Bender

L`Ae Goes On A Meat

But No Beer Yet!

Lae, October 3.

THE September “Montoro” brought about 60 tons of freezer cargo to Lae—and nothing else. Twenty tons of this was for the hotel; the rest went into BP’s freezer —it was calculated that it would serve the district until the next “Montoro” was due.

But someone miscalculated the dis trict’s meat hunger. Within the first week the local population—including the Chinese community—had purchased 40 pounds of meat per head! To-day the freezer is again empty.

Even allowing for the fact that there had been no. fresh meat in the township for months, 40 lbs per head in one week seems an impossible feat. Apparently the large purchases are the result of panic-buying and domestic refrigerators in the area must now be overloaded —and a domestic refrigerator will not keep meat indefinitely.

No other foodstuffs came on the “Mon toro.” Groceries, canned goods, beer, etc., are expected on the “Reynella,” which should be in about October 12. Store shelves are practically bare, and rice and trade meats are unobtainable. Employ ers are feeding their boys on bread at 2/- per 4 lb loaf —and anything else they can get—no encouragement to have a line of boys, even if they were procur able.

The elaborate ration scale set out by the Administration is a farce while essential goods, which go towards making it, are unobtainable.

But despite the shortages of rice, meat, sugar and matches in Lae, shipments of these commodities have recently been sent from here to Moresby. No one knows why the needs of Moresby, which had had food ships, should be consid ered greater than those of Lae and other centres.

Most Territorians, when they came back, brought several months’ stores with them; but it seems unfortunate that the large stocks held by Common wealth Disposals Commission here could not have been utilised in some way.

One resident who returned in May in terviewed the local branch of the CDC and intimated that he would be inter ested in anything up to £lOOO worth of ex-Army stores. He was haughtily told that CDC was not interested in “small orders” —anything below £3OOO was not worth considering.

No one actually goes hungry in Lae, but canned food is deadly monotonous and definitely non-morale-building.