The Canal Zone Philatelist

The Canal Zone

PhilatelistVol. 37, No. 3

Third Quarter, 2001

Whole No. 140

President's ReportJim Crumpacker

P.O. Box 1836Las Vegas, NV 89125

The compact disk which you are re-ceiving with this issue of the CanalZone Philatelist represents the firstforay by CZSG into the electronic pub-lishing medium. The award-winningopus "The Panama Canal Story" asgraciously contributed by Ray Iresonis presented to the members as theend result of technical expertise andhard work by Alan P. Bentz and oth-ers.

For those many comrades, and I amone, who do not own a personal com-puter, public libraries and schools atall levels have the necessary comput-ers available and personnel to assistfor your viewing pleasure.

(continued on page 29)

Coming: (soon):2001 CZSG Mail Sale

The 2001 CZSG Mail Sale cata-log is in final preparation and willbe in the mail by the end of Octo-ber. The over 1100 lots includeScott 1, 2, 3, 15, 23h, 32a, 32c, 33a,38a, 39d, 47, 56a, 60b, 61a, mintand used Postal Stationery suchas U2c, 1919 Christmas Card onUX4, UF1, Postal History andmuch more. There is something inthis mail sale for everyone. Ifthere are any questions regard-ing participation in the Mail Saleor a lot, contact David Leads atP.O. Box 491472, Los Angeles CA90049.Phone or FAX: (310) [email protected]

DID YOU KNOWThe Canal Zone Study Groups Mail

Sale started in 1972. It has developedinto a most significant event eachyear. The mail sale offers our mem-bers a major source of excellent phila-telic material and gives us an outletto sell better items. Good luck in thisyear's mail sale!

In This issue:Secretary's Report 26

Auctions 29

Alfred R. Bew Award 28

S.S. Bremen and the CZ 30

Fake OPs on Air / Officials ... 34

FOURTH SERIES (CZ 16 - 17b)Wrong Font in A of PANAMA

by: Howard Ballou

With my recent interest in the Fourth Series, I have found quite a bit ofroom for study as there are an intriguing number of constant and some 'not soconstant' varieties that have not been documented as yet. I have never associ-ated the Fourth Series with Wrong Fonts, but, believe it or not, there is a"wrong Font" in the A's of the PANAMA overprint on two positions per sheet(ie. upper and lower halves). What makes this interesting is that along withother research I am doing, the question as to what was rearranged betweenprintings is becoming a bit clearer. The wrong font letters help to demonstratethat the PANAMAs were taken apart between the First Printing (16/17) andthe Second Printing (16a/17a) and the Third Printing (16b/17b). With eachprinting the wrong font A's are found in different sheet positions. The top andbottom overprint bars were also rearranged between the first and second print-ings but left 'as is' or placed back in the exact same position between the sec-ond and third printings. Breaks in the bars have been found for every row,with the positions verified through extensive research. This study will be pub-lished soon.

The table below lists the positions where the wrong font A's can be found ineach printing.

CZ fourth series Printing Sheet Position Location of wrong font AFirst Printing (CZ 16/17) Pos. 27/77 left PANAMA, A3

Second Printing* (CZ 16a/17a) Pos. 32/82 left PANAMA, Al

Third Printing (CZ 16b/17b) Pos. 24/74 right PANAMA, Al* Also seen in first and second sub-printings

(continued on page 31)

25

The Canal ZonePhilatelist

A.P.S. Affiliate No. 42Web Page:

WWW.CZSG.ORGRichard Spielberg, Editor

4535 Via Del BueyYorba Linda, CA 92886Home: (714) 693-3349

Fax: (626) [email protected]

The Canal Zone Philatelist (ISSN 0746-004X) is published quarterly for $8.00 per year,which includes membership in the Canal ZoneStudy Group, 4112 E Kilmer St., Tucson, AZ85711. Periodical Postage Paid at Tucson, AZ.POSTMASTER: Send address changes andcomplaints of non-delivery to the Canal ZonePhilatelist, do Secretary John C. Smith, 408Redwood Lane, Schaumburg, IL 60193.

Display advertising accepted from CZSGmembers only at the following rates per in-sertion:

One column, two inches $10.00One column, five inches 20.00Two columns, five inches 35.00No larger advertisements are accepted. Re-

mittance must accompany copy. Deadline forads, first day of Mar., June, Sept., Dec. Copyshould be sent to the Editor.

Back issues of the journal, handbooks, andother publications can be ordered from Rich-ard F. Murphy, 501 Rosebud Lane, Greer, SC29650.

Articles and information for publicationshould be sent to the Editor. Glossy photo-graphs are desirable for figures of stamps orcovers; however, enlarged high quality photo-copies are sometimes acceptable. Illustrationsmust show clearly against black backgrounds.If you need help, write, phone, or FAX the Edi-tor. The author must advise theEditor if the article has been published or isbeing considered for publication elsewhere.

