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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22204, 6 March 1934, Page 11

President Roosevelt enjoys a personal popularity seldom if ever equalled in the history of the American Presidency. His mail is said to be the largest in the world, and special provision has had to be made for it at Whte House. In March last the delivery of letters was 180,000, and this total dropped to only 45,000 in August, but then came the flood. By November the total had climbed to 240,000, and the Christmas mail brought the December aggregate up to 540,000 letters. In addition, there have been 220,000 telegrams. Parcels made a splendid showing, and the gifts included a large number of knitted bed socks and sweaters, and the rest range from fountain pens to plum puddings. The President reads and replies to about 200 letters each day, and an army of clerks deals with .the remainder. One letter that the President prizes came from a negro who had been found a job. “I’d like to come to Washington,’ the negro wrote, “ and cook fried chicken for you.’* Patchy, a fine cock pigeon belonging to Mr Justin Glover, of Ravenstone, Leicestershire, has died. Patchy, so named because of its peculiar markings, was 24 years old, and was claimed to be the oldest pigeon in the world. The average life of a pigeon is 10 or II years. Patchy had won many Continental races, and later was the parent of several noted winners.