Richard LaTondre

my frist order of the auspicious clouds . it is 2 class with box.

Thanks for sharing that. Could you tell us in what country you purchased it?

Thanks,

Richard

Thanks for the reminder Les. I have quite a few more here that I haven't posted - also there are more at the flat in Bournemouth. I must get them sent over. I keep going onto new projects - am trying to write a history for the only Canadian tipstaff - do an article with illustrations for 'Death of the Prince Imperial' - and have just bought a 1900 book on senior officers of the Boer War - all in their full dress uniforms. I am going to start posting this on Brit.& Commonwealth Military History this afternoon. I think the truth is that us 'oldies' think we can do more then we really can ! How are you at present ?

I am glad that members have agreed that we shouldn't let this Foreign Police section disappear. We did ask Nick to make it available.

Dick - Sir John Waldron was Commissioner when I joined. Nice old boy - but, I don't remember him being very effective. His Deputy was a man called Starr - he used to make un-announced inspection visits on Police stations and was a very 'rough' piece of work. Everyone was terrified of him. I remember on one visit he made me walk him around my 'Beat' - at that time right in the heart of the East End. I was very polite to him !

Kev - nice old pair of handcuffs - are they Romanian made ? The shape of the aperture is slightly different to the US and UK patterns. Thanks for posting them - now, don't forget the medals..........

Good morning Mervyn,

Thanks for that great piece of history. I agree that he must have retired in obscurity as not too much information was openly available. I do know that he served in Ceylon during WWII. But what a shame to let your personal awards turn up at auction houses.

Dick

Thanks Jean-Paul. The url for the above message is still truncated and not correct. You can go to Wikipedia and type in "Voynich manuscript"

That url works fine!

Hi Dick,

Very interesting link. As far a military codes and cyphers are concerned, most people think of Enigma, not realizing that there is more to it than that. There is an Enigma machine on display at the Canadian Forces Communication Museum in Kingston, Ontario. There are also quite a few other more recent, but no longer used, cypher machines on display. I'm also an amateur (VE9BK) and mostly active using morse code.

Jean-Paul

Thanks Jean-Paul. The url for the above message is still truncated and not correct. You can go to Wikipedia and type in "Voynich manuscript"

Sorry, I may have given a truncated url. Here is the correct one.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

I notice that we do not have a category for a subject of military interest. Perhaps we should have one. As an amateur radio operator (KB6GLX), I developed an interest in manual morse as a youngster. It appears that codes were used in the military prior to Napolean's "Cipher Cards". There are many collectors of military encryption devices. As a new member of the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veteran's Association, I recently received this email concerning the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript. Speaking of ENIGMAtic, the German ENIGMA system is currently being sold on the internet:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

Dick LaTondre

www.thegoldenkite.com

His name is: Sir John Waldron.

I acquired his award of the Sacred Treasure he received from the Emperor of Japan while he was the police commissioner of metropolitan London. Earlier, he was the Police Inspector in Ceylon.

Dick

Thank you Javi.

Richard

Recently acquired on the internet. Unfortunately, I sometimes have problems posting images on this website. They may be viewed on the OMSA website:

http://www.omsa.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6313

That is a beautiful looking decoration. What was it awarded for? Any clues to the number awarded?

The Order of the Striped Tiger (Wen Hu Xun Chang) was established by the President of the Republic of China (1912 -1928) Yuan Shikai. The purpose of this order was to reward members of the Chinese Army and Navy for merit during peace and war. The medal was awarded rather freely to both Chnese as well as foreign military and naval officers until the Beijing government was overthrown by the Kuomintang (Nationalist) party in 1928 and was abolished by Chang Kaishek in 1928.

The tiger was considered to be one of the four supernaturally constituted beasts. which after a thousand years became a 'white' tiger and was then immortal. and was an emblem of good fortune.

The First through Fourth classes were to be awarded to officers of high rank. The Third through sixth classes to officers of middle (Field grade) rank. The Fourth through Seventh classes to subaltern (company grade) officers, senior noncoms lieutenants and captains. The Sixth through ninth classes to NCOs and other enlisted ranks. However, merit rather than rank was to be the main consideration when granting the award. I believe it to be one of the most prestigest of Chinese military awards based upon those great military heros of the past that were recipients of the award.

Richard LaTondre

www.thegoldenkite.com

This is of course not morally or ethically proper, but it happens all the time. A few months ago I bought a miniature on the Italian eBay. After we concluded the sale the seller asked me if I would be interested in a few other items he had, and actually I was. So I offered him a fair price, but after a few days I saw the items listed on eBay. I then wrote to him and asked him if he didn't felt my offer was fair, he said yes, but he just wanted to test the price, and after a few days when bids were coming he stopped the auction and sold the items to me beeing convinced my offer was fair! I got the item at a fair price and he avoided the fees.

Actually I have approached various Sellers on eBay a few times when I have seen items I really wanted - and in some instances the Sellers have accepted an offer and closed the auctions before time. And I have also a few times been outbid that way - I was prepared to make a bid and suddenly the items were gone. And a few times I have questioned this and can only say, that it is sad that so many items are stolen, burned, eaten by a dog, destroyed or just disappeared in the last days of an auction having survived 100 years in a drawer?

It is not correct, but it happens so many times every day!

Cheers, Lars

Thanks Lars,

I feel a bit better.

Richard

There is a magnificent Order of the Striped Tiger 2nd Class up for sale on Yahoo Japan. At this posting time the bids have soared to $6,041.63 plus handling fees and exchange fees. It would be interesting to be able to read the award certificate. It looks as if it might be around 1923.

