Influenza Now : Tourists
p. 16 · Read in the full issue
in the Future Grim Prospects in Tahiti From Our Own Correspondent
Papeete, Oct. 2
Notwithstanding twin epidemics of influenza and dengue fever, this island has cause for congratulation in that those breeders of disease, the honky-tonks, have been closed for a season.
The dengue fever arrived in the person of one convalescent who had lately come from a Pacific station where the disease is holding high carnival. Our mosquitoes fell upon him and have zealously carried the germs to our residents.
The honky-tonks have done for the influenza what thn mosquitoes have for the dengue fever.
This colony has had no dengue fever since 1910 or 1911 Another reason for congratulation is the announcement that the motor truck of the Bernard brothers will make a weekly tour of the west coast districts of Papeete and in accordance with existing: regulations and price-fixing orders, will sell the following goods, ex-the Revictual ling Service: 12 oz. cans of beef, 8f.75; 1 lb. cans of butter, 19f.50; bonito in oil. 9 francs per can; milk, per can, 6f.75: sugar, per kilo, 5f.50: Australian rice, per kilo. 5f .50; tea, per kilo, 90 francs; khaki cloth, 25 francs per metre. The implica tions from the sale of such goods are obvious.
Tourism For Tahiti?
SOME of our bright, forward-looking people are predicting that the Mat son Line will establish a service to Papeete, after the.war. The opinion of this writer is that the Matson Line would do so only on the condition that the Big Five be given full licence to exploit this colony as they have exploited Hawaii.
In such an event, every bright, for ward-looking individual would be driven out of business: the islands would speed ily be transformed into another Asiatic- Hollywood Blonde Melting-pot: the Booster Club would stir up pronaganda for political association .with Hawaii.
That would mean an eventual transfer of the islands to the Philippines Repub lic: for the only solution of the racial nroblem appears to be the placing of Hawaii under the sovereignty of the Manila Government—after the war has been won. Otherwise, every native son of the Golden West in the Pacific Coast States will come to an untimely end, through apoplexy. Already, the rumblings of the wrath to come are to be heard over the radio.
My opinion is that post-war tourism will gravitate to the Pacific battlefields: to Guadalcanal, to New Guinea, to the Caroline and Mariana Islands.
Such speculation is, however, of mat ters far in the future.