(Route 8163) N.O. & St. Louis R.R. Line Champion, choice strike of illustrated oval handstamp showing steamboat, on yellow cover bearing 3¢ dull red (26) tied by "Cairo Ill Jun 27 1859" cds to Cincinnati Oh.; small part of flap missing, Very Fine, Illustrated in Milgram on page 194., ex-Floyd Risvold. Milgram No. 194  Estimate $1,000 - 1,500. A REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE HANDSTAMP. Cairo at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers acted as a transfer point for mails going to destinations via Ohio River contract steamboats. From July 1858 to May 1861 the route was contracted by the trip at $200 per round trip. After the Civil War, the Atlantic & Mississippi Steam Packet Co. was contracted for a 3½ times a week service at $27,000 a year.This cover probably originated at New Orleans and carried on the course of Route 7809. Transferred at Cairo on June 27th 1859 for Route 9501 to Louisville and 9503 onward to Cincinnati. $0 (Image)