Copyright 2001Canal Zone Study Group

Winners:Okpex 2001, May 4-6, Oklahomacity, OK. Grand Award and Gold toGary Weiss, "Canal Zone PostageDues". National Topical StampShow 2001, June 22-24, Mesa, AZ.Gold to Mary Ann AspinwallOwens, "The Aspinwall Connection"BALPEX 2001, Aug. 31-Sep 2, Bal-timore, MD. Silver and AAMS Silverto Armand Cote, "FAM 5 InauguralFlight Covers and Cancellations".APS STAMPSHOW 2001, Aug. 23-26, Rosemont, IL. Prix d' Honneur toGary Weiss, "Canal Zone PostageDues", Congratulations to all.

(more Winners, see page 27)

26

The Canal Zone Philatelist, 2001, Volume 37, Number 3, Whole No. 140

CZSGOfficer Nominations

CZSG is pleased to announce theappointment of a Nominating Com-mittee and it's selection of candidatesfor Officers and Directors to serve forthe period Jan. 1, 2002 - Dec. 31, 2003.The candidates are the same volun-teers who serve as current officers:President:

James CrumpackerVice President:

Richard SalzTreasurer:

Richard LarkinDirectors at Large:

Richard BatesAlan BentzGary Weiss

CZSG Nominating Committee: David J. Leeds (Chair)George CampbellIrwin Gibbs

Winner: Paul AmmonsPaul Ammons has expanded from,

8 to 10 frames, his exhibit"Canal ZoneSecond Air Mail Series" and has re-cently won at Minnesota StampExpo 2001, a Gold Medal and theAPS 1900-1940 Research Medal. Andat BALPEX 2001, a Gold Medal, theAmerican Airmail Mail Society GoldMedal (AAMS annual convention atshow) and the Rimma SklarevskiAward for Best Stamp Exhibit.Congratulations Paul.

The Canal Zone Philatelist, 2001, Volume 37, Number 3, Whole No. 140 27

Robert Karrer (rt) receiving the CZSG Alfred R. Bew Service Awardfrom Richard Bates.

The Alfred R. BewService Award

The Canal Zone Study Group haschosen Robert J. Karrer, Jr. to be theninth individual to receive the AlfredR. Bew Service Award.

This award, established in 1990 bythe Canal Zone Study Group Boardof Directors, honors those persons whohave been of outstanding merit to theCZSG membership over the longterm. The award itself is in memoryof Al Bew, our Secretary from 1967until his resignation in 1986; he diedin 1988. The previous recipients wereJames T. DeVoss, Gilbert N. Plass, andRichard H. Salz (1990); Lawson P.Entwistle (1992); George W. Stilwell(1993), and Richard Bates, RichardLarkin, and John Smith (1997).CZP:97 , 1990, describes informationon the background of the award.

Robert J. Karrer has been awardedthe Canal Zone Study Group Servicemedal for his service in the areas ofphilatelic writing, membership pro-motions, and behind the scenes sup-port. Bob began collecting Canal Zonestamps in 1969 when the late GeneHamlin first sold him some "old" Ca-nal Zone stamps. By 1971 Bob hadassembled a collection and displayedit at SPRINGPEX, winning the Bestof Show. In 1980 he exhibited the firstday covers of the 25th Anniversary ofthe Canal Zone and won a silvermedal. He continued to collect duringhis three tours of duty with the UnitedStates Army in the then Canal Zone.It was there, that he founded the Isth-mian Collectors Club.

His main areas of Canal Zone col-lecting are postal history, deltiology(a fancy word for collecting postcards),and memorabilia of all kinds. Karrer

also has one of the outstanding col-lections of Charleston, South Caro-lina, postal history and has won na-tional awards for his exhibits in thatarena.

Karrer has contributed a great dealof time and energy to the Canal ZoneStudy Group through his publica-tions, and promoting membership inthe CZSG (with many current mem-bers referred by him). He has alwayshelped individuals researching theirareas of interest and critiquing theirexhibits (Paul Kravitz, Paul Ammons,Alan Bentz, Dave Smith, and Brad-ley Wilde). He has also assisted in theCZSG mail sales run by RichardBates, George Stillwell, Jerry Craigand Brad Wilde.

Bob has written a number of ar-ticles on Canal Zone collecting thathave been published in the CanalZone Philatelist, The American Phila-

telic Society Journal, Linn's StampNews, Postcard Collector, Barr's Post-card News, and The Naval Institute.The Canal Zone Study Group has alsopublished three of his pamphlets: US. Navy Slogans in the Canal Zone

aftand Panama Area 1908 — 1941, ThUS. Frigate Constitution - Cachetsand Cancellations of the 1932 and1934 Transits of the Panama Canaland Canal Zone Post Office Openingsand Closings 1927 — 1939. He is alsonearly ready to publish pamphlets onCanal Zone first day covers, a revisededition of the Naval Slogans pam-phlet, and several volumes on CanalZone and Panama postcard publish-ers. He is also the winner of the pres-tigious Apfelbaum award for phila-telic writing awarded by the Ameri-can Philatelic Society.(contributed by Bradley G. Wilde)

Long-time PublicationCommittee MemberResigns

Larson P. Entwiste of Tucson, Ari-zona, has come to the conclusion thatit is time for him to resign as a mem-ber of the CZSG Publications Com-mittee. This group gives overviews,comments, corrections, editing, andthe "final" O.K. for the various CZSG

publications.His expertise and consul on these

matters will be greatly missed, andshould there be someone "out there"that might wish to be a member ofthe Publication Committee, we wouldbe most pleased to hear from you.

