PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 53

PHILATELY.

By Oi,d Stamp

THE DUNEDIN JSOOIBIY.

The sixth annual meeting of the Dnnedin Philatelic Society waß held in their rooms on December 17, when nearly all ths members were present. Mr B. T. Ringer presided, and the secretary (Mr H. J. Shelton) read the following repsrt, which was rc opted :—": — "

The committee, iv presenting their sixth annual report and balance sheet, arc pleaded to state Ihat the year's transactions have been highly s-itiVfLic-tory, the number of members having been increased and a large amount of exchange transacted.

The ficances of the society continue in a s,itisf.ictoiy state, there being a credit balance of 14s, whilst our assets exceed our liabilities by £4. Us.

Tin* committee congratulate the members on the continued success of the junior branch of the society, their membership roll chowing a net increase of one, and now standing at nine. The eulhusia ni dibplayei by the juui' rs has been very encouraging, their v eetin^s bdiug well a f tended and a laige amount of exchange efftcted.

The committee trust that the senior members will continue to help the junioiK at every necessary point, so that the present fl umpiring state of their br.inch may be maintained and fostered.

Duriuir the yeir the committee found it ueces. saiy to look for more suitable premises, and succeeded in obtaining a room in every way suitable for the meeting? of the society, being centrally di! uatc i in Princes street nni nicely lit up with ga«.

Twenty-two meetings were held dining the ypar, an t wore well attended.

Onu hundred and eighteen sheets of stamps were circulated among the members and a large amount of exchange transacted.

During the year rultj No. S was alterei so as to ]0< (instead of os) as the minimum value of sheets re.id accr-ptei for distribution, atd the alteration has worl-.C'l very well.

Iv concluding, yiur committee lm->t that members will do alt in their power to further the inteiv.sts of the s=ociety, and hope that the activity dl=i>lii>ed by the members will still continue, to the betterment of their coll ctions an<J the advancement of philately.

The folio wing ofiic rs for the ensuing year were elected :—Pn sklent, Me B. T. Ringer; vice-prefcideiit, Ml- T. S. P»tloh ; hon. secretary and trensurer, Mr H. J. Shelfcon ; committee — the president, vic=- president, secretary, and Messrs S. T. Mir&ms and B. W. Wtrite.

• . • It i-; gratifying to be able to cv gratulate the Dunediu Philatelic Society on Laving completed it>» six^h year of existence. A<s I have more, than once previously stated, it is surprising there are not more memherb belonging to it. There are, I know, many collectors in Dunedin v?ho s'.ill stand aloof ; why, I do not kuow. Those who do belong it it are most punctual acd constant in attendance at tho meetings, and this is proof that they acquire both plta-ure and knowledge iv attending. Perhaps the most plea.=ing feature of the report is the enthusiasm .«fcowu by the jur.ior members. T take pleasure in recording this, a3 I cla ; m to have suggested to the society the forming of a junior branch. It is from these juuiors that the advanced collectors must com*, p.nd from the enthusiasm shown by them they promise to evenluilly become most useful members of the society.

• . • Fmm the annual report of the British Posi. Office for the year come vtry interesting items are extracted : — Tte profile on the wo-lc-ing of the office last year vrere £3,893,823. The estitnattd number of letters was 1,393,000.000, or an average of 49 to er.ch person. The number of postcards used was 336.500,000 ; of book pack< ts, circulars, and samples, 697,900,000; of newspapers, 150,600,000; of pi-cole, 63 715, 0G0. Adding all th- ss together, it mikes the total figure of all kinds 3,141.715,000. The number of registered letters was 13,438,735.

' . • The London Socitty for the Suppression of Speculative Stamps has bc=n reconstructed, and now promises to be of more use than when first inaugurated. The officers comprise some of the very foremost collectors in London. Amongst those issues wh : ch it has condemned are the Canadian Jubilee, the Newfoundland Cabot, the New South Wales Hospital, Victoria Hospital, and the Steward Itlaisds Jubilee stamps • „ • The folio wine is a more complete descrip-

tion of the proposed new cancelling machine, which almost gives one the shivers when contemplating the havoc it will create among collectors : Tests have been made with a new cancelling machine in which a glowing platinum wire is to singe the stamp in such & way that it is impossible over to use it agaio. The platinum wire can be bent to represent any desired shape of the cancelling stamp, and the opdiatiou h performed by pressing a button, which completes the electric circuit, presses tho wire against the stamp, anci singes iv in tha fraction of a second 100 nmall to estimate.

' . • Reforriug to the resuscitation of the S.S S.S. and tho issues they have already condemned, the Philatelic Rtcord writes : •• These weeds will be regularly placed by the new management iv philatelic dustbine, acd will doubrles-i bo as regularly cleared out by the usual collectors of refuse. It was high time that this rubbish should ba gibbeted. It waa increasing at such a pace that if uo attempt was made to expose its character and raise a public protest against its aale the difficulty would before long be to find a country whose issues were not overrun with similar weeds. Be ifc noted, as a sign of the limes, that the issue of fraudulently speculative stamps is now openly authorised by otherwise respectable Governments for the avowed purpose of collecting revenue from stamp flats. The disease labels of New South Wales and Victoria are the worst instances,"