This registered cover was sent from 634 MILE T.A.R./ -3 AP 37/ W.A. with three postmarks canceling 5 stamps with a total postage of 6d, made up of pairs of the 1d green and ½d orange KGV heads as well as the 3d blue Centenary of South Australia stamp. The cover has a R6 ‘no name’ registration label and it is addressed to Mr. Everett Erle, 3546-22nd St., San Francisco, Calif, U.S.A (Figure 1).
The reverse has a total of six postmarks with the black 634 MILE T.A.R. centrally placed, as well as 2 black transit overlying marks which obscure both, the first being REGISTERED/ ( )/ AP 37/ ADELAIDE and the second REGISTERED/ ( ) AP 37/ MELBOURNE. The fist stop in the U.S. is a purple double ring SEATTLE , WASH. (SEATTLE TERMINAL)/ MAY/ 9/ 1937/ REGISTERED, and there are 2 different copies of the purple double ring SAN FRANCISCO / REGISTERED, one dated May 11 and the other May 12 1937 (Figure 2).
The Western Australian Trans Australia Railways 634 postmark is of Type C (30 mm diameter) and is highly rated as ‘1′ in R. & J. Goulder’s Western Australia Postal Markings 2002. 634 MILE T.A.R. is in the vicinity of the red arrowed Reid W.A., close to the South Australian bord
er in the Nullabor Plains at the Trans Australia Railway (Figure 3).
Everett C. Erle (May 10, 1906-May 10 1990) was a lifelong collector, exhibitor, writer, and editor who took an active part in international, national, and San Francisco Bay Area philately. His earliest interests were in aerophilately; he was editor of the West Coast Air Mail Society Journal. By the 1930s he was a frequent writer in the journals of the time on ship cancels and other aspects of postal history.
Erle was a founder of the Council of Northern California Philatelic Societies and he received its Chaloner award for outstanding service. He was president of the Philatelic Research Society of Oakland which later became the Western Philatelic Library, now located in Sunnyvale, California. In 1927 he helped found the San Jose Stamp Club.
Erle edited the Western Express for the Western Cover Society from 1974-1986. He served WESTPEX for 25 years from its beginning, and held the title of Honorary Director until his death. He had collections and exhibits that covered a wide range of philatelic topics. He joined the American Philatelic Society (APS) in 1925 and received his 50-year APS Membership medal in 1975. Erle died while attending the London 1990 International Philatelic Exhibition.
Additional information was provided by Ellen Peachey at the American Philatelist Research Library as follows: Mr. Erle had wide ranging philatelic interests including Australian postmarks. A search of our database showed he published articles on United States, Spain, Philippines, Cuba, Antigua, Falkland Islands, Dead letter and forwarded mail. He was editor of a journal Pacific Philatelist which only ran from Jan 1936 to May 1937, after which it merged with the American Stamp Journal.
Everett C. Erle was inducted into the American Philatelic Society’s Hall of Fame in 1990 and his picture is shown in Figure 4.