Thanks for suggestions. Were this to be rewritten we'd use fwrite or textmerge to file, or even using a memo field with 16K blocksize rather than a property would allow messages of any rational size without slowing down. But we think we have a great alternative solution... see other post
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1