, Mexico, etc., and of French stamps used in the French post offices in the Levant, similar to the British ones described in chapter I., and now rendered obsolete by the closing of the post offices in October, 1914, as a result of the "abolition of the capitulations." The Mexican expedition, largely owing to the Civil War troubles in the States, led to the placing of Emperor Maximilian on the throne of Mexico, and to the issue of stamps of the Mexican Empire bearing that ill-fated ruler's portrait (_Fig._ 141).

[Footnote 5: "All About Postage Stamps." By Fred J. Melville. London, 1913. T. Werner Laurie, Ltd.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 137 138 139 140 141]

The Franco-German War has left the stamp collector an interesting series of stamps catalogued as Alsace and Lorraine (_Fig._ 233), but more properly called the stamps of the German Army of Occupation, as they were used in the parts of France occupied by the German Army during the war and afterwards in the two annexed provinces until superseded by the German Imperial issues. September 2, 1870, witnessed the surrender of Napoleon to the Prussians at Sedan, and in November we find the head of Ceres recur on the stamps lithographed at Bordeaux during the siege of Paris (_Fig._ 142).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 142]

This period is undoubtedly the most interesting one in modern postal history. There is a vast array of Army postmarks of the war, special postcards issued by the auxiliary committee of the Red Cross at Strasburg, letters sent from Metz during the siege by free balloons, and letters sent by a variety of ingenious methods from Paris. M.

Steenackers was the Director of Posts under the republic proclaimed September 4, 1870, and his endeavours to maintain postal communications between Paris and the outer world are among the most fascinating of postal records. A cable was laid under the Seine to Rouen, but the Germans dragged the river and destroyed it. Telegraph wire had to be smuggled into the country, as the Swiss Government declared it to be contraband. Letters were enclosed in different forms of hollow spheres and thrown into the river; the spheres were f.l.a.n.g.ed so that they would rotate with the current. Hundreds of gallant messengers, ladies as well as men, strove to reach the city with concealed messages, mostly without success. One lady is said to have succeeded in getting through with a letter which had been secreted in a hollow tooth and the tooth stopped with gold. Even dogs were sent with messages to Paris, but most of them were shot by the enemy. The chief means of sending letters out of Paris was the balloon post, and almost the only messages received within the city came by carrier pigeons. There were free balloons and pa.s.senger balloons, a higher rate of postage being charged for the latter. Letter sheets, etc., were issued for both services inscribed "PAR BALLON NON-MONTE," or PAR BALLON MONTE. A register was kept of the services of aeronauts during the siege.

The messages sent by pigeons were at first written in very small handwriting, but afterwards they were photographed in microscopical minuteness, so that a very large number could be carried by one pigeon. These photomicrographs were projected on to a screen by means of an optical lantern to read and transcribe the messages when received in Paris. The films were placed in tubes attached to the pigeon's tail. One pigeon arriving in Paris January 28, 1871, delivered 40,400 messages by this means.

The later and more peaceful history of France has been typified on its stamps by M. Jules Sage's allegory (_Fig._ 143) representing Peace clasping hands with Commerce across the world by means of the post, and by the late M. Roty's pleasing Semeuse or Sower design (_Fig._ 144).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 143 144]

By a law promulgated February 9, 1900, a long discussed project to allow soldiers and sailors serving with the colours a limited free postage was brought into operation. Each man coming under the description was allowed to send two letters a month free, and by another law of December 29, 1900, the _Franchise Militaire_ stamp system was introduced. These were at first the then current 15 centimes stamps with the overprint F.M. (_Fig._ 145); their distribution is in the hands of the military authorities, who allow two stamps a month to each private or non-commissioned officer in the Army and Navy, enabling them to send two letters not exceeding 20gr. free of postage. The two types of the 15 centimes "Rights of Man" issue exist with the F.M.

overprint, issued in 1901 and 1903 respectively (_Figs._ 145, 146), and the succeeding Sower type (_Fig._ 147) appeared in 1904. When the French inland postage rate was reduced from 15 centimes to 10 centimes, April 16, 1906, the 10 centimes stamps were overprinted F.M. instead of the 15 centimes, two of the Sower types of 10 centimes value receiving the overprint F.M. respectively in 1906 and 1907 (_Figs._ 148, 149).

