Another NZ world first
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Tue 4 Feb 2014 08:42
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I have commented previously on the Kiwis'
propensity for attaching global superlatives to just about anything that
can possibly bear it and many things that can't - the world's
biggest/longest/biggest/scariest etc something-or-other.
But surprisingly, here, from Great Barrier
Island, is a true "world's first" for NZ - air mail of all things, several
years before the Wright Brothers!
The story begins with a tragic shipwreck on the
island, news of which took 75 hours to reach Auckland only 50 miles away thus
preventing effective rescue. An enterprising local subsequently realised that
pigeons could be trained to fly with messages and on 29 January 1896 'Ariel'
successfully delivered the first letter to Auckland by air mail. He took 1hr
45mins to cover the distance, carrying five sheets of paper (three flimsies and
two regular, max load for a pigeon).
This rapidly developed into the Great Barrier
Pigeon-Gram Service starting in 1897, and just in case you think the whole thing
is a hoax, here is a one shilling pigeon post stamp, much sought after by
philatelists (this one is now worth several hundred dollars):
 The demand was so great that two rival pigeon posts
were established, and flight times reduced to 80 minutes, and pigeon posts were
established on other outlying islands. Brisk business was done until the arrival
of an underwater telegraph cable in 1908 caused the demise of the
pigeon post.
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