Page 4 Advertisements Column 2

Bruce Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 67, 27 August 1917, Page 4

•The obnoxious "chain-letter prayer" has .again made its appearance at Auckland, this time in the form of a petition for the welfare and safe return of the men at the front (Fays the Star). As usual, every person whd receives a copy of the prayer is asked to copy it again seven times and' send it to seven other people, with the same request as before. One .recipient sent on his copy to Professor H. W. Segar, of the Auckland University College, with a request for information as to the number of circulars that would be sent out in six mouths if the injunction were strictly fulfilled in each - instance.. The result of the professor's calculation of the number cannot very well be set down in words, but it is represented in figures by one and 22 zeros. The professor, however, points out that in practice the majority of people would fail to pass the circular on, and the majority of those who did it would not do so again on receipt of further copies; otherwise the Postal Department would be able to pay the expenses of the war out of its increased revenue, and would hardly miss the money.