RUSH FOR STAMPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 29

RUSH FOR STAMPS

FIRST AIR MAIL TO NEW GUINEA <From Oub Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, May 27. The inauguration next Monday o£ a regular air mail service from Sydney to New Guinea has been given an unexpected fillip by stamp collectors. So great has been the rush of philatelists to secure stamp* used in the transmission of letters, that an extra plane has been provided to carry passengers. From the rate at which the New Guinea air mail stamps have been purchased, it has been estimated that 30,000 letters will be carried on the first flight. Most of the mail to be carried on the outward journey will be returned to Sydney by plane on the following Sunday, as most of the letters are addressed by stamp collectors to themselves, via New Guinea. It will be necessary therefore to use two planes on the return service also. ’*•.

The collectors’ letters bear two sets of stamps to the total value of lOd, the charge each way being 3d a half-ounce air mail fee,- plus ordinary postage. It is estimated that the mail will provide £1250 additional revenue to the Postal Department. The Postal Department and the New Guinea Administration have agreed to cooperate with stamp collectors in their plarf to make valued additions to their collections, and where letters bearing two sets of stamps are posted, the Commonwealth stamps will be obliterated at Sydney, and the New Guinea stamps at New Guinea. Normally the mail planes will leave Sydney at 7 a.m. each Tuesday, and are scheduled to arrive at Rabaul at 10 a.m. each Thursday. The return flight will commence at 1 p.m. each Friday, and the machines are scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 5.30 p.m. each Sunday. On each trip, stops will be made at Rockhampton, Townsville, Cairns, Cooktown, Port Moresby, and Salamaua.

Accommodation for passengers, including the Minister for the Exterior, Mr Hughes, has been booked for the inaugural service. He is going to New Guinea to inquire into matters associated with the selection of a site for a new capital.