er I., and now rendered obsolete
by the closing of the post offices in October, 1914, as a result of the
"abolition of the capitulations." The Mexican expedition, largely
owing to the Civil War troubles in the States, led to the placing of
Emperor Maximilian on the throne of Mexico, and to the issue of stamps
of the Mexican Empire bearing that ill-fated ruler's portrait (_Fig._
141).

[Footnote 5: "All About Postage Stamps." By Fred J. Melville. London,
1913. T. Werner Laurie, Ltd.]

[Illustration: 137 138 139 140 141]

The Franco-German War has left the stamp collector an interesting
series of stamps catalogued as Alsace and Lorraine (_Fig._ 233), but
more properly called the stamps of the German Army of Occupation,
as they were used in the parts of France occupied by the German Army
during the war and afterwards in the two annexed provinces until
superseded by the German Imperial issues. September 2, 1870, witnessed
the surrender of Napoleon to the Prussians at Sedan, and in November
we find the head of Ceres recur on the stamps lithographed at Bordeaux
during the siege of Paris (_Fig._ 142).

[Illustration: 142]

This period is undoubtedly the most interesting one in modern postal
history. There is a vast array of Army postmarks of the war, special
postcards issued by the auxiliary committee of the Red Cross at
Strasburg, letters sent from Metz during the siege by free balloons,
and letters sent by a variety of ingenious methods from Paris. M.
Steenackers was the Director of Posts under the republic
proclaimed September 4, 1870, and his endeavours to maintain postal
communications between Paris and the outer world are among the most
fascinating of postal records. A cable was laid under the Seine to
Rouen, but the Germans dragged the river and destroyed it. Telegraph
wire had to be smuggled into the country, as the Swiss Government
declared it to be contraband. Letters were enclosed in different forms
of hollow spheres and thrown into the river; the spheres were flanged
so that they would rotate with the current. Hundreds of gallant
messengers, ladies as well as men, strove to reach the city with
concealed messages, mostly without success. One lady is said to have
succeeded in getting through with a letter which had been secreted in
a hollow tooth and the tooth stopped with gold. Even dogs were sent
with messages to Paris, but most of them were shot by the enemy. The
chief means of sending letters out of Paris