Many a pleasant hour can be enjoyed, and your boy will not be on the streets in company with some other boy who would, perhaps do him more harm than good. The money spent for cigarettes or other useless things, put into a stamp collection, would not harm the boy but might do him much good and would be of value. There are millions of stamp collectors at the present day. Not only boys and girls, but very wealthy and prominent men are found among them, comprising Ministers, Lawyers, States

men etc.

From the many stamp papers published at the present time, valuable information is given. New stamps are appearing nearly every day, in some country, and the stamp papers or journals give a record of the various new stamps appearing, and very many other useful and important matters of interest to the stamp collector or "Philatelist," as they are called at the present time. Stamp collecting is not confined to one country, or a few countries, but the whole civilized world is interested in the science, and I might say, the pagan world too, is, to a certain extent, interested. Stamp exhibitions are held at various times, and in various parts of the world and there are many who attend such exhibitions, travelling thousands of miles, at great expense. At such exhibitions many very valuable collections are exhibited, many worth $25,000. or more. Great collections at times change hands, and sums amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars are paid. Stamp collecting is by no means confined to young people.

There are those who have reached the age of four score years or more who are still interested in their "Hobby" and many pleasant hours are spent by them with their collections.

To supply the demand for stamps, by collectors, there are many dealers in the business, many small dealers and some very large ones, who carry very valuable stocks of stamps. There are sets of cheap stamps, packets of cheap stamps, for the young collectors, as well as rare and valuable stamps for the advanced collectors. Stamps are imported from the various countries of the world, used, as well as unused stamps. Many of the very commonly used stamps are collected by Foreign Missionaries and are sold to dealers who sell them mostly in packets to the young collectors, who trade or perhaps sell their duplicate stamps to their school-mates or others. In America alone there are perhaps more than one thousand stamp dealers, including large and small. In New York City alone, there are many dealers, among them some of the largest in the world.

I must now speak of some personal matters, and the reader will learn how I became a stamp dealer. This will interest the stamp collector, and dealer as well. I have said before, that I first became interested in stamp collecting after reading the stamp advertisements in the young people's papers. Stamps were advertised as low as 1oc for a packet of one hundred varieties. I was interested to know what kind of stamps such packets contained. Among the dealers in New York City at this time, I had heard

of Mr. J. W. Scott, then as I remember on Fulton St., or perhaps it was Nassau St. There were also Mr. W. P. Brown and N. F. Seebeck, and no doubt others. Mr. Scott came to New York from England early in the Sixties, when he was but a very young man. He claimed to have been a stamp dealer in England, and was supposed to have been one of the first, if not the first dealer in the U. S. Mr. Brown still living, claims to have been a dealer in stamps, even before Mr. Scott. In Boston too at this time, there was a dealer named E. A. Holton, also a Mr. Triffit. From Mr. Scott, however, who had without doubt, the best stamp shop in New York, I bought my first little 10c packet of stamps, also my first little paper covered stamp album, for which I paid. 25c. I brought my little outfit home and started my collection, pasting the stamps I had bought in the album. They were pasted in, regardless of the country or denomination, and were a pretty badly mixed up lot. They should have been separated and each country placed by itself of course. They should also have been fastened in the book or album with the little gummed hinges used for that purpose. I was a new beginner and had to learn. I did not even know from what country many of the stamps came, nor did I dream of what the future held for me in the undeveloped stamp business.

I visited Mr. Scott again, and then sold him a sheet of 100 Boyd local stamps, genuine originals. They had been given me by a party living in Brooklyn at that time. Mr. Scott paid me $1.00 for the

course.

stamps. They would be worth much more now, of The reader will notice by what I have said, that to Mr. Scott, I made my first sale of stamps, as well as from him made my first purchase of stamps. I shall speak of Mr. Scott, no doubt, many times before my story is finished.

The first real valuable stamps I ever owned, were found among Aunt Susie's and Uncle Benja's old letters that had been packed away for years, in an old tea box. The stamps, or at least part of them which Aunt Susie gave me, I took to New York and disposed of to Mr. W. P. Brown, an old Gordon local, as I remember, among them. For the lot I received about $25.00. This seemed like a lot of money to receive for a bunch of old stamps that cost me nothing. Among this lot of stamps were the early issues of U. S. including fine old locals on the entire envelopes, the lot now would be worth a small fortune. With part of the money I received from Mr. Brown, I paid an old outlawed store bill of $5.00. I felt that the bill, even if outlawed, was an honest, bill and should be paid, so without consulting mother I paid the old store-keeper the $5.00 due him so many years. He was much pleased, and considered me an honest young man. The old store-keeper's name was Harvey Walker and he was formerly a sea captain, and was called Capt. Walker. His store at the Landing was well known, and I often went there for groceries when but a small boy. I remember in those days, you could sell rags at the grocery stores. I think that Aunt Betsey Wheeler whom I

have mentioned before, had me more times than one, take a little bundle of rags to Capt. Walker's store and trade them for a few ounces of Scotch snuff which she used. Aunt Betsey would present me with an illustrated magazine, or perhaps would give me a penny for my trouble.

As the days went by, I became more and more interested in stamps. I had a great many given me by business men whose old correspondence had not been destroyed. They allowed me to cut the stamps from the envelopes, and gladly gave them to me. The stamps collected in this way were mostly common U. S. stamps, though in some cases they were of considerable value. Both postage as well as revenue stamps were collected. In those days revenue stamps were used on boxes of matches, as well as on bottles of medicines, also on checks and various other documents, including insurance policies, deeds, wills, drafts, etc. The stamps used on the various. articles mentioned, represented a war tax, caused by the Civil War of years before. I collected many stamps at the drug store owned by Conklin & Jaynes. at Smithtown Branch. They were members of the Landing M. E. church, and were good friends of mine. They allowed me to remove the stamps from the bottles and packages of medicines, as well as from the match boxes. They gave me many thousands of stamps. In many cases, however, I paid for stamps received from other parties in the town. I sold most of all the stamps collected, to dealers out of town to whom I mailed them. The prices re