My postcard of the day for April 25, 2020

[Howard Weinert]

A postcard sent from Korsakovsk (in the southern half of Sakhalin Island) to Eupen, Germany by a sailor on the SMS Gefion, a cruiser in the German East Asia Squadron. Postmarked on 17 August and 10 September 1899, in Hakodate, Japan on 27 September, in Yokohama on 30 September, and in Eupen on 7 November. This postcard missed the August monthly mail pickup by the Japanese ship Aikoku-maru (Oiye Steamship Co.) and had to wait until the ship returned in September. The card was then transported to Hakodate, and by rail to Yokohama. It left Yokohama for Europe on 3 October on the Rosetta (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.). The message, datelined Korsakovsk, Siberia 25 August 1899 (new style), reads, "We are here in Siberia near the island of Sakhalin. There is a convict colony. Many of the prisoners speak German. When I come home I'll tell you more about it." This post office was open from 1896 until 24 June 1905, when the Japanese attacked and occupied Korsakovsk. The Japanese retained southern Sakhalin under the terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth.

[Chris Grimshaw]

Howard

Very nice.  Thank you for sharing these wonderful items.

Chris