Richard

http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m80615514

Apparently, as to information offered on the OMSA website, same subject, the seller, after some astronomical bidding on this set, unexplainably withdrew the item from the auction. The question that I have is; is this morally or ethically proper? Can someone place an item up for auction and then without reason or explanation withdraw it? This appears to be a situation in which the seller is attempting to establish the 'demand' or price the public is willing to pay for his item. Perhaps I am wrong but I feel that this was an auction and the item should have gone to the highest bidder. Apparently this gentleman has done this in the past. I have posted this message on the GMIC site as well as the OMSA site due to the interest that has been generated on this subject. What is your opinion?

Great grouping! Any idea where the bidder is from? The Yen is not cheap these days.

The year looks correct at 1923.

I have an idea that he may be from China as his name is Mr. Wu. It was easy to read the date. I would like to know who it was awarded to. It appears that the bidding will go over USD $6,000.00

There is a magnificent Order of the Striped Tiger 2nd Class up for sale on Yahoo Japan. At this posting time the bids have soared to $6,041.63 plus handling fees and exchange fees. It would be interesting to be able to read the award certificate. It looks as if it might be around 1923.

Richard

http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m80615514

I have three Rising Sun breast stars in my collection, 2 in 1st class sets and 1 in a 2nd class set. Two of the sets are Meiji era and one is from the 1970s. On all three of them the reverse is silver, not gold. I agree that the pins should be aligned properly but they could have been adjusted for comfort by the wearer.

HiPaul. I have no argument with that except I have two of the more recent strikes and they both have a vermeer plating. I believe in the finishing process they may gold wash/or plate the complete planchet. It may be just as simple as a photograph that is not too clear. But the back of the medal certainly should show very little wear as it is well protected by its concave nature. In any event it probably would not detract from the medals authenticity.

Regards,

Richard

the only question that I would ask would be concerning the finish on the reverse of the medal. I have recently acquired a Second Class set and the reverse of the medal is gold plated and highly polished. All of the pins are straight and parrallel to each other. While this would not be a case of alarm it should be reason for concern.

Richard

I saw that auction. That seller has a lot of really nice medals he sold on ebay over time. If I remember correctly, this is the first time I have seen him put his auctions with BIN and make an offer. Usually his past auctions were just auctions.

Looks like one offer has been made and declined.

Yes! Unfortunately it was mine.

Richard

Gear wheel refers to the shape of the white sun, symbol of the Kuo Min Tang. I think US servicemen called it that. At least that's where I first heard it.

Hello Hugh. Good to hear from you as always and yes, I understand your term. Thanks for reminding me. This is a very interesting medal primarily due to the history of the subject depicted. He was by far, one of the most influential Warlords during his short life span.

Dick

This is the incomplete reverse of the previous medal.

What period would it be ? Its exact title would also be nice to know. Every bit of information will be gratefully received.

Very best wishes for 2011. May this New Year be a wonderful collecting period for all members of this fine forum.

Veteran

This is a photo of the obverse. It can be seen on the OMSA medal data base. It is shown here through the courtesy of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Richard

i think that the crossed flag used by Republic of China from 1912-1928, and after 1928 RoC using white-sun, blue sky and red flag..

windu

That is correct. According to the medal it would be 1918. so your assumption is correct. In 1918 he was a Warlord and founded the Anfu club which was the political arm of the Anhui clique which at that time had won three-fourths of the seats in the National Assembly. In 1919 Xu assumed command of the Northwest Frontier Defense Army, which invaded newly independent Outer Mongolia in October. On November 17th, he forced Outer Mongolia to withdraw its declaration of autonomy, thus temporarily bringing Mongolia back under the control of China.He was later assasinated, He was a very colorful guy and died at the ripe old age of 45 on December 1925. This makes the medal a very significant part of China's Republic history, I don't know the meaning of "gear wheel flag" The flags pictured are the traditional flags of the Republic and have the stripes that represent the ethnic groups that make up the Republic. Hope this helps.

Richard

It is the Xu Shuzheng Merit Medal 56x43mm in size. On the obverse should be a portrait/photograph of Xu Shuzheng surrounded by a red enameled border with a Chinese inscription reading: "10th of October (Double Ten Day) the 7th year of the Republic of China, the 2nd President Xu Shuzheng Inaugeration Commemorative Medal. The missing ribbon should be 37mm wide red with white edges. The suspension is a cloud suspension. The reverse has two crossed Republic flags joined by a rope at the crossing of six sheaves of wheat. The characters at the top read: "Commemorative medal.

Richard

Sorry. He was a Northern War Lord and not an officially appointed President of the Republic. If the characterssuggest it was his innaugeration that would be incorrect. It may have been his commemoration of the original inaugeration. Someone with a better understanding of Chinese needs to step in here and straighten this out,

It is the Xu Shuzheng Merit Medal 56x43mm in size. On the obverse should be a portrait/photograph of Xu Shuzheng surrounded by a red enameled border with a Chinese inscription reading: "10th of October (Double Ten Day) the 7th year of the Republic of China, the 2nd President Xu Shuzheng Inaugeration Commemorative Medal. The missing ribbon should be 37mm wide red with white edges. The suspension is a cloud suspension. The reverse has two crossed Republic flags joined by a rope at the crossing of six sheaves of wheat. The characters at the top read: "Commemorative medal.

Richard

Well, I finally found one that I was fairly happy with. It's not as nice as I'd like, but it's better than going without for the rest of time! At least it has a pretty nice case. Fairly light wear overall, a few ribbon blemishes and light soiling, but the color is still good. I'll be on the prowl for a better one at some point.

Cogratulations. It looks great!

Richard

For some context, the Tripod came with these orders. The breast star is numbered 73

That is really impressive. I will see if I can track that number down for you.

Richard