Page 33 - Delcampe Collections classiques EN-007

Stamps

lar letter sent to landowners by the envelope seems to indicate?
Trinidad Island Red Cross Committee B. Aside from its postal use on 18 Sep-
is reprinted on page 39 (1). tember 1914, the Trinidad vignette
The vignettes remaining after the was primarily a charity vignette sold
900 letters had been sent were sold by the Red Cross to raise funds. It can
to the public, and many letters bea- be found on the back of some enve-
ring this vignette, but franked normal- lopes as a seal, but collectors are also
ly with Trinidad stamps, can be found. on the lookout for new ones, as clear-
These letters have no special value, ly, not all the printed vignettes were
as the date of cancellation is not sold in the colony, with some or all of
18 September 1914, and the purpose the remaining stock winding up on the
of these letters has nothing to do with philatelic market.
the Red Cross Committee. Red Cross The vignettes were letterpress printed
letters are quoted at £190, which cor- in sheets of 24. This plate is made up
responds to 1,800 francs. They are of a block of 6 vignettes repeated 4
seldom seen at auction, and when times (5).
they are, they are often at a high price. «A report from the Postmaster Gene-
Upon reading this article, there are ral of Trinidad
still two points to be clarified: sets out the conditions under which
A. This is a photocopy of a paper en- this vignette was accepted for official
velope (4), size 121 x 94 mm, with a franking. On 17 September 1914, the
glued flap at the tip. Here you can see Governor accepted a request from the
the document on the front and the ar- local Red Cross to send a postage-free
rival stamp on the back. As postage, circular in support of its work. In or-
this envelope bears only the Trinidad
vignette, the bottom right-hand corner
of which is very slightly cancelled by a
23 mm postmark from Port of Spain
dated 26 October 1914. Addressed to
the Reverend Herbert H. Cole in Scar-
borough, on the reverse is an arrival
stamp dated 27 October 1914.
The address is handwritten, probably
by Mrs. Burslem herself, as it reads
«Red Cross Society / Mrs Burslem».
The envelope was sealed. Since there
is no doubt as to its authenticity,
the following question arises: after
18 September 1914, did the Trinidad
and Tobago Red Cross benefit from
free postage as long as the sender’s
name and signature were mentioned
and the vignette was affixed, as this
4 - Letter with Trinidad vignette, which left Port of Spain on 26 October 1914 and arrived
in Scarborough on 27 October 1914.

Delcampe Magazine 33