Shipping Arrange

Ments In Cook Islands

From Our Own Correspondent.

Rarotonga, May 22.

DURING the fruit season proper, which com menced in April, the Union Steamship Com pany provides two distinct services, which embrace the Cook Group.

First, there is the mail-boat service. The mail-boats maintain a four-weekly time-table.

The boat going northwards from Wellington to San Francisco regularly calls at Rarotonga on the Saturday and the downward vessel from the States calls on the following Monday. From Saturday to Monday is known on the island as the ‘’Boat week-end.”

Secondly, there is a ‘‘fruit steamer” service to these islands from Auckland. This service is arranged, so that the visit to the islands falls about midway between mail-boat calls.

This year the Union Company has announced its cargo boat the ‘‘Kanna,” as the fruit vessel to run down to the Cook Islands from Auck land.

The mail-boats touch at Rarotonga only—they do not make a call at any of the other islands.

The ‘‘Kanna” (if it conformed to past itin eraries) would call at Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke and Mangaia as well as at Rarotonga—the port of entry and clearance.

Two privately-owned schooners ply between Rarotonga and the group of islands mentioned —a distance of between 110 and 140 miles.

The two schooners visit the northern islands (Penrhyn, Manihiki and Rakahanga) perhaps two or three times duryig the year.

These services constitute our lines of com munication between the Islands themselves and New Zealand.

The fruit season is now with us, and at the commencement the outlook for the season has been damped by the cancellation of the ‘‘Kanna” of her first trip to the islands of the Lower Group.

It seems almost certain that her expected second visit will not eventuate. The Union Company’s cargo boat ‘‘Waikawa,” now on her way down from San Francisco, will, in all probability, call at Mangaia and Aitutaki and pick up fruit for Auckland.

If she does call, it might create a dilemma, because of the fact that the cargoes picked up by her will deplete the two islands of their shocks without landing any for the next steamer that calls.

Both the schooners are away on a long cruise to the northern islands, returning to Rarotonga via Papeete. There is no means, therefore, of landing fruit cases at Aitutaki and Mangaia in readiness for a shipment of oranges by the ‘‘Kanna.” Positions such as these are, to say the least, extremely tormenting for our local shipping representatives.

However, so far as Rarotonga is concerned, a fair quantity of space for fruit is generally to be had on the mail-boats. ‘‘Makura’s” Orange Shipment.

By the R.M.S. ‘‘Makura,” which called here on April 25, remaining for two days loading fruit, some 13,300 cases of oranges went for ward to New Zealand.

Growers were paid something like 4/- a case (fruit only), the gross return of which, for the whole cargo, represent a timely accretion to the very limited amount of spending money that lately has come into the island.

Advice posted up at the Administrative offices is to the effect that the shipment sold at from 11/- to 14/6 a case (portion unsold).

In print, the difference between the price paid to the grower and that received at the market end, would indicate that those who consigned direct had done well.

After allowing for wastage, and meeting all incidental charges up to the time the fruit is knocked down to the buyer, 4/- or 5/- a case for the oranges is about all that would come back to the consignee—as a maximum.

Oranges going forward per the R.M.S. ‘‘Mono wai” on May 23 have had the benefit of a period of cooler and drier weather and will be firmer and sweeter possibly than the ‘‘Makura’s” shipment.