Invitation for PM to “Try Rabaul Food"

“Try Rabaul Food"

DURING the height of the New Guinea controversy, the Melbourne “Herald” spoke by radio-phone to Miss Dorothy Stewart, who is manageress of the Cos mopolitan Hotel, Rabaul.

Miss Stewart is well known to Territori ans as the energetic secretary of the New Guinea Memorial Scholarship Fund. She is a young woman with a large bump of humour and a great deal of fighting spirit.

“Let the Prime Minister and the Min ister for Territories fly up here and try the food for themselves,” she told the “Herald.”

“See if they still think 90 per cent, of the locals’ claims are inaccurate after a few days on native vegetables.”

Miss Stewart explained that Rabaul had been out of fresh meat for two and a half months: there were no potatoes, no onions, no milk.

The last of the milk had gone two weeks before. Flour was “very low” and very poor. There was no benzine, no copra sacks for the planters.

There had been no beer for two months, but a few cigarettes were left.

Residents were living on canned meat, mainly “M & V” (meat and vegetables) and other service preparations, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, yams, and other native vegetables and tropical fruits.

They drank black tea or coffee —or water.

“No, we won’t starve.” said Miss Stewart, “But it’s getting awfully monotonous.”

Rabaul has been expecting a relief ship for weeks, she added. Now it seemed one would not arrive before mid-December.

Did she think they’d be able to hang out until it arrived?

Miss Stewart: “We’ll have to. that’s all Although, personally, I wouldn’t be sur prised if it didn’t turn up until March.”

Miss Stewart said that apart from the war she had been in and out of New Guinea for 20 years. She had been manageress of the Cosmopolitan since July. The number of guests at the hotel varied from 40 to 80. They were mainly business men visiting their plantations, planters visiting different parts of the Territory, commercial travellers and American crews down from Manus, where they were on survey work.