Fined £100

A FIJIAN, Neori Balawa, master of a cutter called “Tui Makasi”, was fined £lOO, in December, for attempting to overload his vessel on a proposed trip from Suva to Kadavu.

The little ship is licensed to carry one passenger and a crew of five. In view of the war situation, the Customs De partment allowed a total of 14 to be carried to Kadavu. But the officials saw the ship trying to leave with no less than 135 passengers aboard. Thev ordered the excess passengers off, and the cutter did not sail. Next morning, the cutter left port with excess passen gers, and the Customs officials gave chase and caught her outside the reef, where there was a punt-load of Fijians waiting to join her. Apart from the people on the punt, the officials found 102 people on board.

The defendant said that the people insisted upon going aboard his cutter, declaring that they would rather die in Kadavu than in Suva.

Mrs. Massy Baker, of Kerema, Papua, who is making her first visit to Austra lia for 25 years, fell down in Sydney last week and broke her arm. She is making a good recovery.

Mrs. James Ewen, wife of the manager of the Kokopo branch of Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd., New Guinea, died in Sydney early in January after a serious opera tion. She was well known and highly esteemed in Rabaul and Kokopo. Her daughter, Miss June Ewen, is a member of the NG public service. Mr. and Mrs.

Ewen lived in Fiji for about 10 years and in 1926 they made their home in New Guinea.

The NZ Prime Minister, Mr. P. Fraser, paid a short visit to Fiji in the latter part of December. He conferred in Suva with the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific and Governor of Fiji (Sir Harry Luke). There was much to discuss—for the Japanese war was then developing seriously, and NZ appears to be equally interested with the British authorities in the defence of Fiji, Samoa and the islands to the northward.