Fined for Possessing Opium

From Our Own Correspondent

Noumea, Mar. 16.

rE opium traffic has not been much in the news since this port has been cut off from Indo-China and other Eastern countries.

The other day, however, a Tonkinese named Dao Van Nhuong, chief steward on the “Polynesien,” which plies between Noumea and Sydney, was found with the drug in his possession. He was fined 5,500 francs —about £33.

Following a vote by the New Caledonian Assembly, Noumea Hospital will in future treat maternity patients free of charge.

Free treatment is also being given to volunteers returned from the front.

Bonuses which mothers of large families receive for their children are also being increased.