PHILATELIC CONFERENCE

Evening Star, Issue 19197, 13 March 1926, Page 9

PHILATELIC CONFERENCE

MEETING OF ENTHUSIASTS SMOKE CONCERT HELD The visiting delegates to the .New Zealand Philatelic Congress wero the guests of the local brunch of the society at a most enjoyable smoke concert held in the Wentworth Dooms last evening. The president of the Dunedin Society, Mr J. M‘Ara, was in the chair, and there was an excellent attendance.

The toast of “Congress and the Exhibition” was in the bands of Mr AL Chappell, president of the New Zealand Philatelic Society. Mr Chappell said that philately had changed during tlie past few' years. There had been a time when stain]) collectors had been very apologetic over their hobby, and the man who collected little scraps of paper was not above doing it round a corner. However, to-day there was no town of any size without its philatelic society or club, and collectors themselves wero becoming more prominent every day. At the same time there w r ere thousands of collectors who had not yet joined up with the various clubs, and the speaker urged upon his hearers the necessity of making every stamp collector realise that the science could bo advanced with organisation. Organisation had shown results in Dunedin, and a very excellent exhibition of stamps in the Art Gallery had been the result. The speaker commended the ' Dunedin Society on the way it had extended the hand of welcome to the visiting delegates. The speaker concluded by urging that the Exhibition bo kept well before the public, because a close study on the part of the uninitiated would bo really worth while. (Applause.) Mr Chappell also gave a most interesting treatise on the way the judging had been carried out in the Exhibition competition, and ho pointed out that the recent competitions had been judged from the international standard, which was now being adopted by all the leading societies. Mr M‘Ara, in reply, thanked the previous speaker for all he had said regarding the efforts of the Dunedin Society. The work had proved extremely interesting, and Dunedin philatelists had been pleased at the opportunity of meeting fellow-collectors from other parts of New Zealand. Mr Basil Howard, who proposed the toast of “The Exhibitors,” said that it gave him great pleasure to support all Mr Chappell had said. The speaker knew that there were many collectors who were apologists. The Exhibition had been one of the many stepping stones in the progress of philately in Now Zealand. The Dunedin Society had been very fortunate in securing the services of capable men to carry out the judging. The speaker gave an idea in humorous vein of how the Dunedin committee had been put about to induce collectors to take part in the exhibition. A number of those who had exhibited responded, and the consensus of opinion expressed was that competitors had learned a good deal by taking part. The toast of “ Our Friend the Post Office ” was proposed by Mr Vernazoni (Christchurch), and responded to by Mr R. J. Collins. The toast of “ The Press ” was also proposed. During the evening an enjoyable musical programme was dispensed, and altogether philatelists spent a very happy time.