Them Worried

Mother And Daughter Have

RABAUL, New Guinea, has no more mother-in-law trouble than any other town. But it is seriously in convenienced. by the Mother and her two Daughters, named, respectively, North and South.

The Mother and Daughters are, of course (with Matupi and Vulcan) the volcanoes that ring Rabaul around and it is due to their interior rumblings that the town experiences frequent earth tremors. Some are severe and some axe very slight but they are a permanent feature of life there, carrying with them always the possibility of a full-scale eruption (as in 1937).

There are various standing-orders in Rabaul as to “What to Do if an Eruption Occurs,” and more recently, a manifesto was issued giving hints to householders in order that they might guard against the run-of-the-mill, or common, conse quences of the tremors.

They are advised to: (1) Brace all foundation piles and posts diagonally. (2) Brace all tank stands. (3) Hook all tall items of furniture back against solid sections of the wall. Fasten battens across shelves in which crockery and bottles are stored. (4) Avoid hanging heavy pictures and ornaments on walls in the vicinity of beds. (5) Extinguish all kerosene refrigera tors at the first sign of a dis turbance and evacuate the house carefully taking the fire ex tinguisher (which has been regu larly checked) with them.

It all makes for a little interest in the boredom of the daily round.