In conclusion, the entire member-ship of the CZSG wishes to thankLawson for his many years of serviceto the Publication Committee. I have

delved into the entire run of the Ca-nal Zone Philatelist, but cannot findthe year that Lawson first offered hisservices, but it has to be for at leastthe past twenty years. ThanksLawson, for your invaluable serviceover these decades; and please conestinue with additions to your PostMarkings handbook.

R.H. Salz

28 The Canal Zone Philatelist, 2001, Volume 37, Number 3, Whole No. 140

The Panama Canal StoryBy Raymond W. Ireson

Enclosed with this Philatelist is aCD of Ray Ireson's The Panama Ca-nal Story. Although a CD publicationis not the same as holding a book inhand, it does have the advantage thatit can be put in a high-resolution modeto show details of stamps, documents,cancels, etc. and can be printed outon your color printer. This level of de-tail could otherwise only be seen witha fine magnifying glass and the origi-nal material.

As mentioned in the last CZP, thisis the CZSG's first venture into CDpublications. Not all material is espe-cially suited to this medium, but cer-tain material lends itself nicely to it.We would appreciate feedback from

the readers on how it might be im-proved in future publications.

To use the CD, refer to the label ofthe disk, which lists the simple direc-tions on how to proceed after insert-ing the CD into the computer drive.For PC compatible computers, click onStart, Run, and it may default toD:start.htm. Otherwise type inD:start.htm — assuming that the Ddrive is the CD drive.

For MacIntosh users, follow theusual procedures for loading CDs andyou should have no problem. If yourun across specific problems in un-usual systems, you may send an in-quiry to: [email protected] for help.

Once opened, the title page hasacross the top: Index, High Res Im-age, and Next (with Index, and Next

at the bottom). This permits you togo directly to the index, or the nextpage (the Preface) with a click. Otherpages have the Prey on the left andallow you to view the preceding page.High Res Image is at the top centerof all the text pages and allows view-ing of an enlarged page image whereyou can move to any desired area withthe arrow keys. There are two pagesof Index. Clicking on any of the itemsthere takes you directly to the desiredpage, and you can move forward orback from any of them, as well as re-turn to the Index.It is our fervent hope that you enjoy

this disk with its wealth of historicalinformation and rare philatelic ma-terial.

Alan P. Bentz

Auctionsby Jim Crumpacker

The offerings at public auctions ofCanal Zone stamps for the secondquarter, April 1-June 30 were aver-age for the season, in other words in-different to poor.

Here are more than a dozen of thisSpring's results. The first price shownis hammer plus commission, followedby the 2001 Scott's Specialized cata-log value in parenthesis.10a, inverted overprint, OG, H, XF $ 16 5

($225) Weiss15, TG, H, barely F $1540 ($2750)

Rumsey24c, double overprint, OG, H, F $231 $450)

Rumsey39e, used, inverted center and overprint

reading down, VF $385 ($750)

Cherrystone48, OG, H, VF margin copy $209 ($550) Weiss54, OG, NH, F-VF $110 ($200) Rumsey56a, CANAL ZONE double, OG, H, F mar-

gin copy $413 ($600) Shreves57, OG, H, F $209 ($325) Weiss73a, cpl. bklt. pane tied to rev. of U6 entire

w/pair of #73 added to front, Reg. Bal. Hts.1/12/26 to Ancon, open 3 sides, F, $880 ($n/a) Harbour

81, OG, H, VF+ $275 ($225) HarbourJ16 pl. bl. of 6 #15629-B, OG, HR, VF$253

($225) HarbourJ20c, CANAL ZONE double, OG, NH, barely

F $330 ($450) Shreves08, OG, H, CTO as always, F, $297 ($625)

RumseyU15 (UPSS 39) mint entire, VF $110 ($250)

RumseyUX6, mint entire, VF+ $638 ($725) Rumsey

The names and mailing addressesof these few auction firms are shown

below. Please remember to credit CZPas your source when asking for a cata-log from any of them.Cherrystone Auctions, Inc.119 W. 57th St.New York, NY 10019

Harbour Auctionsa division of Matthew Bennett, Inc.601 Washington Ave.Baltimore, MD 21204

Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions, Inc.1255 Post St., Suite 1100San Francisco, CA 94109

Shreves Philatelic Galleries, Inc.14121 Midway Rd., Suite 1250Dallas, TX 75001-9829

Weiss PhilatelicsPO Box 5358Bethlehem, PA 18015

President's Reportcontinued from page 25

Our list of Sustaining and Contrib-uting members appears as usual inthis third quarter issue. A big nod ofthanks to the large percentage of ourcompatriots who are able and willingto make that additional monetary giftto the cause of Canal Zone philately.

Having recently returned from Lon-don and various nations of sub-Sa-haran Africa, I can assure you that ifthere are any stamps dealers inBotswana, Zimbabwe, or Kenya they

- - were not found by me. Since my col-lection consists solely of Canal Zone,no great amount of search time was

put into the quixotic quest for therumored cache of Canal Zone toNairobi covers with Scott #3 on them.If any member cares to make up ashort list of the names and addressesof stamp dealers in obscure parts ofthe world, we would be happy to printit in the CZP: many CZSG people andfamily are of an age and inclinationto be able to travel frequently.

