(_Fig._ 209). These have, no doubt, been issued in enormous quantities
with the hope of raking in shekels not only from the Belgians and
from German stamp collectors, but also from collectors and curiosity
hunters in neutral countries. Although there are plenty to be had in
Switzerland, Holland, and other neutral countries at about sixpence
the set of four, it is extraordinary to relate that in one or two
isolated cases British dealers have obtained and sold supplies at very
fancy prices. As in the case of the similar issue so called "Alsace
and Lorraine" of 1870-1871, there will be plenty to go round, and it
will be time enough when the Huns have ceased from troubling us to
gather these relics into our albums as memorials of Germany's trail
through the beautiful towns of Belgium. In any case it is inadvisable
to buy any unused stamps originating in an enemy country since the
outbreak of the war, as they represent a clear contribution to the
enemy's Treasury.

[Footnote 6: Incidentally the German journal, _Berliner
Briefmarken-Zeitung_, in a very moderate article on the war's effect
on the stamp trade, states that German collectors are buying up
Belgian, Serbian, and Montenegrin stamps, evidently in the "opinion
that these countries will become non-existent."]

[Illustration: 237 238 239]

Very few postmarks of the present war have so far reached us from
Germany, but _Fig._ 237 is a type of the Field Post Office date mark.
_Figs._ 238, 239 are Censor marks, and the next (_Fig._ 240) is the
cover of a letter from a prisoner of war interned at Kissingen.

[Illustration: 240 241 242 243]

AUSTRIA. The stamps of Francis Joseph the Unlucky, who has been on the
throne of Austria since the first Austrian issue appeared in 1850,
do not call for more than pictorial representation here. The general
postage stamps current in Austria were originally issued as a special
series to mark the sixtieth year of the Emperor's reign (1908).
Slightly modified, they were re-issued for the celebration of his
eightieth birthday (1910). The illustrations (_Figs._ 241-257) show
the original issue of 1908 as still current. The portraits are copied
from paintings in the Royal palaces, and the subjects are: 1 heller
(Charles VI.), 2 heller (Maria Theresa), 3 heller (Joseph II.), 6
heller (Leopold II.), 12 heller (Francis I.), 20 heller (Ferdinand).

[Illustration: 244 245 246]

Of the present Sovereign, unluckier than ever in the present war