W. Samoa is Still Short
p. 63 · Read in the full issue
of Medical Officers
From Our Own Correspondent
Apia, Oct. 26.
THE Medical Department of the Terri tory of Western Samoa is still understaffed, and instead of the six Medical Officers provided for in the plan of development, there are only three serving at present.
For a population of 75,000 this must be considered wholly insufficient. The New Zealand Government finds it ex tremely difficult to obtain medical officers willing to accept appointment in its island service. Fiji, also, experiences dif ficulties in recruiting medical officers. (It is interesting to note that Papeete, Tahiti, has 11 medical officers, presum ably private practitioners, for a popu lation of 8,000. Apia has a population of some 10,000.) Efforts are being made at present to obtain the services of a young medical man, Dr. Thieme, who is now practising in Germany. Dr. Thieme, who is Samoa born, is the son of a well-known German surgeon, who had a great reputation for daring and successful operations per formed amongst Europeans and Samoans.
He died during World War 1.
During the week-end of October 15-16 two incidents with tragic results occurred near Apia, Western Samoa. At the village of Vailutai a young Chinese-Samoan, Tafega, after a quarrel killed a young Samoan, Silipa, by fatally stabbing him with a knife. At the village of Papauta, near Apia, a pastor of the London Mis sionary Society, Nu’usila Samuelu Manu, was found outside a Samoan house .killed by revolver shots in the left shoulder and side. Police are Investigating.
Three Solomon Islander members of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission, sailed in MV Muliama, on October 15, for Sydney, to embark on two years’ work in translating the Old Testament into the Marovo (BSD language. All are natives from Marovo, the three (Pastors Rini, Pana and Tasa) will work under the di
rection of Pastor A. R. Barrett, for many years a missionaryTn BSI, and will live at Tuggerah Lakes (NSW). The cost of the translation is being covered by native SDA followers who wish to add the Old Testament to the translation of the New Testament already given them by the Mission.