The United States Postal Servicehas dropped its co-sponsorship of thebig Washington, D.C. internationalstamp show scheduled for 2006 dueto budgetary considerations. Thisdoes not necessarily kill the event and2006 is a long way off, but it does ex-emplify the stagnation which seems

to pervade our hobby.The body count of associates in

nearly all philatelic organizationscontinues to decline. On the otherhand, the American Numismatic As-sociation is overjoyed with the newor renewed interest in numismaticsand engendered by the 'Fifty StateQuarters' program. Philately needs asimilar boost.

On behalf of all members, my grati-tude to David Leeds and his group ofco-workers who are helping make the2001 CZSG Mail Sale such a success.The huge variety, detailed descrip-tions, and sheer number of lots in thisyear's sale made for a lot of extra ef-fort.


PASTED ON TI1E HIGH SEAS

S. S. BREMEN

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S.S. BREMEN ANDTHE CANAL ZONE

CONNECTIONBy Alan P. Bentz

1939 TransitIn July 1924, the famous British

warship HMS Hood was the largestvessel to transit the Panama Canalduring the first 10 years of operation.It displaced 44,800 tons. On 15 Feb-ruary 1939, this transit was over-shadowed by the pride of the Germanmerchant fleet, the S.S. Bremen at51,731 tons displacement. A coveredfrom this transit is shown in Fig.1.,together with picture post cardsshowing the canal transit in Fig. 2.This record stood for almost three anda half decades for a passenger vessel,until the QE II transited on 29 March1972. QE II was 26.2' longer and 3.1'wider.

The Bremen was launched in 1928,and had accommodations for about2000 passengers plus a crew of 960.On her first Atlantic crossing the fol-lowing year, the Bremen took the cov-eted Blue Riband for the fastesttransatlantic crossing.

The 1939 Panama Canal transit ofthe Bremen was part of a wintercruise from New York. On her returnvoyage, from the Panama Canal in1939 she was detained briefly in NewYork, but was permitted to sail on 30August 1939. Germany invaded Po-land two days later, and on 3 Septem-ber Great Britain and France de-clared war on Germany. She success-fully avoided the patrolling RoyalNaval units, and arrived inMurmansk on 6 September. She de-parted on 10 December forBremerhaven (arriving on 12 Decem-ber), where she was to be outfitted asa troop transport for the invasion ofBritain. This didn't materialize, so shewas used as an accommodation ves-sel. On 16 March 1941 a fire brokeout, completely destroying this once-proud ship, and she was broken upfor scrap.

The first S.S. Bremer, maiden voyage fromNew York JUNE 19, 1858. Voyage was made in

hernvon, SEIMES no .2 SPONSORED DV mow, ustmcc

Canal Zone dispatches on GermanNorth Atlantic catapult flights arescarce. Until recently, only two wereknown. They have been described inthe Canal Zone Philatelist and TheAirpost Journal. A third recently sur-

faced, show in (Fig. 3.,) and was pur-chased by Werner Helms, to whom weare indebted for the image and theaccompanying information. The coverwas from the HAPAG LLOYDPanama Canal Agency in Cristobal.

(continued on next page)

Fig. 1. S.S. Bremen February 1939 Panama Canal transit cover.

Fig. 2. Various views of the S.S. Bremen in her 1939 transit (2)

Catapult Flight from Canal Zone

Fig. 3. Bremen catapult cover that originated in the Canal Zone


17a, pos. 82

Fig. 1 Flat Top A

Fig. 2. pos. 27Lt. PANAMA, A3

16b, pos. 24

Normal Font A

Lt. PANAMA, Al Rt. PANAMA, Al

It was mailed 1 July 1932 in Cristobaland went via New York,Southampton, Berlin and on toKoenigsberg, Germany arriving on 14July.

It was a double-weight letter (be-tween 1/2 and 1 ounce). The postageconsisted of: International letter - 5cents; airmail to NY - 20 cents; cata-pult flight surcharge - 15 cents/1/2 ozx 2 = 30 cents = 55 cents, total.

The cover was dispatched fromCristobal CZ on Friday 1 July 1932at 4 PM. It flew from the Canal Zoneby airmail via Miami to New York. Itwas transferred to the SS Bremen inNew York on 7 July 1932. The Bremendeparted on 9 July. The flight cachetwas applied at the onboard post of-fice.

A Heinkel 58 float plane waslaunched from the Bremen on 13 Julyat 9 AM, flown by Gruetering andZimmermann, and landed atSouthampton at 3:05 PM. The flightdistance was 978 Km (607 mi).

This flight, listed in AAMS Cata-logue as Flight 92, had a special ca-chet (Fig. 4.), showing the 13 Julycatapult launch date.

The letter was transferred in Lon-don to the German Lufthansa nightflight to Berlin, arriving 14 July at 7AM. It then proceeded by airmailfrom Berlin to Koenigsberg, East

Fig. 4. Catapult cachetPrussia, arriving at 5-6 PM. Thecover received the catapult cachet, di-rectional flight cachet, Berlin "carriedby airmail" cachet, and theKoenigsberg "carrried by airmail" ca-chet.

