Salamaua Doomed.

New Port Sought For Morobe Goldfield.

NO official announcement has yet been made concerning a report recently completed by Mr. Thornton, a Fed eral Public Works engineer, who inves tigated conditions at Salamaua, the port of the New Guinea goldfields.

Salamaua is built on a narrow spit of land, behind which large steamers may find shelter. It is not an ideal port, but it was the nearest point to the Morobe goldfield, 50 miles up in the interior, the exploitation of which was commenced some seven years ago.

There is now a substantial township there, but there has been a doubt for some time about the permanence of the place, owing to the constant sea-erosion that has been going on. A large sec tion of the sand spit has been washed away.

Salamaua is merely the terminal of the bush-tracks, which go over the pre cipitous mountains to Wau. Eight miles north there is another township, Lae, which is near the mouth of the Mark ham River. Lae is the headquarters of the Guinea Airways Service, which is responsible for most of the transport between the coast of New Guinea and the goldfield, and a large proportion of the goldfields cargo is now unloaded at Lae instead of Salamaua. It is a poor port, however. There is no shelter worth mentioning, and cargo is lightered ashore.

Mr. Thornton went to New Guinea last year to inspect Salamaua and, if conditions there did not warrant its continued use as a port, to suggest al ternative sites for a port. We under stand that he has reported that Sala maua is so subject to erosion that its further use is not recommended. We have, as yet, no indication as to what he recommends as an alternative.

It is likely that some sharply con flicting views will be submitted. It is known that General Wisdom, late Ad ministrator, favoured the building of a port at Lae, with a road up the Mark ham Valley and the Markham’s south ern tributaries, to the goldfield.

Others believe that Lae is hopeless, and urge instead the selection of Mad ang, with the building of a new road, or railway, across the, head waters of the Ramu and Markham to the goldfields.

This would represent a much greater distance between the goldfields and the goldfields port, but such a road would open up a large area of rich, agricul tural country.

On the other hand, if there is no necessity for a road or railway—that is, if future transport can be handled by aeroplanes, as in the past—the pre sent landing facilities at Lae, with a possible alternative as required at Salamaua, may meet the situation.

The Salamaua situation probably will receive the consideration of the new Director of Public Works (Mr. Potts), who has just been appointed.

A falling off in the production of copra is reported from the Madang dis trict of New Guinea. Dry seasons dur ing the past two years are responsible for this.