in Polynesia

No Pareu !

Minor Wartime Tragedy in Polynesia

From Our Owh Correspondent

Papeete, Dec. 10.

rAT useful article of merchandise, variously known as the Lava-lava, the Sulu, the Laplap and, at Tahiti, as the Pareu, is doomed to disappear from Central and Eastern Polynesia, unless something is done speedily to search out a new source of supply.

Since the ancient Tapa was discarded for European cotton-cloth, Tahitian Pareu have not departed from three standard styles then established:— • A flaming scarlet, splashed with floral designs in white, for the young and the frivolous-minded. • A rich navy-blue, similarly adorned, for sober-minded elders. • A solemn, unblemished black for church-deacons.

Worn by Tahitians, these kilts are gar ments of grace and dignity. A Euro pean arrayed in a Pareu appears as ridiculous as does a Hollywood blonde girded with an Hawaiian grass-skirt.

Nevertheless, most Europeans in the islands wear Pareu in the privacy of their homes, because they are more comfort able than pyjamas.

Standards of decorum are, to say the least, weird in our little island metropolis.

No European may appear on the high ways of Papeete clad in a Pareu. Shorts, with sandals, and even an unclad torso, are perfectly acceptable.

Should one appear in a Pareu —even though his other apparel should be com plete as that of a Scottish grenadier— he would be pounced upon, wrapped in a

blanket and hurried out of the sight of an outraged populace.

In like manner, a blonde tourist (and those who imitate her) may, with perfect propriety, appear on the highways of Papeete in a costume which, if exhibited on the stage or on the streets of Man hattan, would cause the “Little Flower” to summon his riot squads. Should she, however, add to that costume a chaplet of fragrant island gardenia, she would be frowned upon as one of doubtful re spectability, and shunned as an outcast.

Pareu-cloth, of superior quality and textile, has always come from England.

That from other countries has been off colour, inferior in weave and of short lasting quality.

Long ago, the last Pareu disappeared from the shelves of island shops. Already we are wearing faded, patched and darned Pareu; and some have been reduced to wearing kilts made from old curtains, tablecloths and bedspreads.

And so it will continue until the war is over.