Catapult flights are another chap-ter of aerophilately, and some back-ground for such flights from theBremen is in order. In addition tomaking the fastest transatlanticcrossing in 1929, the Bremen and hersister ship Europa provided evenfaster mail service by launching aplane by catapult (Fig. 5.). This launchwhile still 600-700 miles from their

Fig. 5. Junkers float planeused for catapult mail

destination, was in order to have themail precede the ship by about 45hours in the west-east direction; andabout 35 hours in the east-west di-rection.

The first plane used on 22 July 1929was a Heinkel He 12. It was later re-placed by the larger Heinkel He 58.In 1935 the Junkers JU 46 came intouse. The average number of flightsper year was 17; no flights were con-ducted during the winter season. Theflights ended in 1936 when the air-ship HINDENBURG began regulartransatlantic flights.

Bibliography1. Kohl, Roland F., "Catapult Flights" 3. Shaw, James L., Ships of the

in American Air Mail Catalogue, Panama Canal, Naval InstituteVo. 4. Press, 1985.

2. Leeds, D. J. and Graue, J.W., "North 4. Post Card by Clive F. Fennessy,

Atlantic Catapult Airmail From with thanks to George Chevalier.The Canal Zone", CZP 129:29, 1998

4th Series Wrong Font Acontinued from page 25

Irregular inking of the fourth seriesresulted in over and under inking. Ineed only mention that while posi-tioning this variety, there are in-stances when its' presence can not beabsolutely confirmed. This is particu-larly true when over-inked, as the topof the A is blotchy. The hand sketchesshown in Fig. 1. are of the normal A'sfound throughout the Fourth Seriesand the Wrong Font, flat top A inquestion. In the normal A's, the top ofthe letter is always slanted to the left.Figure 2. shows a sample (each posi-tion) of the wrong font A from eachprinting.

rShould any exceptions to this ob-servation surface, I would like the op-portunity to study them, please in-form the Editor.


Lt to rt: Dick Bates, John Smith,Karrer, Gary Weiss, and David Leeds.

APS STAMPSHOW2001 Meeting

This year's four-day APS show inRosemont, Illinois turned out to be ahuge success. Everyone found plentyof good Canal Zone items. Of coursethose who were there on opening daywere luckiest. A Miraflores postmarkwas found on PPC for $20, severalnew unknown First Day Cachets, andmany other nice items found theirway into CZSG members' hands.

The CZSG meeting was held Sat-urday August 25 at 4 p.m. It turnedout to be a very well attended meet-ing with 19 members and 3 guests,one of whom joined our study group.The meeting started with introduc-tions from the attendees. Then DickBates gave a very interesting talk on"Forgeries of the Canal Zone". He il-lustrated many examples on the over-head projector, emphasizing fakes ofthe flat and sharp A overprints onU.S. stamps. He also illustrated fakeson air post stamps, and official andair officials, prompting a discussionabout how unusual and widespreadfakes of the air officials are. This wasa presentation all CZSG membersshould have seen. Dick is willing topresent it at future meetings illus-trating the material he is currentlyworking with in developing the se-ries on fakes in the CZP and eventu-

Bobally the CZSG handbook on the sametopic.

Next, Dick Bates announced thenew winner of the Alfred R. BewCZSG Service Award. It went to Rob-ert Karrer for his active support ofand tremendous enthusiasm for Ca-nal Zone philately for over 30 years.

The accompanying picture showsyour officers and Board memberspresent giving Robert Karrer the AlBew CZSG service award.

Bob was truly affected emotionallyby this honor. When the award wasgiven to him, he could not talk afterthe announcement and had to sitdown. Those who know Bob recog-nize how truly exceptional this occur-

rence is, though he recovered suffi-ciently in a few minutes to proceedwith his presentation on futureprojects and a report on the PanamaCanal Museum in Florida. There willbe information on the Museum in fu-ture issues of the CZP, and there wastalk of recommending that the CZSGmeet at a future show in Florida nearthe Museum, probably in Sarasota.

The meeting concluded with the at-tendees talking about CZ licenseplates, discussing the identification ofINpostal stationery, and a general showand tell. After the meeting, many of themembers went to dinner to top off aperfect stamp-collecting weekend.

John Smith

Review of Two Videosby David L. Farnsworth

Panama Canal: The Eighth Wonderof the World, written and directed byEugenie Vink and narrated by Den-nis Quaid, produced by RoundaboutProductions in association withDevillier Donegan Enterprises forDiscovery Channel, 1998, two-hours.

The Rise and Fall of ManuelNoriega, written, directed, and pro-duced by Don Jordan, narrated by Pe-ter Graves, A&E Network, 1998,shown in November 1998 in A&E'sBiography series with Jack Perkins,one-hour broadcast time includingadvertisements, available for pur-chase as a 50 minute VHS tape withA&E code AAE-17285 for $19.95 plusshipping and handling at 1-800-344-6336, 1-800-423-1212, or the Web sitewww.Biography.com .

