Facing The New

Year In Moresby

From a Special Cprrespundent

Port Moresby, Jan. 2.

ALTHOUGH the “River Mitta,” with its large cargo of long-awaited foodstuffs and Christmas cheer, arrived a week too late, Moresby’s resi dents managed to invest the Yuletide season with the customary festive air.

The stores were left with empty shelves on Christmas Eve, after a hectic rush on the limited supplies of gifts they had managed to dig up. Potatoes were hard to come by, and fewer still had beer with their Christmas dinner; but there was a large supply of spirits and European wines, and the freezer had capons for those who could afford them. No one was really short of “rations.” * * * ONCE again the RSL entertained the children of the town at a large scale party on the Saturday before Christmas.

With the tiny-tots plus children on vacation from schools in Australia, the town mustered over 200 youngsters—most of them in fancy-dress.

Each child received something from the Christmas tree, and Father Christ mas dropped in through a large chim ney specially constructed for his benefit.

The children were shown a programme of films, and the Royal Papuan Con stabulary Band played during the after noon.

Prizes for fancy-dress costumes were presented by His Honor, Mr. Justice Gore. * * * PORT MORESBY’S Court of Petty Sessions must have broken a few records, however, when it resumed after tjie Christmas break. Seventy seven natives were charged with drinking intoxicating liquor in this case pure alcohol diluted with water. They were all fined £lO, in default 3 months im prisonment. Four paid the fine; the others swelled the labour line at Bomana gaol. * * * AFTER another long spell without ships, New Year’s Day brought a fresh demonstration of the hack neyed maxim, “it never rains but it pours.”

In port at the one time were the “River Mitta,” “Christa,” “Empire Mountain,” and “Montoro.”

The “Montoro” did not receive a very warm welcome; she had left Lae with out loading a large stock of timber which has been on the wharf there waiting shipment to Moresby for some time, There is not a stick of timber in the town at the moment. * * * IN December the Administrator, Colonel J. K. Murray, paid a visit to Bulolo, NG. He was accompanied by Mr. J.

McAdam, chief of the Forestry Depart ment, and Dr. J. Gunther, Director of Public Health. * * * MR. JUSTICE PHILLIPS also spent much of December in New Guinea on Supreme Court circuit.

It was later announced that His Honor had travelled 12,000 miles on circuit during 1947, hearing cases at Manus, Rabaul. Lae, Wewak, Aitape, Madang and Mount Hagen. j . , , • The two Supreme Court judges keep mainly to their pre-waft ‘beats ’; Mr, Justice Gore’s “mileage” was not an nounced, but he also travels long dis tances in Papua, mainly by small craft.

Mr. And Mrs. Ted Washington,

well-known in Moresby are both back from leave in Australia. So

also is Mr. W. H. (“Bill”) Leydin, un tiring secretary of the Moresby Golf Club, Mr. Richard Gore, only son of Judge and Mrs. Gore, arrived recently as skipper of Mr. McDonald Richardson’s ship “Rouna Falls.” Miss Peggy Byron, who has been teaching the youngsters in the Moresby school, left for Australia for a short vacation in December; on her return she will go to the European School in Rabaul, where she was well known pre-war. Mr. E. B. Bignold,

Crown Law Officer and pre-war Mores by-ite, is on leave in Australia. An other to go on leave recently was Mr. G.

Wells, Deputy Registrar-General. Mr. J.

Smith and Mr. Young, of the British Phosphate Commission, recently passed through to inspect Disposals material at Milne Bay; Mr. Smith was on Nauru before the war, and is now attached to headquarters in Melbourne. Pastor Frame has replaced Pastor Mitchell as Superintendent of the Seventh Day Ad ventist Mission in Papua. Mr. and Mrs.

E. J. (“Pat”) Holmes and Miss Poppy Wall, old Rabaulites, have recently gone on leave. So also have Mr. and Mrs.

Brook Webb, who owe a similar allegiance to “the other side.” Indeed, a survey of Moresby’s administrative personnel re veals a lange number of former residents of New Guinea, few of whom would not prefer to be back in their old haunts.