Since January 30, 1912, these stamps have been used on the official correspondence of the French civil service as well as by the military.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 145 146 147 148 149]

After forty years the fair fields of France are once again ravaged by the German invaders, and already our allies across the channel have issued special stamps which serve the double purpose of denoting postage and of collecting small contributions to the French Red Cross. The following is the official decree:

Le President de la Republique Francaise.

Sur le rapport du Ministre du Commerce, de l'Industrie, des Postes et des Telegraphes,

Decrete:

Article premier.--Il est cree un timbre-poste special, denomme "Timbre de la Croix-Rouge Francaise." Le public aura la faculte, dans le regime interieur seulement, d'utiliser ce timbre qui vaudra affranchiss.e.m.e.nt jusqu'a concurrence de 10 centimes seulement.

Art. 2.--Ce timbre-poste est vendu 15 centimes. La difference entre le prix de vente et le valeur d'affranchiss.e.m.e.nt, deduction faite de la remise reglementaire de 1p. 100, sera versee a la Commission inst.i.tutee par le decret du 8 aout, 1914, au ministere de la Guerre, sous l'autorite du service de sante militaire et avec le concours des Societes formant la Croix-Rouge francaise.

Art. 3.--Par mesure transitoire et en attendant l'impression du nouveau timbre, le public aura a sa disposition des timbres-poste ordinaires a 10 centimes, portant en surcharge le signe de la Croix-Rouge et le chiffre 5.

Art. 4.--Le ministre du Commerce et le ministre des Finances sont charges, chacun en ce qui le concerne, de l'execution du present decret.

Fait a Paris, le 11 aout, 1914.

R. POINCARE.

Par le President de la Republique:

_Le Ministre du Commerce, de l'Industrie, des Postes et des Telegraphes_,

GASTON THOMSON,

_Le Ministre des Finances_,

J. NOULENS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 150 151 152]

As indicated in the decree, the first stamp (_Fig._ 150) was only of provisional character, the ordinary French 10 centimes stamp being surcharged "+ 5c", and selling for 15 centimes, two-thirds representing the postage, and one-third the Red Cross contribution.

This was issued on August 18, 1914, and in all 600,000 were printed before the definite Red Cross stamp (_Fig._ 151) was issued on September 10. The Princ.i.p.ality of Monaco has also issued a similarly overprinted stamp for the French Red Cross (_Fig._ 152), and yet another of this cla.s.s of stamp has been issued for the French Protectorate in Morocco (_Fig._ 153).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 153 154]

Special postcards have been furnished to the French troops and there is a special postcard for the use of the public in writing to soldiers. They are decorated with the flags of the Allies in colours, and the first kind, "Modele A," bear instructions to the effect that "This card must be handed to the Quartermaster. It must bear no indication of the place of sending nor any information relating to military operations, past or future. Otherwise it will not be forwarded."

On "Modele B" (_Fig._ 154), for the use of the public, it is stated that "if it is to be forwarded immediately the card shall contain _personal news_ only." Messrs. Alfred Smith & Sons report the existence of an unofficial imitation of "Modele B" sold in the streets of Paris. It differs from the genuine variety in the following details:

(i) The flags are misplaced so that the French flag leans over to the right, instead of being vertical;

(ii) The red and blue colours are shaded with black lines only, instead of white and black lines;

(iii) The ruled line at the back is plain, instead of being composed of square dots.

There is also a variety of plain letterpress cards, headed "CORRESPONDANCE MILITAIRE--REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE--CARTE POSTALE", and other textual inscriptions, or in some cases with only the first two words, with an arrangement of s.p.a.ce for the address.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 156]

Many military postmarks have already been noted by collectors in connection with the present campaign, but it is too early yet to arrange them with proper regard to their use and significance. One interesting episode is marked by the postmark of the Central Military Postal administration of Paris (_Figs._ 155, 156). This establishment accompanied the French Government when the latter moved to Bordeaux on September 3, and continued to use the postmark inscribed Paris there, so that impressions of _Fig._ 155 bearing dates between September 3 and October 13 (the date of the return to Paris) originated not in Paris, but in Bordeaux.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 155 157 158 159 160 161 162]

A somewhat pathetic interest attaches to the mark _Fig._ 157 indicating "LIEU DE DESTINATION ENVAHI" (place of destination invaded), and it appears that Tours has been a temporary centre for civil correspondence undeliverable to parts of the country which have been invaded (_Figs._ 158-160).

_Figs._ 161-168 represent various types of army postmarks, regimental franks, etc., being used during the present campaign.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 167 168 163 164 165 166 167 168 169]