NEW ZEALAND IN SAMOA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 June 1939, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND IN SAMOA

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS’ CONTROL. COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS. It is twenty-five years since a New Zealand Expeditionary Force landed in Western Samoa and took possession of the Territory. To commemorate New Zealand’s twenty-five years’ control of the Territory a set of four stamps will be issued on August 29 next, the anniversary of the landing date. It is intended to withdraw these stamps from sale approximately three months later. In every case distinctive Samoan subjects have been selected for the designs. The Id denomination, oblong in shape, reproduces a picturesque coastal scene of native houses clustering on the shore of a lagoon. The years 1914-1939 appear prominently in the top of the border which incorporates typical Samoan decorative features. The ltd commemorative stamp carries a map of the Western Samoan Islands with latitude and longitude lines to indicate their position in the Southern Pacific.

A Samoan siva or dancing party is portrayed on the 21d denomination. All the performers are' seated, the movements of the dance being the swing of their bodies and arms. In the background appears a group of Samoan houses.

Admirers of Robert Louis Stevenson all over the world will appreciate the inclusion of a portrait of the author in the commemorative series. It appears on the 7d denomination, and is based on a photograph of Stevenson taken in Samoa not long before his death.

The designs for the Id and IJd stamps were prepared by Mr J. Berry, Wellington, and those for the 21d and 7d by Mr L. C. Mitchell, Wellington. The stamps are of uniform size slightly larger than the New Zealand Id denomination, and they are reproduced by the intaglio line engraving process which gives great fidelity in the details. Messrs Bradbury, Wilkinson and Company, London, have, carried out the engraving and printing." It is not intended to issue official first-day covers, but the Samoan Administration has arranged that collectors desiring to obtain the commemorative stamps cancelled on the first day of issue may forward addressed envelopes and the necessary instructions and remittance (to include a fee of Id per cover for the service) to the Postmaster, Apia 4 Western Samoa. The most suitable mails for this purpose will be those leaving New Zealand on August 8 and August 21.