Today in Postal History

This registered cover went into the mails in the Russian Post Office in Hankow, China.
Hankow, now Wuhan, is an inland city on the great Yangtze river.
Hankow is almost 600 km upriver west of Shanghai.

There are two western Hankow Poste Russe (French) CDS.

The sender marked the cover for registration.
The post office dutifully applied a pre printed label and a pencilled blue cross.
Look closely as the label appears to have been numbered
by applying a number cut from another sheet.

Note, too, the sender's bilingual oval seal on the back.
The return address is in English.
Four languages are used on the cover.

The cover is franked with a pair of 1909-12  Russian 10k blue stamps
overprinted in black for use in China (Scott 33).

The cover was addressed to London where its arrival on
September 8 was marked by the red London E.C.  cancel on the back.
Here's what 20 Fenchurch Street looks like now.

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Pastnotes Index - The First 300 and the Next 208
provides more tidbits about stamps and collectors.

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