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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 14, No. 5. May 24, 1951

[Introduction]

With a ban on Capping Procession following police clashes with strikers, Victoria was faced with the problem of disposing of six or seven thousand Cappicades usually sold during the Procession and afterwards on the last day of the First Term.

The police had no objection to individuals selling around Wellington, so selling began at the Railway Station well before 8 a.m. When the van shifted uptown at 9 a.m. around three thousand had been issued out.

Selling continued from NZUSA rooms as a base, and the work of fify students ceased around noon when the whole stock—6,800—had been cleared. By two o'clock the cash was counted and in the bank.

Champion seller was McArdle, 300 copies with £15/14/2 paid into the funds, but several other stalwarts also did nearly as well.

Besides sales in record time, the cash banked was very satisfactory, and final accounts should show a very different story from previous years when shortages had become past a joke.

Individual sellers appeared to enjoy themselves, aching arms and legs notwithstanding (not with standing but rushing up and down stairs). Each big office building was covered by sellers. There were some rebuffs, but mainly people were cooperative.

One woman snapped "Certainly not—pack of Communists!" while another client stood back hesitantly and then thawed with "Cappicade, certainly, I've bought one ever since my own time at Canterbury, but for a moment I thought you were a wharfle!"

Costumes were certainly varied—in one office of a high Government official the secretary had just said to herself, "Surely this peculiar looking man with whiskers isn't to see the boss" (or whatever she calls him) and there was another shilling in the bag.

For the Opera House there remained only the small programme of "Sidarella" which was printed separately. A word of explanation here might clear up any doubts about the omission of the Extrav programme from "Cappicade" this year.

The week-end the page proofs had to be finished coincided with a very poorly attended rehearsal, and it was touch and go whether the show would go on. The cast was nowhere near finality, and "Cappicade" staff had four pages of other copy with nowhere to put it. (With their newly acquired knowledge it was "Over-set"). With the concurrence of the President it was decided to leave out the programme section and to print it separately when we knew that "Sidarella" was to go on. The basis of the decision was that the four pages of other copy would otherwise be wasted, whereas the programme could always be printed and sold separately.