Flat Earth: The penny drops

WE TOLD YOU last week that the US Postal Service had got itself in a terrible mess over its decision to put a black cowboy on its latest set of stamps to commemorate the American West. It chose Bill Pickett, known as 'the Bull-Dogger' because of his talent for biting steers. When the stamps came back from the printers, they were found to portray the wrong man. The issue has now been withdrawn, but three sheets slipped through the net. In faraway Oregon, at a town called Bend, the postmaster did not get the message on time and unsuspectingly sold his supply. Philatelists are delighted. The Pickett stamp is expected to soar in value to the million-dollar heights of the world's rarest.