The Month In Moresby

From Our Own Correspondent

iHE future never stays bright for Terri tory public servants for very long.

The promise of re-classification ary increases has now been followed the reintroduction of electricity rates New Guinea and the doubling of the mer flat rate for Moresby.

Residents of Lae, Rabaul and Madang, 0 have been getting free power since ; war, will also have to make ad.iust nts in their family budgets to cover ctricity charges. leaction of Moresby residents to the rease in their flat rate was mainly ithetic. In their view, post-war elec ;ity charges here have never been any ng but excessive; another increase ;s not make any difference. [he increase was made to bring the t rate up to the level of the meter e. It would have been unfair, say tne horities, for people without meters to cheaper power than those with meters, [hat problem, of course, could have in solved by cutting the meter rate to 1 level of the flat rate; but apparently i authorities reasoned that people could nd the shock of an increase much ter than the shock of a decrease, loresby residents may get a little ironic lusement out of the fact that one son why electricity was free on the v Guinea side, was that the supply was ,rt-time and intermittent.” yhile the Administration continues to to make a profit out of the electricity vice, our only hope of cheap power ms to lie in a hydro-electric scheme at Lina Falls. This idea is still being nsidered.” ♦ * * DMINISTRATION representatives are at present attending conferences in India and Egypt. Chief of the Divi i of Animal Industry, Mr. W. Granger, ; on September 22 for Cairo where a iference is being held on livestock eding in tropical and sub-tropical ntries. Then, on September 29, Miss Lachlan, of the Education Department, ; for India to attend a UNESCO con mce on rural adult education. Mr. mger was one of two Australian dele es to the Cairo meeting and Miss Me dian was the only Australian delegate the UNESCO Conference. Mr. mger will be away two weeks and Miss Lachlan about six weeks. ♦ ♦ ♦ OR about £llO, Moresby people can now fly direct to Hongkong. A Qantas Skymaster calls at Moresby ry second Tuesday on its way from iney to Labuan and Hongkong. It re ns via Darwin. Qantas has increased passenger fares in the Territory by mt 10 per cent., which makes the gle fare between Moresby and Sydney /5/-. • * * LOCAL builder, Mr. C. L. Large, has . contracted to build 25 houses in Moresby in the next two years—l 2 the Administration, eight for Civil iation and five for the Meteorological tion of the Department of the Interior, e contract price is £50,000. This in ates the growth that can be expected Moresby in the next few years. With v land practically unobtainable in the m itself, people are going further and ther out of town in their search for Iding sites. When the Administration ;ns up five hundred acres of land bet sn the four-mile and Jackson’s Strio, lew and important residential area will ing up as fast as building materials i be obtained. It is now many months ce it was bought, but the land is still

not surveyed and the Lands Department can give no indication as to when this work will start.

There are not sufficient surveyors for the work. ♦ * ♦ REALISING that the only way Moresby will get a swimming pool quickly is for residents to pay for it themselves, a group of people, headed by Mr. Jack Lyons, is going into the question of costs, etc., so that these facts can be put be fore a public meeting.

It is proposed to build concrete sea water baths on Ela Beach. They would fill at high tide and hold the water at low tide; outlets would allow the water to be changed frequently.

THE fire brigade had some excitement early on the morning of September 26, when a car owned by Mr. Tom Grahamslaw caught fire and the flames spread to House Champion, senior ad ministration officers’ mess, alongside which the car was parked. The car was burnt out, the walls of Mr. Graham slaw’s room were scorched and some of his belongings were burnt but the brigade kept the fire from spreading further. * * ♦ A REQUEST by Moresby RSL that the War Service Homes Act be extended to Papua and New Guinea is being considered by the Minister for Works and Housing. If the extension is made, local ex-servicemen who want to build homes will be able to borrow money from the Government at low interest rates. Ex servicemen interested should contact their branch secretaries so that some idea can be gained as to whether exten

sion of the Act to the Territory would be justified. * ♦ TWO big Christmas tree parties will be held in Moresby this December —one by the Murray Heights Club on the 10th and one by the RSL on the 17th.

