Beauty of Polished Wood
p. 75 · Read in the full issue
Unique Products Of
Samoa
AN industry, known as Island Wood craft Syndicate, which seems to have attractive possibilities, has been estab lished in Apia, Western Samoa, by Mr.
C. E. Hall, and a group of Apia business men.
Mr. Hall has an expert knowledge of Samoan woods. He can, for instance, go out into the swamp country, collect cer tain varieties of mangrove, season them and “pickle” them in various ways; and from the woods thus prepared he and his locally-trained cabinet-makers produce a variety of articles of extraordinary beauty.
These Samoan woods have a remarkable grain; and, when polished, they are quite unique. Mr. Hall produces a wide range of articles, from vases to salad-forks, from tea-trays to cigar-boxes; and visi tors to Samoa take only one look, and then dig deep into the family purse.
Samoa’s tourist traffic, as the result of lack of communication, a fantastic liquor system, and “old granny” government, is practically non-existent. The new ser vice by the Matua, however, should give the Syndicate a chance to send its pro ducts regularly to Suva, which is right in the stream of trans-Pacific traffic. The articles have so much beauty, distinc tion and artistic merit that they have only to be shown to be bought.
Mr. C. D. Broome, Medical Officer in the N.G. Administration, arrived in Aus tralia on furlough by the Neptuna early in August.