Philatelic $5 Cover

I've maintained a census of the 2nd Bureau $2 and $5 stamps for several years now.  As far as I know, there are only 12 pieces or covers with the five dollar Marshall stamp (Scott 313), and many of the items were created by contemporary philatelists.  Shown below is item 313-12 from the census.

Five dollar Marshall stamp on cover.

Sent from Klotzville, Lousiana on the 17th of January, 1909 to a P.O. box in New Orleans.  The $5 franking hugely overpaid the 2-cent first-class domestic letter rate to a man named N. W. Taussig.  Mr. Noah William Taussig and his brother, Issac, were prominent businessmen in New York and New Orleans sugar industries where Noah was the board chairmen of the American Molasses Company.  Noah most likely created and sent this cover from a sugar factory in Klotzville to himself.  The handwriting on the cover matches his 1922 passport application (available on ancestry.com).

Constance and Noah Taussig's passport photo (circa 1922).

Mr. Taussig's name may be familiar to airmail collectors as the creator of the "Taussig" first flight cover that is on display at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.  Taussig created the cover that bears President Woodrow Wilson's autograph and was carried on the historic May 18, 1918, flight from Washington, D.C. to New York City.  The prized cover was sold to Mr. Taussig for $1000 at auction to benefit the American Red Cross.

Inaugural airmail flight envelope created and later purchased by N. Taussig.

June 14, 1918, newspaper clipping of autographed cover purchase.

These are the only two philatelic "Taussig" covers known to me.  Know of any others?

Postcard to Jaluit, Marshall Islands

What a destination!  A postcard sent from Pago Pago, American Samoa, a United States Possession, to the small Marshall Islands atoll named Jaluit.  Posted December 1906, the card was quickly carried to Apia, Western Samoa where it probably sat waiting for a vessel bound for the Marshall Islands.  It was not delivered to Jaluit until 20 March 1907.

The German Empire purchased the Marshall Islands from Spain in 1885 and established a trading outpost on Jaluit Atoll.  This card is franked with a pair of 1¢ definitive Franklin stamps (Scott #300) to pay the UPU postcard rate of 2¢.

The postcard was sent to Carl Teschke, Captain of the SS Triton.  However, I have not been able to find further information on either the captain or the vessel.  Most likely one of the numerous small trade ships sailing the Pacific.

Here's a link to the postcard on my foreign destinations map.

1907 UPU rate postcard from American Samoa to Jaluit, Marshall Island, Southseas.

Inner Harbour, Pago Pago (face of the card)

Map of postmarks on the card.

1) Dec ??, 1906, Pago, Pago

2) Dec 12, 1906, Apia, Samoa 

3) March 20, 1907, Jaluit, Marshall Inseln

Introduction

Here's an idea, blogging about my collecting passion, the U.S. 2nd Bureau issue of stamps and in particular, their postal history.  I have a website with some of my collection but am curious if it will be easier to maintain a blog with new items I acquire.

On my website, you'll find a listing of the 2nd Bureau stamps, censuses of the $2 and $5 stamps on cover, as well as my collection of foreign destinations.

-- Geoff