I am so unknowledgeable about guns, that I have been unable to trace the source of the next two covers that appeared at an auction, from the same vendor on the same day. I realise that the identical gun is not advertised on both covers, but there is a similarity which suggests that the same company may have sent both covers; or, at least the guns may have been made by the same company. The latter suggestion has a greater probability, for the first cover emanated from Melbourne and the second cover from Adelaide. Not withstanding the uncertainty of the covers’ provenance, both are fine examples of the art of advertising.

The earlier cover has Melbourne, 23 AUG 15 345 PM postmark on a pair of 1d red KGV Heads as well as a ½d green KGV Head, and there is a purple ‘PASSED’ by censor marking. It is addressed to a New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. , but the addressed Company’s name is not legible. The address of the Melbourne Company is largely obscured, but an educated guess is SMALL A(RMS COMPANY), 229 (----------------) Me(lbourne). A fine rendition of part of the gun is pictured, and we are informed that the company has "The Largest Stock of Guns and Cycle Materials in Australia" (Figure 2).

The later cover has 2 copies of the 2d red Harbour Bridge (the letterpress printing) which are cancelled with LATE FEE/ 615 P 12 AP 32/ ADELAIDE, and it is clearly addressed to the Savage Arms Corporation/ 100 E. 42nd Street, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A. There is no information concerning the sender, but a fine rendition of part of a gun is pictured (Figure 3).

All is not obscure, for the Savage Arms Corporation is well known and there is a definite but non-philatelic connection of the company’s founder and Australia. A native of Kingston, Jamaica where his father was Britain’s Special Commissioner to the West Indies, Arthur Savage was born in 1857 and he led an adventurous life, having been schooled in England and the United States. In his thirties, he explored the interior of Australia and was held captive for a year by Aborigines. Later he became the owner of the largest cattle ranch in Australia (so says the Savage Arms history site). Later he sold the Australian ranch, and returned to Jamaica where he bought a coffee plantation. He moved to America and became the superintendent of the Street Railway in Utica N.Y., where he organized the Savage Arms Company in 1894. He took on the big 3 gun manufacturers of the day (Winchester, Remington and Colt) with his now famous Model 99 rifle. The Savage firm made guns and other armaments in both World Wars.

Why the Dean of Melbourne, the Reverend Doctor Hussey Burgh Macartney (1799 -1894) received correspondence in 1880 from John Rea, gunmaker of Sandhurst, Victoria broaches an intriguing question, which may never be answered.