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wee Youngsters have found world's rarest stamps There is a recurring complaint that stamp collecting and stamp clubs are in deep trouble because, as older members pass on, they are . not being replaced by young collectors. One of the reasons for this, many say, is because, Over a number of years, stamp clubs and stamp dealers just didn't pay enough attention to interested young people, and certainly did, little or nothing to get them interested. It's all the more amazing when it's a fact that many, many of the world's rarest an- d or most expensive stamps were discovered by youngsters in school or by other teenagers. This was brought home to me again recently as I was reading the newly-released Linn's Philatelic Gems by Donna O'Keefe. The book tells the stories of the world's rarest philatelic items, 79 of them. Three are Canadian stamps: the 1851 12-penny black, issued June 14, 1851 (Scott No. 3); the two- cen! Large Queen on laid paper, 1868 (Scott No. 32); the more famous 5-cent Seaway invert issued June 26, 1959 (Scott No. 387a). The 12-penny is the most valuable Canadian rarity. A New York collector bought a single for $90,000 during a 1978 Greg Manning auction. Another paid $75,000 for an unused single at a Robert A. Siegel auction in 1980, but the record was set at a May 10, 1980 Greg Manning auction by an unidentified Canadian collector for $126,500. The two-cent Queen catalogues at $55,000. The Seaway invert catalogues at $17,500 mint .and $14,000 used. They are frequently on the auction block, and realize more -- but 'sometimes less. The Seaway invert was discovered by a Winnipeg secretary after the office boy had returned from the post office where he had bought 30 stamps, all of them errors. The most valuable stamp in the world is the one-cent British Guiana (Scott No. 13) black on magneta. Its last sale was in 1980 at a Robert A. Siegel auction, where the pre- auction ballyhoo predicted a knock-down price of $1 million. It went for $850,000 because, coincidentally, it came to auction at precisely the start of a philatelic recession. The stamp was discovered by L. Vernon Vaughn, a young boy. He soaked it off an envelope and sold it to a collector, N.R. McKinnon, for $1.50. The rest is, as they say, history. A copy. of the Inverted Swan of Western Australia (Scott No. 3a), which catalogues at $100,000, was discovered by a young boy in the late 1800s. A British student visiting the castle of Koenigstein, Germany, discovered the baron had pasted a sheet of the Saxony 1850 three- pfennig red (Scott 1a) to fireplace screen. The damaged sheet realized $58,000 in a 1871 auction. In November 1889, Gibraltar received a shipment of new stamps with Spanish denominations. Some had the 10 centimo value missing. It's said the error was discovered in 1892 by a young boy who had inherited his father's collection. It's Scott No. 30a and catalogues at $11,000. A rarity worth $14,000 was discovered by a young boy, eight years old, as he went through an ordinary stamp packet purchased from a dealer. Although he could hardly read, he knew something was wrong. The Owen Falls Dam on the five-cent Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika stamp (Scott No. 103a), was upside down. Scott doesn't value it, but Gibbons lists it as $14,000. There are many other examples. One is the discovery, by another young boy, in 1902, of an envelope from Mauritius bearing a one- penny and two-penny stamp with "post of- fice" on the face rather than "'postage paid."' They're Scott No. 1 and 2 and the catalogue value is $250,000 each. Imagine the value of that cover with one of each on it! hat cover with one of each on it! This boy, whose name has been lost in history, was stamp-smart. He knew what he had, and sold it for 40,000 francs, a not in- considerable amount for the time. There are other instances of young people being involved in the discovery of philatelic gems. If there's a moral, it might be, invite a young person to look at your collection. He or she may see something you haven't noticed. LETTERS Letters are invited. Please send enquiries to the writer at Box 40, Beauharnois, J6N 3C1. sass aE a IEE" A oat Staelin este ton Cet Have your blood pressure checked In newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, Canadians are constantly being exhorted to perform a death-defying act - "Have your blood pressure checked."' As a result, a large percentage of the enquiries received by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario ask why there is a drive to have everyone's blood pressure checked, even if one has no symptoms. The answer, of course, is that hyper- tension, or high blood pressure, is the single most important iden- tifiable factor con- tributing to heart at- tack, stroke, and kidney disease and is also a factor in half of the deaths due to heart disease. About two million Canadians have hypertension and many of them will risk premature death and disability unless their blood pressure. is reduced. High blood pressure usually produces no symptoms until it's too late and in most cases, doctors don't know what causes it. Con- sequently, everyone should have his or her blood pressure checked regularly. The test is simple, inexpensive and painless. If you have hypertension, it can be controlled in most cases with drug and diet therapy. There is a tendency to think that high blood pressure only afflicts the elderly. But it can occur at any age. Physicians have detected hypertension in small _ children, teenagers and young children as well as persons in their middle- age. Despite its occurrence at allages, hypertension remains neglected. At least half of the two million Canadians with high blood pressure don't know they have it. Of those who know they have it, only half are being treated adequately or at all. While the means of controlling high blood pressure are readily available, the incentive to seek out and continue treatment is too often lacking in those who have it. It requires a lot of persistence