Notes Made In Wau

From a Special Correspondent.

WAU, June 1.

I HEAR that very soon Wau is to have its own laundry, which will be man aged by a laundress engaged from Australia. Some take the view that, as most households have their own wash and iron boys, wh,o can in addition be used for other domestic duties, the laun dry will not be largely patronised. How ever, that no doubt has been considered by the promoters. It certainly will be a blessing for people who wish to have ar ticles dry cleaned and pressed. To give them even to the best wash and iron boy would be courting disaster.

Athletic Club

Wau is taking an interest in the phy sical welfare of its juvenile population.

A meeting was called at the end of May and th,e Morobe District Amateur Ath letic Club was formed, to foster such ex ercises as boxing, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, dancing, etc. Mr. Vic. Flor ance heads a representative committee, and five patrons have been nominated.

More Buildings For Wau

The efforts of the newly established tennis club are bearing fruit, and the new club-house will soon be completed, replacing the kunai erection which has for long been misnamed “the kunai shel ter”. The contract for the erection of two Administration bungalows has been let to Messrs. Beaton and Streeter. And so Wau continues to expand, despite the oft-heard remarks of pessimists that it has had its day.

The Body In The Bag

The vigilance of Wau’s native police cannot be treated lightly these days. A Wau resident, unable to reform the ways of the household cat, chose to dispose of it, and about 10 o’clock one evening he made for a nearby water race with the body in the bag. On the way he passed a native constable; on his return, with out the bag, he passed the native con stable again. The following morning the peace-loving citizen found to his surprise that his actions had been deemed sus picious and had been reported to the Inspector.

“Gurias” Have Their Funny

Side

The “guria” which occurred here on May 13, causing for a few hours a dif ferent topic of conversation in the Ter ritory, and copy for a week for the Aus tralian press, has been regarded seri ously, although to those people on the spot it was not without its humorous side. The sight of several of Wau’s nor mally calm and dignified citizens rush ing for safety to the open in their night attire, was amusing. To the lady who remarked to me the following morning that the “gruyer” had smashed some of her crockery, I could think of nothing else to say but “hard cheese”.

Boot Repairing Business Opens

After an inconvenient interval with out a local boot-maker. Wau-ites are once again in a position to have their boots and shoes repaired locally, by Mr.

Chas. Lilley, who has recently commenc ed business. With Wau’s rocky roads there should be no dearth of work Mr. Fred D. McCarthy, ethnologist at the Australian Museum, Sydney, who re cently carried out scientific research work in the Dutch East Indies, will speak on those islands at the next meet ing of the Pacific Islands Club to be held at the Hotel Carlton on July 5.

Rev. A. H. Voyce, missionary of the New Zealand Methodist Church, who is stationed at Bougainville Island, was in New Zealand early in June spending furlough. He has been working on Bou gainville for the last 12 years.

Mr. J. (“Paddy”) Morrissey, Post master at Salamaua, reached Australia from New Guinea by the “Macdhui” on May 26, on three months’ leave.

Mr. Alwyn Watkins, Assistant Resi dent Magistrate at Samarai, Eastern Papua, arrived in Sydney by the May “Macdhui” on three months’ furlough.

He is at present at Newcastle, N.S.W., where he will spend most of his leave.