Our Illustrations

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 20, 16 November 1910, Page 16

Our Illustrations

THE ABT OF STAMP-LICKIMO.

The art of. stamp-licking Is largely cultivated, not for its own sake, but as a means to an end. An English physician has now called attention to th® dangers of the practice. His voice will be as that of one calling in the wilderness, unless, indeed, the English Postal authorities take his advice. The doctor’s suggestion is that a crafty addition of cayenne pepper or bitter aloes should be made to the gum. Whether thin would entirely banish the practice is not certain. There are always people on the look-out for new sensations and who •might appreciate the tonic and exhilarating properties even of cayenne and aloes. The General Post Office, taking its own way as usual, has gone in another direction for a solution. It has adopted an ingenious machine of the penny-in-the-slot variety. This contrivance, after it has absorbed a penny into its internals, produces a stamp, moistens it, and affixes it to the envelope inserted in an aperture provided for the purpose. The machine contains 50,000 stamps, and it is capable of disgorging and affixing them at the rate of sixty or more per minute. Whether the machine will “catch on” remains to be seen. Some old-fashioned folks, adhesive to old customs, will doubtless continue to utilise their tongues as heretofore. And, after all, the tongue, unruly member though it be, is always handy and admirably adapted for the purpose. The New Zealand post office stamping machine —used in most large offices in the Dominion now-— may be recommended to the old folks at Home.