Alleged Overcharge and a
p. 98 · Read in the full issue
Fuss On Makatea
Alleged Overcharge and a Burned Store
Papeete, July 22.
4 BOUT the middle of July, a report reached Papeete that there had been some sort of uprising among the Cook Islanders (mostly Mangaians and
Rarotongans, who are British subjects) who are engaged as labourers on the French phosphate island of Makatea.
The acting British Consul, Mr. George Hunt, hurriedly engaged transport and left for Makatea.
But it was a fuss about nothing. A Cook Islander.
Ta Kavakura, went to the shop of a Chinaman, Ah Siou, to buy a pair of trousers. He claimed that he was grossly overcharged for the article.
The trader denied an over charge. Ta Kavakura evi dently brooded over it; and on Sunday, July 10, when he had partaken freely of strong
liquof, he decided bn vengeahce. He went to Ah Siou's store with a bottle of kerosene and some matches, and the store was destroyed by fire. He was promptly arrested.
Mr. Hunt found no disorder. Ta Kavakura was in gaol, and his fellow workers were grieving over him, but were quite quiet. So Mr. Hunt returned promptly to Tahiti, in time to enjoy the July 14 celebrations; and he brought Ta Kavakura with him, to stand trial for arson.
This photograph shows the “Ocean Queen,’’ which wa[?] wrecked on Makatea, on her first Pacific voyage, in 1910 [?] 1911. The land in the distance looks just like the entrance t[?] Sydney Harbour; but it is part of the hump-backed phosphat[?] island of Makatea.