Tropicalities

1 T \ s . an 1 astomshln g thing that, in all the long water-frontage of Suva, vi... n ° f sats5 at 5 ha l been pro " ivr d^ d /oi the students of the Suva Medical School. This large group of careyoung men, from all over the South pac !fic, contmns keen swimmers and athletes of all kinds, and one would have supposed that a swimming bath for their use would have been one of the

first facilities provided. There is a swim ming bath in Suva for Europeans and another for the Indian population! But the Indian bath apparently has never been used—it was one way in which the Indians have shown resentment of a dis tinction made between Europeans and Indians Is there any reason why the unused Indian bath should not be made available for the medical students? « IN a Sydney “movie-fan” magazine last month:— fo« h £ r,e * S Lau s hton (‘‘Captain Bligh t, wife Elsa NOUS'S M nd , Jon HaU go lit. ,h?

'can?, f?‘, sto / y - ‘ Tattles of Tahiti", y” cant fool any of them on tropic atmosnherc Laughton and Elsa soaked it up in the celluloid lITT'L Mau * ha “’s ‘ Beachcmnber \ cane’\° n th<? ° ther N - and H - “m-tale “Hur ri : KiSrfyJff app f ar T s that Messrs. Charles Tahiti ff nroh d M Jan Norman Hall, of probably to-day’s best known y have ‘‘clicked” once again.

Their outstanding trilogy, “Mutiny” (the mad y e fnt? 6 which was lafSr S> ade --P f fil^ l >’ ‘ Men A S a inst the bea and Pitcairn’s Island I ’, won fame and fortune for them a couple of years a f°- ever y thin S from their pens has been eagerly snapped up bv American publishers providing of agents to' it C ° Uld b6at the Hcdiywood /fifties of Tahiti” was originally pub -Qof d top-flight American weekly ? a^ rday . Ey enmg Post”, under the title February 1M0). “ PIM ” Tropicalties ' • PIDGIN English, the Lingua Franca of Melanesia, contains many quaint words and phrases that are self evident; for instance, few could mistake house wash wash” (bathroom), “glass look look” (hand mirror), “Masta grass” (bearded man), or “Go catchim bore now secrew belong turnim” (I want the brace and bit). But there are other terms whose origin is not so clear—one, in particular, being “maski”, a word widely used m New Guinea, meaning “never mind or “it doesn’t matter”. A “PIM” subscriber suggests that “maski” is a relic from the days when the Germans held New- Guinea—a contraction of “macht nicht” which literally is “makes nothing”.

Mangaia, we were discussing the V/ freak weather experienced in the Pacific during recent years,” writes a Cook Islands correspondent, “when up spoke one old-timer:— “ ‘We used to get weather pretty good and calm in these here parts years ago.

But when they opened that there bloomin’ Panama Canal and let the cold, rough Atlantic in—well, it’s never been the same since.’

“I’ve never heard that one before!” ♦ ADDRESSING the Pacific Islands Society, last month, Mr. J. T. Ben sted, former MLC of Papua, told of the manner in which salutes were fired in Port Moresby in the “early days”, when visiting dignitaries and officials arrived. Having nothing heavier than a shot-gun or a Schneider carbide, dyna mite was placed in large biscuit tins and spaced at regular intervals around the hillside. When the great moment came, the local gaoler w r ould race frantically from tin to tin, lighting the fuses with a fire-stick, and then dive for cover.

Dr. Rose, of Rarotonga, returned re cently to the Cook Islands, after furlough spent in New- Zealand.

Mr. Jack Salzman arrived in Sydney in September from Naniu, Papua, where he is attached to the New Guinea Mission staff. After a short stay in Sydney, he later proceeded North to Brisbane where he will complete his furlough.

Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Kienzle and family arrived in Australia from Papua recently.

Mr. Kienzle is well known in the Yodda district as manager of Yodda Goldfields, Ltd., and he will spend several weeks' holiday in Australia.