Belgium to France - 1865

This is the fifth in a series of posts that will highlight items from my collection that were sent from Belgium to France.

Below is a folded letter from Ypres, Belgium to Paris, France - March of 1865.  This item was heavy enough to require an extra rate of postage (double rate letter).

How It Got There

Markings on the cover:

Ypres March 19, 1865 - 2S
France Par Mouscron March 19  (verso)
Belg Valenciennes March 20 (verso)
Paris March 20 (verso)

The "par Mouscron" marking is typically an excellent indicator that this item crossed the border at Tourcoing.  However, the French exchange indicates that the Valenciennes mail train carried the mail bag that held this letter.  It is highly unlikely that the train from Lille met up with the train from Valenciennes to pass mail.  Therefore, the Valenciennes mark is the stronger indicated that it crossed at Quievrain.  

Ypres is located north and west of Courtray and the existing rail service at the time from Ypres would be only to Courtray.  The letter would have headed south from Courtray to Mouscron, where the junction of rail lines to Lille (France) and to Courtray (north branch) and Tournay (south branch) was located.  

How Much Did It Cost to Mail?

Like the past couple of items in this series, this item was mailed during the treaty period that started April 1, 1858 and ran through December 31, 1865.  The rate for prepaid mail was 40 centimes per 10 grams.  

This item was mailed with 80 centimes in postage, so clearly this sheet was a wrapper that held additional materials to cause it to weigh more than 10 grams (but no more than 20 grams).  The written letter contents seem to confirm this supposition.

 Letter Contents:

"I confirm to you my letter of the 16th advising you of my dispatch of 335 Austrian bonds of the Mexican Loan annuity.

You will find attached the two proxies for the sales of eight Northern Railway shares of 350 francs of ??? 3%. Please kindly tell me how much the costs are."

This piece of letter mail was addressed to E(mile) Delegarde, Agent du Change in Paris.  An "Agent du Change" could be likened to a stock broker - an individual who would execute transactions of public stock on behalf of others.  The writer clearly has done business before and is asking to liquidate some of his ownership in the "Chemin de fer du Nord" or the Northern Railway in France. 

Open Questions:

1. Who sent this order to M. Delegarde?  The blue handstamp is difficult to read and so is the signature.  But, the Ypres origin gives us some clues and this is probably solvable.
2. I wonder if I could find a couple of printed proxies from the period - or perhaps printed shares for Chemin de fer du Nord?  That might be a fun display page.  But, I might be satisfied with finding a digital copy to include in the blog.