Dutch Arrest Nine Japanese

Boats

The coastal guards of the Dutch East ■*' Indies arrested nine Japanese pearl ing boats in mid-February, in the Arafura Sea, on the ground that they were illegally in territorial waters, and took them to Port Dobo, in the Aroe Islands (westwards of Dutch New Guinea).

It was pointed out that there are now over 100 Japanese sampans in the Ara fura Sea, where they poach surreptitiously and are generally a nuisance to the Dutch.

The boat-owners appealed at once to the Governor of Wakayama, in which prefec ture their boats are registered; and the latter passed on the appeal to the Foreign Office. The Japanese claimed that the boats entered territorial waters owing to some emergency.

There was a good deal of argument between the Dutch and Japanese author ities, but eventually the Japanese boats were released.

Messrs. Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd. are

issuing 500,000 additional ordinary £1

shares, at par—their present lucky share

holders to have the first chance to sub scribe. The current market value of B.P, ordinaries is £3/19/-.

Store of mother-of-pearl shell, at Dobo, in Aroe Islands, where shelling is an important Dutch industry. The big man in this picture is Mr. Jardinc, an Australian, who was, known for years as the chief shell-trader in the Arafura Sea.