Tropicalities

THE social life of Apia is not devoid of amusing incidents, and European residents, usually belonging to this or that clique, find the social game interest ing and entertaining. A certain highly placed official organised a champagne dinner and a dance at a certain place of entertainment recently. He had inten tionally and pointedly, for reasons of his own, omitted to invite to his party, given in honour of several distinguished visitors to Samoa, some of the more prominent residents of his set, who con sidered this omission a deliberate slight offered to them. They quickly decided to get even with their friend, and organized a “counter” dinner and dance on a much larger scale at another place of enter tainment, but at the identical time. Of the two parties, that of the official was a complete washout, while the “counter” party proved to be a huge success, form ing a welcome topic of conversation for several days on the Beach. Since then relations have been somewhat strained between the various sets of Apian society. * * * A SYDNEY journal, noted for the inti mate character of its social revelations, has announced, in a “front page story,” that Prince Henry became dis creetly gay in Suva. It is stated that the first evidence of His Highness’s determi nation to break away from official bore dom was seen at the Government Ball in Suva when, after a couple of duty dances, the Royal eye fell upon Miss Marjorie Harcourt, “the tall, blue-eyed, dark-haired daughter of a well-known Fiji family’’; and that he danced with her far more often than with any one girl during his tour. Later, at a private Government House dance, Miss Harcourt was again the favourite. At the conclusion of this function, the Prince clambered from his room down a fire-escape, and joined a merry “bacon-and-eggs” party at the house of a well-known bachelor. Here, His Highness again met Miss Harcourt and (says the newspaper, with a journal istic smack of its lips) he escorted the young lady home at 4 a.m. * * * MR. W. R. CARPENTER, since he pur chased the motor vessels “Rabaul” and “Salamaua” for the Pacific Ocean- Europe trade, has experienced some of the joys of trans-ocean shipowners. The “Rabaul,” en route to London from New Guinea, called at Darwin at the end of February; and had to lie there four days before a berth was available.

Then, because of the notorious “go slow” tactics of the wharf workers, and partly because of the lowness of the tide, she had to leave the berth with only about half of the 50 tons of pearl shell she was to have loaded for the London market.

When the Rabaul moved out into the channel, police searched the ship and found two men, who had stripped off all their clothing, owing to the excessive heat.

They were hiding underneath the cargo of copra in a forward hold. Soon afterwards, another stowaway was discovered among the cargo in the after hold. They were taken ashore by the police.

A search was also made for two men (one a prominent Communist), who went aboard early in the morning, but who were not seen to come ashore. They had not been found when the Rabaul finally clear ed the harbour.

Darwin was included in the itinerary of this new line because it was believed that added shipping facilities would assist in the development of the Northern Ter ritory. What with one thing and another, the shipowners must be wondering whether any public spirit is worth while, after all.

Later: Officially announced that no more Carpenter ships will call at Darwin. * * * JAPANESE cruisers will be seen in Is lands ports during the coming year. The training squadron cruisers Asama and Yakumo, under the command of Rear- Admiral Kanesaburo Nakamura, with 180 cadets, sailed from Yokosuka on Feb ruary 20, via Hongkong and Singapore, arriving at Fremantle on April 13. The cruisers will visit Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, and New Zealand, returning via Suva, Apia, Honolulu, and the Man dated Islands. * * *

Congratulations To Mr. Jack

Hides, Papuan A.R.M., on the birth of a daughter. The happy event occurred in Camden, New South Wales, at the end of February. Both doing well. Jack Hides will not receive these congratula tions, nor recognise the glad thrill of proud paternity, for some months yet; because Mr. Hides is leading an explor ing expedition in the far interior of un known Papua. He disappeared, accord ing to plan, beyond the headwaters of the Fly River in January, and if all goes well his expedition will re-appear in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, somewhere between Mount Hagen and the Sepik River, about May.

Messrs. Blackie, London, will publish this year a book recently written by Mr.

Hides. * * * WE beg to make formal protest against the continued use of “British” Solo mon Islands. The word “British” actu ally has no meaning. At the beginning of the century, as the result of some terri torial adjustments in the Pacific, the Northern Solomon Islands (Bougainville and Buka) went to Germany, while the remainder of the Solomons remained British. Thenceforward, we had the British and the German Solomons. But, in 1914, Germany lost her Pacific terri tories; and in 1920 Bougainville and Buka were included, with New Ireland and New Britain, as part of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, and now virtually part of the British Empire, The use of the term “British” Solomons, therefore, has been quite unnecessary since 1920, and, indeed, absurd, and confusing to the people of the younger generation. * * * MR. A. H. E. SCOTT, who has just retired from the service of the Union Bank of Australia, joined that staff in Fiji in 1889; and he has told the newspapers some interesting things about that period. Fiji in 1893 was not linked by cable with the outside world. One day the mail steamer arrived with sufficient bullion aboard for the bank to make possible the immediate discharge in gold, if necessary, of all the Union Bank's liabilities to its Fijian customers. A mystified local manager rubbed his eyes.

Letters and newspapers brought by the steamer soon made things clear. The first great Australian banking crisis had arrived, and. the bank was determined not to risk suspension of payments even

by the most remote of its branches. But the run on the Fiji branch began and ended with a single customer, who was back next day to deposit the gold he had withdrawn. He did not redeposit it. The bank took the stand that it had no fur ther desire for his business. * * * A CHEERFUL letter is to hand from Mr. I. H. Grabowsky, general manager of Guinea Airways, Ltd., who recently underwent an operation in Melbourne and had one of his legs amputated. He now is making a satis factory recovery from his serious illness.

“I was particularly ‘tickled’ with your statement that I would be a better man with a wooden leg,” writes “Grab.” “I am in agreement with that fact myself and, to put it quite frankly, I was darned glad to get rid of the one that had been causing so much trouble.

“I do not know what my personal boys in New Guinea will think when I pass them over a perfectly good artificial leg to play around with and polish up. They tell weird stories about Shark-eye Park’s eye and artificial teeth, so there may be a few running around about the collapsible leg.”