Lae Foreshore Slips Into Sea.

IT was officially reported at the end of August that about five acres of the foreshore at Lae to the east wards of the aerodrome had slipped down into the sea, and that the wharf, the travelling crane, 3 sheds and 100 yards of railway line had also dis appeared.

It appears that the wharf, railway and shed were owned by the Bulolo Gold Dredging Company, whose aerial transport service is operated by Guinea Airways, Limited. Mr. L. V. Water house, technical director of Bulolo Gold Dredgings, Ltd., stated in Sydney on September 3 that his Company had al ready made arrangements for a new wharf to be built on firmer ground and that a new steam crane was being sent to Lae by the Macdhui at the end of September.

The Chairman of Guinea Airways, Ltd., Mr. C. V. T. Wells, in a letter to the Pacific Islands Monthly remarked, “We do not yet know all the facts regarding the subsidence at Lae, but one thing is perfectly clear, and that is that it was a greatly exaggerated report. Perhaps it would be more cor rect to say that the construction placed on the report in Australia was greatly exaggerated. The subsidence was in the far corner of the Bay, which is low-lying and spongy ground, some of it below sea level. There is nothing to indicate that such a subsidence would be likely or possible on the settled sec tion of Lae.”

The cause of the subsidence is discussed in an article in this issue dealing Avith the rival claims of Salamaua and Lae.