Madang Newsletter

From Our Own Correspondent MADANG, April 29.

DURING their recent visit to Madang. the Australian Minister for External Territories and External Affairs, Mr.

Spender, and his wife stayed with the dis trict officer and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. C.

Bates. In the official party were the Ad ministrator, Col. J. K. Murray; the Sec retary for Department of External Terri tories, Mr. J. R. Halligan; the Director of Planning and Development, Mr. J. H.

Jones; general manager in New Guinea for Qantas, Mr. Norm Denny; and Mr.

Spender’s personal secretary.

During his visit, Mr. Spender saw repre sentatives of all sections of the business community, various departments of the Administration and natives in their villages. Two announcements pleased the district very much. That consideration will be given to extending native labour contracts to two years; and the promise of a High School at Wau, before the end of the year.

Mr, Spender replied to a suggestion by the Planters’ Association that he would not permit a return to private recruiters as it would flout world opinion too much.

Two jetties for small craft were pro mised for Madang in the near future.

A buffet dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bates gave Mr. and Mrs. Spender an opportunity for meeting representatives from various departments, missions, and private enterprise. Later in the evening they were welcomed at the Madang Social Club and met other members of the com munity.

Wherever the Minister and his wife went, residents were impressed by his personality and by his wife’s outstanding poise and charm.

METRO GOLDW'yn MAYER repre

sentative, Mr. Noel Forde has been in the Territory to interview picture theatre owners and managers. A library supplying one new film a month and orner films in Port Moresby will be at disposal of theatres.

THE Anglican Bishop of Papua and New Guinea, The Rt. Rev. P. N. Strong, visited Madang in mid-April as guest of the district officer, Mr. Bates and Mrs.

Bates. He was given the opportunity of meeting people in the district at an afternoon tea given by Mrs. Bates. His visit was made to discuss the formation of a church in Madang. During the visit the Bishop conducted services and com munion in the European School.

ONE hectic week-end was spent by Madangites in Rabaul at Easter.

Basketball, tennis, cricket, baseball, swimming, billiards and snooker were participated in by the two teams while rain stopped much of the play at Ko kopo. Two wins were recorded for Madang in tennis and basketball.

MRS PERKINS of Potsdam is in Madang hospital at present. She has been in the Territory for 37 years and this is her first trip to Madang from Potsdam in four years. She says that Potsdam residents have lost their weekly refrigeration plane service owing to the sudden (and unexplained) closing

of the Aerodrome. As the drome was kept in order by Mr. Rouse, as his own ex pense, this seems unusual. In Mrs. Per kin’s case, it meant an unexpected delay of medical attention for more than a week. At times a delay like this could mean life or death to planters and their families.

MR. TOM CUNNINGHAM, public health inspector, is making a fine job of cleaning up Madang. He is being supported ably by a line of Highlanders.

It is a joy to see decrepit Army gear being trucked off to Astrolabe Bay for final burial. With it go old coconut stumps, relics of many bombed palms Mr. Cunningham has declared war on the rats and though they do not follow him like the Pied Piper, at least his assistant from Chinatown (called Masta-bilog-Rat) bags them each morning and takes them away, not by pipe, but by bike.

MR. JACK GOAD is relieving Mr. A.

Shields as Collector of Customs for a few months. Mrs. Goad is with her husband.

OUR relieving police master, Jack Grainger, in April, went to Australia with the Papua-New Guinea native police band. Mr. Grainger has been re lieving Mr. Allen Phillips who is on leave with his wife in Australia.

LT.-Col. Maahs and his wife of the American Lutheran Mission have de layed their leave to America in the interests of movie making. Assigned the job of illustrating a mission script, they reconstructed settings from the story at Amele Mission station. The script called for a witchdoctor, who was not forth coming at the mission, so a mission boy dressed up and obliged.

MADANG Native Hospital has been transferred from Gum to a point near the Agricultural Station resid ence on the Modillon Road. Mr. Ron Chugg is in charge. In recent weeks his daughter Audre (now married and living in Melbourne) has been staying with him.

MR. and' ' MRS. ' JOCK ' ESSON and small son Sandy expected from South in early May. Mr. Esson is

a seasoned Territorian, an inspector, for Expropriated Properties.

MR. AND MRS. BEN HALL were in town for the Minister’s visit. He is busy with plans for the new all electric bakery which he intends to build.

MR. DAVE REES representing Madang at the recent RSSAILA conference at Lae.

SOME interesting visitors to the port over the past two months included the District Officer from Rabaul, Mr. J. K. McCarthy, the inspector of police in Rabaul, Mr. Chris Normayle; the District Officer from Manus, Mr.

Tom Aitchison; Mr. A. A. Roberts, As sistant Director of District Services, Port Moresby, and Mr. A. Duncan, treasury inspector.

CONSIDERABLE interest is being shown by prospective tenderers for certain blocks in the recently ac quired Modillon Estate. The number of blocks for lease are much less than the number of people requiring them.

THE delayed arrival of the MV Malaita caused some shortages in the town.

These included eggs, butter, flour of all kinds and variety of tinned meat. By the way—l/- for one orange seems an astounding price to pay, even in New Guinea.

ELECTRIC light bills retrospective to September hit the townspeople with a smack recently. Most of the stoics, made that way by an excessively high cost of living, remarked, “Well now we can go bankrupt properly.”

ON Anzac Eve a dinner was held at the Club for all returned men. On Anzac morning a dawn service was

held. At the eleven o’clock service, Mr.

Lloyd Noland conducted the service, while Mr. C. D. Bates gave an address to the Europeans and, in Pidgin, to the as sembled natives. The Anzac verse was read by the president Mr. A. J. Clarke After wreaths were laid at the landing plaque, they were carried by diggers on the march to the cemetery.

TOWARDS the end of April, Messrs.

Caldwell and Frazer of the Com monwealth Treasury, were in

Madang, during a Territory-wide survey of the Administration stores.

AN unfortunate incident occurred in Madang on April 26 when Mr. J.

L. Tolgetti, a recent arrival to the Territory and a member of the staff of Mr. Roy McGreggor took his life. Mr.

Tolgetti was a member of the armed services and his home is in Sydney. A coroner’s inquest was held on April 27.

Appeals against the Fiji Magistrate’s Court conviction in January of Ratu Apa kuki Nanovo, Roko Tui Kadavu. on a charge of converting to his own use £BO/19/-, the property of the people of Kadavu; and of Bull Epeli, of Naceva, Kadavu, who was found guilty of the fraudulent conversion of £47/8/6, the property of the people of Kadavu, have been allowed by the Supreme Court.