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| How Tip Saved the Home | ||
| reprinted from Eastern Philatelist, December 1895 | ||
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A STAMP STORY As every true story has of necessity a location, this story is located in the centre county of New York State, in the thriving and beautiful city of Cortland, the county seat of Cortland county. Tippecanoe Casey, the subject of this sketch, in the year 1892, aged 15 years, lived with his mother and two sisters in a delightfully located home in the city of C-. It is not at all needful to personally or morally describe our Tip (as he was familiarly called) any further than to say he was not a model of perfection, but just a wide-awake, well-balanced, truthful, honorable boy, which may not be so bad a model, after all. Upon Tip's home was a blanket, and that blanket was a mortgage that covered almost every entire inch of it, and how to get this dreadful covering off had been a subject of speculation with Tip and his mother for a long tine. But that, somehow, it should be done was Tip's greatest ambition, as many were the plans that were arranged with that object in view, and that almost always failed. But Tip was not to be easily discouraged and would say, "Never mind, mother; next time we may succeed, and some time we will, God willing." When Tip was 11 years of age his mother's half-brother, Silas Blanchard, who had visited many countries as an official of government, gave to Tip a small collection of odd coins and a blank book of stamps of different lands. Tip never tired of counting over the coins and looking at the stamps and locating their home countries, first by his geography and later by Scott's invaluable catalogues. 'Twas almost an endless delight to him, and he began to study all about stamps and coins. From books left by his uncle he found out their history, causes of emission and necessities of the stamps of about all the countries, and the different grades of rare, scarce and plentiful. At the time he little comprehended that all this study would some day so redound to the happiness of them all and give him a competency that would uncover their home from that dreadful shadow that every year put on the appearance of taking the home from them. Four years of study made Tip a proficient in stamp knowledge, and he, if asked, readily told the fictitious value of almost any rare stamp, of what country, why it was issued, and nearly all about it. His memory was retentive of what he heard and read, especially of philately and numismatics. In this city of C- had lived for long years a wealthy and intelligent German named Andrew Van B, who from 1860 to about 1884 had been a most ardent philatelist and whose collection had become most advanced and valuable. I had personally had the pleasure of seeing his collection upon two occasions, and had some idea of its value. I remember that there were shilling stamps of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, a host of them ; many early United States and Confederate locals of provisional issues, and sets of U. S. Departments (including the high value State), and nearly complete U.S. postage. The greater part of them were in unused condition, and the used were in a fine state of preservation. In the year 1895 Mr. Van B- died from an attack of pneumonia and, I trust, entered the German Heaven, among the blest. His heirs wished to convert his real estate into money, and put it into the hands of a broker to be sold. His personal effects they advertised to be sold by auction. Now came Tip's opportunity. When the two stamp books were put up there were but few people on account of the little publicity given the sale in the crowd who had any idea of their worth, Tip had never seen the albums before, but this day he was permitted to look them over, and he had quite an idea of the collection from what he had been told previously. Those few moments gave Tip a revelation and also a resolution. The auctioneer called for bids, and some one bid $5 per volume. Tip doubled it at once. For a short time there was no advance, and then some one raised the bid another $5. Tip doubled it again, and everybody began to stare. A woman edged toward Tip with a word of caution, but he shook his curly head, laughing his thanks, and waited for another bid. But no bid came, and the books were passed over to the tender care of Tip, who never was so glad, never so happy, as when he clasped his arms around them and said “Mine !" There were single stamps in those books worth the $40 he gave, and Tip knew it. But not until the albums were at home and carefully examined did he know the treasures that were his. The next day he took them to a friend of his who was better able to judge accurately of their worth as a whole. That friend was so pleased with the lovely collection that she gave him cash enough for it to remove the mortgage from the home, and he had left how much do you think? Exactly $237.50, of which he has carefully used a portion for necessities, and $200 of it is in good hands, drawing Tip six per cent interest. Who can say that a knowledge of philately and numismatics (stamps and coins) may not some day become of exalted importance and financial benefit to the possessor of such knowledge? It will be that and more, for no stamp collector exists who does not learn civil government, history and geography, and acquire a fund of knowledge of the nations of the earth through his collection. MAUD CHARLOTTE BINGHAM. | ||
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