Neighbours !

A Wail From Polynesia

ANYONE who has read “Vailima Let ters” may have noticed that Mrs.

Stevenson’s headaches, frequently mentioned in letters to Sydney Colvin, usually coincided with those periods when the great Tusitala consoled him self with his flagolet.

So, peace and order in many a house hold and neighborhood is often wrecked by some piercing, monotonous noise. A friend of ours has told of a typical example that turned a scene of tropical splendour into a hell of shrieking horror.

Not so very far from Vailima a num ber of quiet-loving people set up a com munity. They builded their houses in the centre of half-acre parcels of land, planted fruit trees about their dwellings and for years enjoyed the felicity they had hoped to establish.

But, when buying their land, the founders of this little community had neglected a strip of territory bordering a river bank, hard by, having regarded it as wasteland liable to inundation. One morning they awoke to discover three individuals had taken possession—a Chinaman, an Euronesian of Teutonic ancestry, and one of De Valera’s merry men.

Established side-by-side, this Sino- Teutonic-Celtic Confederation became a goading thorn in the side of the hitherto peaceful community. The Chinaman kept guinea-fowl, whose raucous cries echoed through the night. He was also a merchant of bootleg fiery waters, and the clamors of thirsty revellers about his door through the small hours of the night disturbed the slumbers of the neighborhood.

The De Valera man made his presence known by the most poisonous of gramo phones, that bellowed “On the Road to Mandelay” until the neighbours prayed fervently that both the singer and the De Valera man would arrive speedily not only at Mandelay but at a much more celebrated place, glowing with fire and brimstone.

It remained for the Teutonic Eurone sian, however, to devise a species of tor ture worthy of the Gestapo of his ancestors. He had, first, to get the con sent of his Chinese and Celtic neigh bours—which was readily given.

Suddenly the quiet of the once peace ful community was shattered by a metal lic shriek which instantly put the rental value of every residence within a quar ter of a mile to exactly zero. The Teu tonic Euronesian had installed a saw mill, operated by a petrol motor!

The peace of that community has gone forever and it will probably degenerate into a slum. The outcome will probably be that the authorities will introduce a zoning system to protect this and other residence districts from outrage by sel fish and inconsiderate people.

Sir Maynard and Lady Hedstrom have recently returned to Fiji after two and a-half years’ stay in the United States.

Sir Maynard had gone to USA, seeking expert medical assistance, late in 1941: and, when Pacific services were dislocated by the Japanese invasion, they were unable to return, and so made a tem porary home in California.

Mr. H. S. Wynne, formerly of the Vacuum Oil Company in Rabaul, TNG, is now with the same company in Towns ville, Queensland. He was recently “re leased for industry,” after three years’ service with the Australian Military Forces.