Fundy Stamp Collectors Club P. O. Box 302 Moncton N.B. E1C 8L4 Since 1997

During the siege of Paris in 1870, Frederick William's Prussian Army had cut the tele graph line under the Seine River. The volunteers taking messages to the outside were all captured or killed.

A little foresight by an unknown and unnamed postal employee before the siege contributed to the maintenance of communications between Paris and the rest of France and Europe. He had requested and received permission to install a pigeon-loft in the tower of the Paris post office, in the event of disaster.

Before the siege of Paris commenced, the Postmaster General, a Monsieur Steenackers had departed for Tours, taking with him crates of carrier pigeons from the pigeon-loft. Photographs reduced handwritten messages such that 12,000 missives could be dispatched inside a quill. Microcopy could increase the number of missives to 40,000. The birds were sent by train to Paris and then released. Upon arrival, their missives were magnified 300 times, and distributed.

The swift bird "Gambetta" made 40 flights in and out of Paris bearing urgent and valuable gov- ernment dispatches. The bird became a hero in the postal annals of that time.

To supplement the pigeon post (as trained pigeons were limited in number), the French Post Office resorted to hot-air balloons. On September 21, 1870 the first balloon was inflated, but the bag tore. Two days later, the balloon "Neptune" made the first successful postal flight from the Place St. Pierre with a pilot, one passenger, and 300 Ibs. of mail. Three and one-quarter hours later, the landing was made at Everaux, sixty-five miles from Paris.

Two balloons, the "Jacquard" and the "Richard Wallace" with their pilots and mailbags were blown out to sea and lost. Floating mailbags were recovered in several containers off the Bay of Arcachon and Plymouth. Their contents were then forwarded to their original destinations.

The balloon "La Ville d'Orleans", with two passengers and 600 Ibs. of mail achieved the longest yf all postal flights during the siege. Ascending at midnight the craft was blown out to sea on November 24 at the height of a midwinter storm; almost crashing and regaining altitude only after sacrificing half of the mail carried. After flying 14 hours and 40 minutes, a landing was made in the desolate deep snows of Fifjeld, Norway, 1950 miles from Paris. The balloon was never returned to Paris, and is on display at the University of Christiana.

Another craft, "La Ville de Paris" ascended December 15, and came down the next day in Prussia. The mail was seized, and the pilot and three passengers narrowly escaped military execution.

By September 30 the supply of available balloons was exhausted and the government began to manufacture them in the train station, the Gare d'Orleans, as the trains were not running. Balloon mail continued until the last day of the siege, January 28, 1871, a period of over four months.

All mail transported on the more than sixty flights bore the postal labels of Louis Napoleon, and the envelopes bore the additional mandatory inscription "par balloon monte" (by balloon ascension). Balloon post letters were limited to 4 grams in weight, and the cost was 20 centimes for any destination in France, Algeria, or Corsica. Post cards cost 10 centimes, and registered mail service was abandoned. Throughout the period of the siege the postal balloons carried 238 passengers; 12 tons of mail (estimated at 4 million letters); six dogs; and 384 pigeons.

Hundreds of thousands of mail postmarked from provincial cities and towns were marked "par balloon monte", but were never carried through the air. Many people thought they could send mail into Paris by balloon, but in fact it was reserved only for official and priority mail.

Certainly in the annals of Parisian postal history, the balloon and pigeon posts are an interesting bit of postal ingenuity and inventiveness.***

As we headed into the last week of May I found myself more and more focusing on the Royal * 2004 * Royale show. I have attended many small shows and one or two larger ones over the years, but never to a show with the hype and prestige of the Royal * 2004 * Royale. The organizers in Halifax have done a commendable job in promoting this event, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. I had the pleasure of visiting Halifax and the show on Saturday May 29, with several colleagues from our club.

The show was awesome, at least to me. There seemed to be plenty of everything for everyone, from stamps to covers to postcards. Dealer representation was very good, with many from outside of the Maritimes, which only added to the positive feelings.The day passed unbelievably quickly, and it was a very animated ride back to Moncton.

As a collector, I try to spend my money on local purchases throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons, as well as visits to dealer stores during any travels. As I gear up for the summer, I traditionally spend a lot of time preparing want lists for a variety of dealers. I like to place orders in June and early July for those items that I have looked for all winter, and have been unable to find. The Internet has made accessing price lists and stocks of various dealers very easy, and over time I have discovered several that I buy from once or twice a year, at this time of year. Then, when I return to active pursuit of my hobby in September, I have a few orders that have arrived, and thus some work to do in preparation for the fall season.

This Newsletter kicks off our fourth year, and as such I hope you find the feature article very interesting. It describes an interesting period in the history of France, and in the history of philately - The Balloon and Pigeon Posts of France.

Look for future issues of The Fundy Stamp News in September and November 2004, and I wish all our readers a happy and safe summer. ***

Drying the stamps properly and flattening them is very important for their final appearance. Inexpensive stamp drying books can be bought from stamp dealers (about $4-5 for ordinary ones). I recommend you buy one such book. After the stamps have dried partially between two paper towels (plain, white kinds recommended), move them into the stamp-drying book. Stamp drying books have alternate plastic-like pages (on which no stamp adhesives can stick) and blotter pages. You start from the last page of the book, which is a plastic page. Lay the stamps face up on this page and cover them up with the blotter page. Turn the next page. It is plastic. Lay a second group of stamps face up on this page and turn the blotter page over it. In this way you use the book from last page to first page. Whether you are drying one page full of stamps or the entire book, remember to put some heavy books (like dictionaries) on top of the drying book so the stamps can flatten out nicely. Stamp flattening presses are available on the market, but there is no need to buy those unless you are collecting stamps for profit. In three to four hours the stamps will dry completely and flatten out nicely. I often leave the stamps in the drying book overnight. After taking them out of the drying book, I lay them flat on a table and let them air out for a few minutes. *'"*

As one beginning collector said, "They're my stamps, and I can do anything I want with them. Besides, I'm never going to sell them." He proceeded for the next year to tape every stamp to the page with Scotch tape, and later used rubber cement when he ran out. Needless to say, he did want to sell his collection eventually, and found that nobody would buy it at any price.

Stamp hinges were devised ages ago so stamps could be affixed to album pages, yet could be peeled off later with no damage. There is only one major mistake one can make with stamp hinges, and that is putting so much excess moisture on a hinge that it slops over onto the stamp and glues it to the album page. This can ruin gum on a mint stamp, since otherwise a lightly moistened stamp hinge will leave only a minor disturbance on the gum.

Some collectors prefer to use stamp mounts on mint stamps, so that the gum will not be disturbed in the least. Mounts are plastic sleeves into which stamps are inserted, and in comparison to stamp hinges they are quite expensive. Still, premium prices paid for unhinged mint stamps make them desirable for certain stamps at least.

Next time: "Learning to use the Catalogs " ***

The April presentation was deferred, due to equipment problems, but a lively discussion took place on collection disposal, which is a concern to all of us as we age. Member Don Mills gave a presentation on the military history of the island of Alderney, part of the Channel Islands.

The May meeting discussed the ongoing development of a club website, planned for fall implementation, and a confirmation that the larger Ballroom, at Howard Johnsons Plaza Hotel has been reserved for BRUNPEX 2004, October 16, 2004. Mike Nowlan from Oromocto was the guest speaker, and gave a marvellous presentation on the Canada # 210 commemorative stamp (New Brunswick). Many thanks.

Next club meetings are June 3, September 2, and October 7, 2004. ***