Thursday Is. Notes.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Thursday Is., April 29.

Pearl Shell Ornaments.

Lying in the office of one of our principal pearlers is a beautiful piece of shell work which was recently sent from America —it probably represents one of the new articles by which the Gerdau Company hopes to popularise our staple commodity. It is charming enough to be coveted by any woman, and we hope that the fair sex will fall to this class of work in place of glass beads and other fashionable trifles.

The pearl shell has been cut into attractively shaped scales, about the size of half-a-crown, and these, slung on a slender metal chain, make an ornament fit for the neck of a princess.

Pearl shell used in this way has many adyan tages over other materials for neckwear. It is not easily broken, never tarnishes and its beautiful grey and silver tints make a perfect contrast to the warmer colour of the flesh.

Judging from the material used and the ease with which the scales can be cut, the neck girdle should not be expensive, and its charm and interest place it far above anything else of reasonable price on the market. We hope to see them adorning the neck of every well dressed woman, including those who live on this little island, where they originate.

A Temperamental Gem.

That pearls occasionally lose their colour and lustre is a well-known fact amongst jewellers, and the degeneration of the gem often depends on a curious chain of circumstances.

A magnificent rope of pearls was sold to a rich Cingalese merchant, who presented them to his wife. The lady was delighted and wore them on every possible occasion, but, after a time they began to grow dull and lose their lustre. She became distressed and hinted to her husband that he had been swindled. Inquiries were made, the pearls were pronounced by an expert to be worth far less than was paid for them owing to their dullness, and the buyer demanded his money back. There was quite a storm over those pearls, as the firm which had sold them had a reputation to lose and resented the ac cusation of false valuation.

In the end they sent a representative out from Paris to adjudicate, and his verdict was. ‘‘See a doctor.” It was then discovered that the lady, who had been in indifferent health for some time, was suffering from a slow poisoning of the system due to kidney trouble, which allowed certain acid substances to circulate in the skin. The excretion of these acids caused the pearls to become dull, and when successful treatment of the internal complaint was in stituted the former lustre returned.

A Link With The Past.

Thursday Island was recently honoured by a visit from the son of John Douglas, who has always been regarded as the ‘‘Grand Old Man” of Torres Strait, and everyone who is associated in any way with local history and traditions hastened to give our visitor a good time. Judge Robert Douglas, the son of our former resident, first came to the Island in the mid-’eighties, so that he re makes the acquaintance of his boy hood home after many years’ absence, and is able to review the progress made since he left without prejudice.

Judge Douglas is no believer in the oft-ex pressed opinion that T.I. has “gone down.” In fact, he feels it has very much “gone up” since the days when he knew it as a struggling little pioneer village. Certainly, a number of little shows —like the military and the naval forces and others —have been withdrawn or re duced, but the big industries keep going and will continue to place Thursday Island in the forefront of marine-producing centres in Aus tralia.

During his visit to the Torres Strait Hospi tal, Judge Douglas was shown the visitors’ book, with his father’s signature appearing as the second entry in the book. The Judge recorded his visit with appropriate remarks—but a period of 38 years separates the two entries!

Unemployment In The North..

While the number of old residents out of work at Thursday Island has been reduced to some extent, Darwin has been less fortunate. The “Marella” carried fifty of Darwin’s unemployed —men of all types and nationalities —to other parts of Australia. Free passages were given

to any port but, as the men are proteges of the Commonwealth Government, we consider that Canberra was the proper place to send them to, as they must become a charge on any place they land.

Wandana Week.

We prophesy that “Wandana Week” is to be come a feature of life on Thursday Island.

John Burke’s new steamer dropped a number of tourists here in April while she did her round of the Gulf ports and picked up a very satis fied company for the South on her return.

This monthly visitation will liven up T.I., for we can expect a stream of interesting and stimulating visitors.

The A. and O. ships are also helping to popularise the Island, but their ‘‘stay over” rarely exceeds two days—‘‘just enough to make one wish for more,” as one tourist remarked.

We shall, no doubt, see this embryo tourist traffic grow, but if it is to reach big dimen sions, some local enterprise will have to be shown. More entertainment for visitors and increased hotel accommodation will be neces sary.

His Excellency Sir Hubert Murray, Lieut.- Governor of Papua, accompanied by Mr. L.

Murray and Mr. O’Malley, visited Thursday Is land in the Laurabada shortly after Easter. The object of the visit was to discuss certain as pects of the employment of Papuans in the pearl ing industry.

Congratulations to a well-known local sailing man and pearler for his successful voyage in a launch from Maryborough to Thursday Island.

That such trips require grit and determination is apparent to anyone who has ventured to sea in small boats, for they are always risky undertakings. We remember the remarks of Captain Mulhauser’s American friend after a perilous trip from Suva to Sydney in the ‘‘Amaryllis.” As they were going up the har bour, a place which indeed neither of them hoped to reach, so stormy was the passage, the American opened his heart and gave his opinion of the voyage as follows: "I wouldn’t have missed it for a million dollars. But, if you were to put down a

million dollars on this table and ask me to do the trip again, I guess I wouldn’t.” Many people feel like that after a long sea trip in a small boat.

It is about time that that very cowardly form of crime—dog poisoning—was made the subject of public disapproval, as Thursday Is land has lately seen the results of such nefari ous work, and several families are mourning the loss of well-loved canine friends. Some people seem to imagine they have a divine right to destroy any dog they take a dislike to—a wholly erroneous idea, as they would find out if only dog owners could catch them. Moreover, by strewing poisoned baits about a neighbour’s yard, the perpetrator can give no guarantee that he is going to catch the right dog, nor can he be certain that someone’s toddler will not pick it up and suffer. The local council has the right to destroy forthwith any dog whose sav agery has been proved, but even they must adopt constitutional methods against dogs who merely bark at night or otherwise make them selves mildly offensive.

Another T.I, grievance is the continual thiev ing that goes on on the waterfront. Any form of boat-gear left on the beach, or even out on small boats at anchor is liable to disappear and, in spite of an active police force, convictions rarely follow. There is an immunity from house-thieving for which the residents are truly grateful: we only wish that consciences were not left behind when offenders get near the property of boat-owners.