98 Years Old Bottle Mail :
History of mail re-discovered
Normally with invent of new technological systems, sending message or mail takes literally no time. But in the initial years of sending messages, lots of innovative methods were used which included bottle mail too.Recently, a Scottish fisherman Andrew Leaper, found a bottle containing a message or bottle mail in Shetland sea while he was skipping his fishing boat. This drift bottle contained a post card which promised a reward of six pence to the finder - was released in June 1914 by Captain CH Brown of the Glasgow School of Navigation. Which was found after 98 years in safe condition.
It was in a batch of 1,890 scientific research bottles which were specially designed to sink to help map the currents of the seas around Scotland when they were returned. Only 315 of them have so far been found. Mr Leaper, 43, who found the bottle east of Shetland, explained: "As we hauled in the nets I spotted the bottle neck sticking out and I quickly grabbed it before it fell back in the sea. He further added that that was very exciting to find the bottle and he couldn't wait to open it.
The story of scientific drift bottles is a fascinating one and harks back to an area when in the beginning those were used to understand the complexities of the seas.
It is amazing that nearly 98 years on bottles are still being found and returned to the Marine Laboratory in such fantastic condition.
- Naresh Agarwal
Stamp and Coin Fair in Kolkata from 5 - 7 October