Panama Canal is a chronologicalaccount from the Spanish invasion ofPanama to completion of the canal.The story is told in the context ofworld events. The dialogue at the be-ginning is puffed up with phrasessuch as "glorious, foolhardy, and epicall at once" describing the building ofthe canal. However, the languagesettles down after the introduction.Among the talking heads are Profes-sor R.M. Koster of Florida State Uni-versity of Panama and PatrickDroulers who is de Lesseps' great-grandson. Some of the comments areinsightful, especially Koster's.

The negative features of PanamaCanal are numerous. The story is re-lated in a simplistic way with videosthat do not flow smoothly in somecases. Also, some video clips are usedmore than once. Especially in the first

half of the tape, there are dramatiza-tions that are jarring because of theirovert attempts to emphasize a point.A nurse in a dramatization of aFrench hospital wears 1990s makeup.

The first word in The Rise and Fallof Manuel Noriega is "corrupt" whichis used to describe General Noriega.In his third sentence of the introduc-tion, Jack Perkins gives a little mock-ing laugh as he describes Noriega'sautobiography America's Prisoner. Sowe know right away the tone of theprogram. General Noriega's life frombirth to becoming a convicted prisonerof war in Florida is shown. Many in-teresting video clips that are less fa- 41C\miliar are used. Perhaps the best partof the tape is a portion of a prison in-terview of Noriega in his general'suniform.


OFFICE, NEW YORK, N. Y.

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

R 4 .

'wecI +34 Co

From El Faro de AOP- 15 June 2001

Dredge CascadasSays Good-by

by Ariyuri Him de Mantovani(Note: Cascadas is pictured on ScottCZ #163, the 130 stamp issued Feb-ruary 23, 1976.)

After more than 85 years belong-ing to the canal the Dredge Cascadassaid good-bye to its home, the Dredg-ing Division in order to point its wayto the Pacific, where it expects a newdestiny as a working barge.

Constructed by Bucyrus, at PortRichmond, New York, the Cascadasarrived at Cristobal October 21, 1915.From there it was outfitted in littlemore than seven days. After prelimi-nary trials Cascadas entered into ser-vice October 31 st the same year tostart its work of maintenance, wid-ening and deepening the course ofthe canal, an unending task in thewaterway.

Its benefits were unique. With onlyfour months of service, the Cascadasestablished a record of dredged ma-terial.

One of the most important projectsof the Cascadas was the first widen-ing of Culebra Cut from 300 to 500feet, a project that extended for morethan 15 years, and that as a resultaugmented capacity and navigationsafety. It worked in all of the realign-ments that occurred in Culebra Cut,including that of October 1986, andits potent scoop recovered thousandsof tons of rock and soil that slid intothe course of the canal. It was alsopressed into service in deepeningCulebra Cut, in widening de LessepsIsland, and the Paraiso Base, amongothers. With the acquisition of RialtoM. Cristensen in 1977 the Cascadaswas put in the reserve fleet.

This faithful dredge, with thanksto good maintenance always re-sponded to exigencies imposed uponit, now faces a new destiny far fromthe canal. Nevertheless, we believethat very little canal floating equip-ment will be able to surpass this im-pressive work record.

(Translated by David J. Leeds.)

THE POSTALSTATIONERY OF THE

CANAL ZONE2001 CHECKLIST

Enclosed with this Philatelist is achecklist of Canal Zone Postal Statio-nery, which has been edited by IrwinJ. Gibbs. The checklist is an updateof the 1985 United Postal StationerySociety catalog of The Postal Statio-nery of the Canal Zone. The updateincludes more that 500 changes, cor-rections, additions and explanationsto the 1985 edition.

Since a project of this magnitude isstill a work-in-progress, we requestyou carefully look at your collectionfor any additional corrections or ad-ditions. Please forward your inputto the Editor as soon as possible, sincewe expect to have the revised catalogpublished early next year.

Disaster MailThe Canal Zone has had its share

of airplane crashes (1928, 1937), shipwrecks (1908) with consequent lossof mail. The delay caused by thesedisasters gives rise to the term "In-terrupted Mail".

A little reported fire occurred in themail room of the S.S. Santa Ana onMarch 23, 1921. The ship had sailedfrom New York for Valparaiso, Chile.The fire was extinguished when wa-ter was pumped into the mailroom.There was no other damage to theship. There was considerable damageto the mail. Forty-two sacks were

Coming CZGS Handbook:The second edition of Robert

Karrer's CZSG handbook on U.S.Navy Postmarks in Isthmian watersis being finalized and should be in-cluded with the next CZP. The hand-book, of over 100 pages, contains in-formation on ships that canceled theirmail while in the Panama Canal areawith special postmarks indicatingtheir presence. Although this practicepretty much ended with the adventof WW II, the collecting of naval post-marks is a growing sub-group in thegreater world of Canal Zone philat-ely.

This revision was completed withthe help of not only all the dealerswho find the stuff for us to collect, butalso all the various collectors whohave made their collections availableto Bob for study: John Beall, AlanBentz, Julius Grigore, David Leeds,George Platner, Betty Stergion.George Stilwell, Bill Uhls and GaryWeiss.

burned, three scorched, and 87 wetwhile extinguishing the fire.

Damaged mail received a 3-line ca-chet "This piece of mail damaged by/fire and water aboard S.S. "Santa/Ana" March 24, 1921. The Santa Anaarrived in Colon March 30, 1908.