and at- tention, and many patients become discouraged, _particu- larly when there is a feeling of well-being and no apparent symptoms. In the long run though, it's worth it. High blood pressure victims also ignore other factors, which work with hypertension to increase the probability of heart parents have high blood attack or stroke. pressure are more The Heart Foundation likely to have it calls them risk factors themselves. and they include im- Your support of the proper diet, cigarette Heart and _ Stroke smoking, lack of Foundation of Ontario exercise and obesity. will assure a con- Heredity can also play a role. Persons whose Do you get the point? Immunization will be available at the Simcoe County District Health Unit, Midland office each Thursday from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. This opportunity to catch up immunization should be beneficial to those parents who have received notices that their children require specific vaccines in order to be considered com- pletely immunized for school attendance. This school year has been designated as the year for complete immunization of our secondary school students, according to Bill 142 of the school. tinuation of programs designed to fight high blood pressure. If any information is required, please contact the Health Unit office between 8:30-4:30 p.m. at 526-9325 Monday to Thursday. Fantasia: cinema's most imaginative by TERRY DUPUIS One of the big news events of the year for film buffs is the current re- release of Fantasia in Dolby Stereo. This imaginative full-length feature cartoon was made by the Walt Disney Studio back in 1940. At that time, it was greeted enthusiastically by the critics, but it did not become popular with the movie-going public. ' And this $3 million production did not even make its money back until it was released again theatrically in 1963. This time audiences flocked to see it, and began to appreciate it for the artistry that was involved in it. "Fantasia has been released several] limes since the, and it has always been accorded an _ enthusiastic response. Possibly the reason Fantasia failed to'click back in 1940 is that it was a far different use of animation than anything else the Walt Disney Studio had attempted up to that time. It was not a conventional cartoon retelling of a well-known children's story, as was Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Instead it was a sophisticated attempt to blend classical music with animation. Fantasia consists of eight animated segments accompanied by a familiar piece of symphonic music. For the music Disney hired the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski. For the images, Disney put all of his best cartoonists to work on the project. Fantasia was a class act all the way. The movie is cleverly done within the format of a concert. At the beginning we see the vague shadows of musicians appearing on the screen and we hear the tuning of the various instruments coming from the area of the orchestra pit. Then a popular music critic of the period, Deems Taylor, steps onto the screen. He acts as a sort of master of ceremonies and he introduces the various selections. He explains that the show is to be a presentation of designs and pictures and_ stories which the various musical selections have inspired. The first number is Bach's "Toc- cata and Fugue". This turns out to be very timely this year, because in 1985 we are celebrating this composer's 300th anniversary since his birth. This animated segment is imaginative, an exciting display of colors and patterns which flow and merge. The next segment is a magical land accompanied by the strains of Tchaikovsky's "The Nut- cracker Suite". Then comes the segment which is usually the most popular with children. It uses the music of Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Mickey Mouse playing the role. One sequence in which he employs an army of animated broomsticks to help him scrub a floor is a classic in the field of animated cartooning. One of the most striking segments in Fantasia which I remember frightened me as a child depicted a battle of prehistoric monsters, along with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and glacial storms done to the musical accompaniment of Stravinsky's '"The Rite of Spring'"'. It probably won't scare many children today. Maybe we were more impressionable back then. This, then, is Fantasia, one of the '-cinema's most imaginative and in- novative uses of animation. It remains unique in the Disney canon of feature-length cartoons. Fantasia has been hailed by film historians as a masterpiece in the field of creative cartooning. It also has the benefit of being a painless and entertaining way to introduce youngsters (and anyone else, for that matter) to classical music. Ministry of Health. A deadline has been set by the Ministry, and as of May 6, 1985, any student with incomplete immunization may be suspended from ROXY TWIN THEATRES 526-5791 StartsFriday oe ! 9 p.m. (D)EBeShpamrmen IF YOU LOVED "ROCKY" AND 2 TAVINNINC ING" @ "THE KARATE KID," YOU'LL LOVE OLD DUE HlALw PROTOCOL = 22 ees ROXY 2 BEVERY HIS Held over 7 and 9 OPrn Sat. Matinee 1:30 - 3 Stooges Meet Hercules - Pick up your movie tickets at McDonalds. The Roxy will be giving out free McDonald French Fry Coupons to the kiddies. [00999O0G99999999009999999090999930 PEN TWIN PENETANG 549-2953 Complete Banquet Facilities (Reserve now for all those: important functions) Christmas, Banquets & Weddings etc. Balm Beach Rd. Midland PEN 1 bias ie Mar. 147 p.m. Admission $4.00 . Police (academy 2. Vision Quest DiMleeaveen| 3. Purple Rain 4. Big Brawl Sat. Matinee 1:30 - Breakin 2 - McDonald's Movie. Tickets = be accepted. PEN 2 Starts Friday § 7 and 9 "All New'"' TUESDAY yo NIGHTS FOR At Bapades Theatres Get One i in FREE with coupon Tuesday night only Sponsored by Midland Times - Penetanguishene Citizen - and Babcock Theatres Not Valid with any other coupons t valid during any school holidays JL Ne aiasepera scheattehiers Wednesday, March 13, 1985, Page 19