The RSL is restricting its party to child ren of members as it considers that there

are now too many children here to en tertain them at one party. Even with this limit, the RSL is expecting 200 children at its party. * * * TWELVE trainee drillers, whom the Australasian Petroleum Company sent to America for a nine months’ training course, have returned to Aus tralia and nine are already in Papua. One trainee, Mr. H. F. Eggington, was con sidered newsworthy in Australia by virtue of the fact that he brought back an American wife whom he married a year ago when she was only 15. * * ♦ SEX offences by natives against Euro pean women are increasing in Moresby. One of the most common offences is “entering a dwelling with in tent to indecently insult or annoy,” for which the maximum penalty is a year’s gaol. Cases of this sort arise every few weeks. It is not generally known that a conviction for this type of offence auto matically debars a native from entering any town in Papua—a wise practice which should never be discontinued.

Moresby police are usually successful in tracing native sex offenders and normally, they treat these offences with appropriate seriousness; but in one case recently the investigating officer made it clear to the woman concerned that he thought it was all rather funny. Perhaps his attitude would have been different if the woman had been the wife of a high Government official. * * * THE Movaru Variety Company’s first presentation, “Blue Horizon of 1949,” was well received. More than 500 people attended the performances at the Papuan Theatre on September 27 and October 4 and some people had to be turned away. Half the proceeds will go to the Red Cross. Producer George Red knap is already planning another show, “Vogues of 1950,” which will be staged at the end of January. * * * THE brief Rugby League season in Moresby has ended impressively with a sports afternoon during which races and other contests were held and two football matches were played. A good crowd attended, indicating that

public interest will be high for the nea season, which begins about April. In th main football match, the Maganis, wh were beaten only once this season, de feated Paga Hill, 3-nil. An Old Buffer match resulted in a win for Grout Gorillas over Field’s Foxes by 5 to 3.

Next season it is hoped to have tb ground in better condition, to have moi teams and to make a trip to New Guinei Wau invited a Moresby team to visit thei this year but funds were not availatal It might be a good idea in future if tt home and the visiting team combine to raise the cost of a visit. Gate taking would reduce the cost to the home team • ♦ ♦

Mr. Graham Svensen And Mil

Frances Hibberd were married at tl Moresby Registry Office on Septen ber 22. Witnesses were Miss Betty Bak( and TMr. Hal Herriott. Mr. Svensen acting curator of parks and gardens. Tl couple have made their home at Kila. * * *

Miss Ivy Grahamslaw, Of Ot

married Mr. Frank Middleton, < APC, at the Catholic Churc Moresby, on October 3. Miss Dali; Baldwin was bridesmaid and Mr. Mi( Middleton, the bridegroom’s brother, wi best man. The reception was held at tl golf club. Mr. and Mrs. Middleton w: spend their honeymoon in Australia. • * ♦ AT St. John’s Church of England ( October 1, Miss Jean Ross, of Stear ships Trading Company, was marri( to Mr. Ron Auld, of the Civil Aviatk Department. Miss Alma Youngblutt w bridesmaid and Mr. George Buckley be man. The couple will make their hor in Moresby. ♦ ♦ ♦ RECENT births in Moresby included son to Mr. and Mrs. Vince Neilse: a son to Mr. and Mrs. Max Lan a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Harold Foie a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Large; son to Mr. and Mrs. George Gough; son to Mr. and Mrs. lan Loudon: and son to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Steele. * * ♦ AMONG those who. arrived in Mores on the last Bulolo were the Direct of Shipping, Mr. Leighton, who h been on sick leave for many months; IV A. W. Anderson: Mrs. I. Grenville; M B. Hawks; Miss J. Niness; Mr. H. Tr mayne; and Miss V. Roberts. * * * Mr. and Mrs. Nigel Moon, who we married in Sydney recently, have r turned to Moresby. Mrs. Moon w formerly Miss Jane Ferrier. * * • Mr. and Mrs. H. Briggs and M: Dorothy Briggs left on the October Buk to spend their leave in Sydney and M( bourne.