The burned item shown is officialmail containing Money Order Busi-ness (M.O.B.) usually the advises au-thorizing the payment of money or-ders. This one, from the New YorkPostmaster to the Cristobal Postmas-ter is dated March 22, 1921. The cov-ers are quite scarce.

David J. Leeds

S.S. Santa Ana Burned Mail from fire at Sea, March 24, 1921.


Fig. 1. Fake copy of Canal Zone Scott C3 at right,with a genuine C3 at left.

2) The ink in the genuine overprintappears most heavy at the edgesof the letter, as if it squished out;on the fake, the inking is more orless even.

3) The letters and numbers on thegenuine stamp have sharp, clearlydefined edges; the fake is irregu-lar in many places.

4) The fake overprint is at a slightangle sloping downward to theright; the overprint on the genu-ine example is horizontal.

5) The spacing between the bottomof AIR MAIL and the top ofCENTS is 16.6 mm on the genu-ine stamp; it is 16.2 mm on thefake. Spacings on the differentprintings of this Air Post stamp arediscussed by Paul F. Ammons inCZP, 119, 21 1996.

6) The length of AIR MAIL is 14.5mm on the genuine stamp; it is14.9 mm on the fake, which is notknown on any of the genuine print-ings.

7) Prominent serifs are evident onthe tips and corners of the num-bers 2 and 5 and several of the let-ters in CENTS. For example, seethe top left of the letter T and thebottom left of the S in Fig. 2a.; ser-ifs are not present on the fake inFig. 2b.

The general appearance of the fakeC3, like that of the genuine stamps,is like that of the first illustration inthe Scott Catalogue following the "AirPost Stamps" header. This illustra-tion has been the same in Scott's asfar back as my copies of the Special-ized go, the earliest being 1959. But

Fig. 2a. Expanded view ofgenuine C3.

Fig. 2b. Expanded viewof fake C3.

that illustration is deceptive with re-gard to Cl and C2. The reason is that,although Scott does illustrate the dif-ferences in the numeral 5 that distin-guishes C1 and C2, it does not indi-cate that the letters on Cl and C2 arein a different font from that shown inthe illustration, and thus from theoverprint of C3. Canal Zone Stampsindicates on page 212 that the sur-charge that produced C3 is in "Cop-per Plate Gothic type, a completelydifferent font than that used for Scott 4404Nos.C1 and C3." The surcharge on C1is "in a mixture of Antique andCheltenham Bold type" and on C2, it

(continued on next page)

Fake Overprints onCanal Zone StampsBy Richard D. Bates, Jr.

Air Post and Official StampsMy belief was that Canal Zone

stamps from the back of the book,meaning that the Scott Cataloguenumber begins with a letter ratherthan just being a number, are foundwith fake overprints less commonlythan the overprinted regular issues.A possible exception being the CZpostage dues which are found with avariety of fake overprints. However,when I gave a presentation recently,that included a discussion of fakeoverprints on Air Post and Officialstamps, helpful comments by GaryWeiss informed me that Air Post Of-ficial stamps with fake overprintsmay exist in more varieties than Ioriginally thought. As a result, I havedelayed reporting on Air Post Officialsuntil I can make the article more com-prehensive, and this report focuses onCZ Air Post and Official stamps.

Air Post StampsAir Mail stamps of the Canal Zone

with fake overprints are not com-monly encountered. In fact, the onlyexamples that I know of were sent tome some years ago by the late PaulKravitz. These are the subjects usedas the basis of this article.

Only five of the Air Post listingswere created by applying an over-print, in each case to a regular issueCanal Zone stamp. Scott number 105was surcharged to create the first twolistings, Cl and C2, each with the newvalue of 15 cents. Scott number 106was surcharged to create C3 and C5,and Scott number 114 was used tocreate C4.

The first example illustrated at theright in Fig. 1. appears to be a C3, andis shown with a genuine copy at theleft of the figure. Close examinationshows the following differences in thecharacteristics of the overprint:

1) The overprint creating Cl, C2, andC3 is in dark blue. The fakes illus-trated in the figures below bothhave the overprint in black.


Fig. 3. Copies of genuine Cl at left, and C2 at right, with a copywith fake overprint in the center.

Fig. 4a. Canal Zone Cl. Fig. 4b. Canal Zone Fake.

Fig. 4c. Canal Zone

Fig. 5. Copies of genuine 04 at left, and a copy of Scott 110 with afake Official overprint at center, and Scott 107 with fake OP (rt).

using a special Balboa Heights rollercancel. When the stamps are postallyused with an identifiable marking, itis unusual to find one that is machinecanceled.

The other fake Official stamp isshown in Fig. 5. It is meant to be an03. The overprint applied to Scott107 to produce 03 is in the same for-mat used for the Air Official stamps,

with OFFICIAL on one line, andPANAMA CANAL on the next. Itappears this fake was made the sameway as the other in Fig. 5, as the let-ter height is the same 1.9 mm, andthe PANAMA is also 10.2 mm.

