Dawson A. Vindin

MR. DAWSON A. VINDIN,
THE CONQUERING HERO FROM THE ANTIPODES.
His TRIUMPHAL PROGRESS.
[By our Special Commissioner.]

OPPORTUNITY (with a very big "O") is admittedly a useful thing to have around the house. Some people never have any opportunities - just as others never have the measles; and there are men who neglect what opportunities they have. To go a step further, it may be said that some are born with opportunities, some achieve opportunities, and some have opportunities thrust upon them. We think it is in the latter category that we must class the opportunity which procured our Special Commissioner an interview with Mr. Dawson A. Vindin. Yes; it must be so. The opportunity was thrust upon him. " Out of evil cometh good; " had it not been for the rumpus aroused over the "Laureated" reprints, Mr. Vindin might still have been a stranger to us, and had it not been for Mr. Vindin's voyage to the shores of Albion, there lines might never have appeared in the PHILATELIC JOURNAL OF GREAT BRITAIN. And if there were no PHILATELIC JOURNAL OF GREAT BRITAIN - but enough! we will not torture our readers with the bare contemplation of such a contingency.

To "cut the cackle and come to the 'osses," as they say at Barnet Fair, our Special Commissioner got within interviewing distance of Mr. Dawson A. Vindin a very few days after the arrival of that gentleman in London. "Now, here's a capital chance for a good topical interview – ‘latest about the Laureated' - Mr. Dawson A. Vindin's story of the whole affair - Philately in Australia - run it into the March number - great biz!" Such were the thoughts that ran through the speculative mind of our Special Commissioner. But alas! the journalist proposes and the printer disposes. It was found that the March number that was to be was already choke - full of matter; and thus it came to be decided that Mr. Vindin should be installed as the ninth of our "Leading Dealers." That he is in every sense worthy of such classification admits of not the slightest doubt.

A PHILATELIC "INFANT PRODIGY."

To use a convenient slangism, there are "no flies" on Mr. Dawson A. Vindin. Whatever lie undertakes, he generally "gets there." At the youthful age of fourteen he positively became a Stamp Dealer on his own account! Most of our "Leading Dealers" have commenced early, but we think Mr. Vindin takes the palm for philatelic precocity.

In 1880 - he was then but twelve years of age, mind you - Mr. Vindin became connected with the stamp dealing business of Messrs. Buckley, Blumsum & Co., a well-known and old-established Sydney firm. For two years he served them as an apprentice, rapidly distinguishing himself by the promptness he displayed in picking up the intricacies of philately. At the end of his two years the opportunity occurred to purchase the business of his employers, and Mr. Vindin promptly clutched it - not the business, gentle reader, but the opportunity. No "cash down" was required, and the terms were in every way advantageous to this fourteen - year - old philatelist. And thus it came about that Dawson A. Vindin, ætat 14, embarked upon the not invariably placid sea of stamp dealing in March, 1882. He is

Now 24 YEARS OF AGE,

and quite the "cock of the walk" among Colonial Stamp Dealers. Though his onward progress has not been altogether unchecked by reverses, Mr. Vindin can plume himself upon the success he has achieved. That success, when one comes to consider its extent and the rapidity with which it has been obtained, seems quite phenomenal. It says much for Mr. Vindin's personal popularity that quite a large proportion of his customers are also friends. Directly he commenced to boss his own counter, and say "What can I get you ? " he received the cordial support of his present partner, Mr. Frederick Hagen, a Vice-President of the Sydney Philatelic Club, and one of the best known philatelists at the Antipodes. Others whose support proved valuable to the young dealer were Dr. Andrew Honison and Mr. Alfred Van Dyck.

It was owing to the great increase in his business that prompted Mr. Vindin to invite the gentleman who is now

His PARTNER, Me. FREDERICK HAGEN,

to join hands with him. Mr. Hagen, as we have already said. is a Vice-President of the Sydney Philatelic Club, and a popular man in Colonial philatelic circles. He is Mr. Vindin's senior by some seven or eight years. He joined the great army of stamp collectors at the age of eight, but previous to his business connection with Mr. Vindin he had not turned his knowledge to any commercial account. After leaving school, Mr. Hagen spent five years in the office of Messrs. S. T. Leigh & Co., a well-known firm of lithographic artists in Sydney. He was with them when they received the contract for the first stamps of Samoa, and witnessed the preparation of the 4d. red Telegraph Stamp essay-the original rough design of which is in his possession to this day. In 1881, Mr. Hagen went to New Caledonia, and lived there for about five years, possessing a lasting momento of his stay in the shape of what is perhaps the best collection of New Caledonian Stamps in the world. He is also noted for his collection of rare Australians - "one," says Vindin's Philatelic Monthly, in its excellent biographical sketch of Mr. Hagen, " that would make some of the large English Collectors, not forgetting Mr. Castle, open their eyes." Enough has been said to show that Mr. Frederick Hagen is a worthy partner for Mr. Dawson A. Vindin.

So much by way of preamble. Let us now get to

OUR INTERVIEW WITH MR. VINDIN.

It was at Anderton's Hotel, in Fleet Street, that our representative met the object of his search. Tall and well-built, Mr. Vindin is every inch a worthy representative of our sturdy Colonial Cousins. His features, as one may see by the portrait we present, reflect the geniality of his soul, and, if one looks more closely into them, the business acumen which is one of the distinguishing traits of Colonial character. Though of English descent, Mr. Vindin does not take his pleasures, or even his business, sadly. He is a vivacious talker, imparting a vein of plaisanterie into the serious business of life, and is altogether the sort of young man one likes to meet. Add to this that he doesn't smoke, and isn't a teetotaller, and you have a very fair cameo - moral, mental, and physical - of Mr. Dawson A. Vindin.

Emerging from a tumbled mass of Colonial stamps which he had brought with him from "down under," Mr. Vindin greeted our Commissioner with winning cordiality. Naturally enough, the first query of our representative was in reference to the matter of

THE "LAUREATED" REPRINTS.

"Chestnuts!" said Mr. Vindin. "Haven't you anything fresher to talk about? Laureated, Laureated, always Laureated! Really, I don't think there is anything I can say more than I have already said in my Monthly. You have quoted that explanation, I see, in the Philatelic Review of Reviews, and I must give you credit for smartness. I scarcely thought you could have done it at such short notice."

On behalf of the Philatelic Review of Reviews, our Special Commissioner bowed his acknowledgments.

"B it tell me, Mr. Vindin, have you satisfied all the sceptics on this side? What do the London men think about your share in the ‘Laureated' business now?"
"Oh, they are fairly unanimous in exonerating me from all blame. You must know that I first heard of the rumpus on my return from a trip to New Zealand and Tasmania, I read the article on the subject in Stanley Gibbons' Monthly Journal, and, after a conference with my partner, decided on


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