Shipping Reporter joins Kiwi herd
While ransacking his house looking for a book , our disorganised waterfront roundsman came across the personal documents of a New Zealand uncle, the late Gilbert W. J. Simon, including the above Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes travel cards from 1937-1941.
Opened ,the blue card , above, lists the names of RAOB lodges he visited in Australia ,including two in the Northern Territory - Darwin and Paraparap (now known as Parap ). Others were at Wagga Wagga ,Sydney, Fort Denison
The red card , bearing the Grand Lodge of Queensland name , commences with an entry for the Queensland Silver City Lodge , which appears to be Mount Isa, in June 1938.
Two months later he was in Darwin . With the outbreak of war , it seems he became a sailor and there are entries for Auckland , Montreal ,Egypt and Sydney ,the last lodge visited there being at Zetland
Along with the RAOB cards were his well worn wartime pay books and a January 1951 letter from the New Zealand Public Service Association stating he had been a member since April 1947 until August 1950, when he left. He had been employed in the government printing office , which was pleasing information for the Shipping Reporter ,who runs about like a water buffalo , barges into print .