Each of these forged overprints isrelatively easy to spot given that it isreadily apparent that the letters aretoo large.

is "in a mixture of Antique and CaslonBold type." The fake illustrated inFig. 3. uses incorrectly letters of thetype found on C3 (and implied in the

eirk, illustration in the Scott Catalogue),but with the value changed to 15cents to match Cl or C2.

It is clearly advantageous to makea fake C2, as either used or unusedthe value is much greater than Cl.In this case, the fake appears to beattempting to pose as a C2, and is onthe yellow green shade of Scott No.105, which was used for C2, ratherthan the green shade observed for Cl.The shape of the 5, as shown in thefake in Fig. 4b., however, is somewhatbetween Cl and C2. The "flag" of the5, on a C1 is a horizontal stroke witha serif at right rising above the restof the flag. On this fake, it is like a Clbecause it shows a bump there,though it differs from that found on agenuine Cl because it is morerounded like that of a C2, which hasa curved stroke with no serif on theright.

Neither of these fakes should fool acollector who looks for them. Theblack color of the surcharge, ratherthan the dark blue required, is suffi-cient to show the stamp does not havea genuine overprint.

Official StampsOfficial stamps were created dur-

ing the period from 1941-48 when thePanama Canal Press at Mt. Hope ap-plied overprints to the then currentordinaries. Canal Zone Stamps onpage 254 states that the black over-print on 01-2 and 04-7 is in threelines with PANAMA 10 mm long andOFFICIAL 11 mm long. The lettersin each of the words are 1.6 mm high.An example of a genuine 04 is shownin Fig. 5.

Also shown in the same figure is afake of the 10 cent value. It is evi-dent to the naked eye, particularlywhen the two are side-by-side, thatthe letters in the forged overprint aretoo large. They are too tall, measur-ing 1.9 mm, and the words are toolong, with PANAMA stretched out to10.2 mm, and OFFICIAL being 11.3mm. This example is postally used;most used copies of the official stampsare canceled by the CZPS for sale by


35

Author seekinginformation for

forthcomingplate number book.

Need information onPlate Numbers for

CZ J20, J20b, J20cother than

6555 or 6556.

Possible numbers are18724-25-26-27.

If you own one now orknow of one soldin a past auction,

Please contact

Joseph M. NappCZSG #502

5 Knollwood DriveWest Orange, NJ 07052

WANTED#12

Stages I, II, III, & IVCZSG Nos. 12.Aa, 12.Ab, 12.Ba,12.Bb, 12.C, 12.D, 12.Ea, & 12.Eb

#13Stages II & III

CZSG Nos. 13.B, 13.C, & 13.D

Sheets (up to 3 of each CZSG No.),Blocks, & Pairs

Will consider singles,especially of errors & varieties

Quantities (duplicates) acceptible

Unused & Used

Approvals accepted

If you don't know CZSG No.,I am happy to examine any item

to see if I want it.

Geoffrey Brewster141 Lyford Drive

Tiburon, CA 94920

WHERE THE HECK IS PAMANA?

This and manymore interestingvarieties andregular issues.Send for ourPOSSESSIONSprice list.

MOZIAN STAMP CO."a name associated with philately since 1901"

P.O. Box 125, Readington, NJ 08870

,

Canal ZoneC25a

Horiz. Pair, Imperf Vert.

Only 98 pairs of this rare imperf-

between error are on record.

Over the years, the pairs we haveexamined have had fairly significantgum aberrations, mostly gum ridgesand bends. Centering has beenclose to touching or even cutting thedesign at the bottom on most.

We now offer the Best Centeredpair we have ever seen, centered abit to bottom, but well clear. Wegrade as: VF by Superb. The gumis N.H. with a faint diagonal hairlineridge across both stamps and thegutter. There is an almost invisibletrace of the other gum aberrationsthat are typical of the issue - fairlyheavy on most.

with P.S.E. cert., noting "Natural

diagonal gum crease"

2001 S.R. $1,000 Net: $900

What else do you need in elusive C.Z.?Satisfaction or Immediate Refund

Gladly Sent onApproval with References

Installment Payment Terms if Desired

(No Interest or Carrying Charges)

Jack E. Molesworth, Inc.APS 88 Beacon Street CZSGCSA Boston, MA 02108 ARABIA Phone (617) 523-2522 USPCS

Book:Isthmian Crossings

From the collections ofRuth C. Stuhl and George M ChevalierAbout crossing the Isthmus of Panama

as written by the actual participants fromthe early Colonial Spanish through the49er's to the 25'h Anniversary Transit of theSS Ancon in 1939.

Book, of 391 pages, ($19.50) can be or-dered from Xlibris at: www.xlibris.com(888-795-4274) or from the author G. M.Chevalier at 3874 Diamond Oak Way,Zellwood, FL 32798 (407-884-9211).

If

CANAL ZONEComprehensive stock including

singles, plate blocks, FDC's, FFC's,B.O.B., stationery, covers and

paper memorabilia/booksSend for Free Detailed List

1999 Last Day APOCacheted covers available.

C&H StampsP.O. Box 855, Syracuse, NY 13214

[email protected] APS USPPS

For SaleCANAL ZONESPECIMENS

Irwin Gibbs,Box 940,

Burlingame, CA 94010(650) 692-5533

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The Canal Zone Philatelist

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