The Month In Moresby

From Our Own Correspondent

Port Moresby, March 1

THE Army authorities have started on the establishment of the Pacific Islands Regiment, a full-time Regu \ lar Army unit of Papuan and New Guinea f natives.

Captain W. R. J. Shields, a veteran of : the New Guinea campaign, arrived in Port Moresby during February to get things moving, and shortly after Captain C. J.

Orme and Lieut. George Smith also [arrived to tackle accommodation and other problems for the P.I.R.

This time the Army must mean business ■for it sent burly Lieut.-Colonel S.

Fletcher, Commander Royal Engineers, to break the accommodation bottleneck which has been partially responsible for slow re-organisation of the Papua and New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. He stirred up a pile of dust in his search for a permanent Army camp site and barracks for the P.I.R.

Already it is no secret that land deal discussions have been going on at a rate much faster than the normal leisurely negotiations which bog down so many Island ventures.

Captain Shields, who will command the first Company of the native Regiment, served in New Guinea with the Second Seventh Independent Company, and later transferred to the Third New Guinea Infantry Battalion. Discussing the future }f the unit he made it clear that all European officers and NCO’s will be men yho have had wartime experience in the Islands.

The first natives to be recruited will be jx-NCO’s from wartime units, who will )e given a refresher course before taking >ver the training of other recruits. As eon as a Second Company is formed a leadquarters staff will come to the Terri ory from Australia. rHE reorganisation of Papua and New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, however, is 'still in the doldrums. After a brief ojourn in Port Moresby the CO, Colonel IcLeod, went back to Australia, and so ar no announcement has been made ither as to his possible return or the ppointment of his successor, Accom lodation is a problem here too, but since ; was also placed on Colonel Fletcher’s houlders, maybe even this will be solved efore potential volunteers are all browned ff by the interminable delays thus far sperienced. )N January 25, a 27 year old Australian, Donald Harborne, arrived in Port Moresby and started work with a >cal firm. A few days later he was rrested on a provisional warrant. Then C. 1.8 detective flew from Australia and arborne was charged with theft of a car i Sydney, and remanded for escort back > Australia. But before transport could - obtained Harborne committed suicide ; Bomana jail by hanging himself with ie ropes of his mosquito net. The oroner returned a verdict of “suicide.”

RUSTING relics of wartime vehicles V 'reposing in Disposals dumps at Lae, , Port Moresby and Rabaul were not ighly regarded by most citizens. How ler. at Port Moresby even the most srnal-looking lots of ancient, battered id weed-grown cab bodies raised a bid - local auctions recently, and the buyers , U P. a fight among themselves for tip uck bodies and truck hoist equipment. . small group of natives, who knew jctly what they wanted, chased the aamg m a determined fashion for some ts- They had the stuff well surveyed, ld usually when they started bidding

they kept at it until the lot was knocked down to them.

Two European buyers got into holts for Ford spare parts and a similar lot of Chevrolet spares, and were not concerned when the auctioneer warned that the “number of individual Darts was more or less correct.”

One prospective buyer who made a preview of the dump suggested a £4O bid for the whole junk pile would be a good

proposition. But when the last grass entangled heap was sold, the Treasury was richer by a total of £530.

A similar sale the following week at Rabaul got strong support from Chinese buyers.

AT the Boroka Extension Area 22 hous ing allotments will be awarded to succesful tenderers, and a spate of private home building will soon be on the way. This new suburb is already taking shape as several Hawksley prefabricated aluminium houses are up, and the foun dations and floors are in place for many others. These are attractive, although

there are various opinions on the use of aluminium frames in a tropical climate, and also on the English idea of utilisa tion of floor space. However, a Hawksley

house built in a matter of two weeks is preferable to a carefully designed tropical structure with completion delayed for months due to lack of key materials. If this first government experiment with Imported prefabricated houses proves successful then there is some hope for solving the Territory’s housing shortage.

Many people have already left the Islands because of the shockingly sub-standard homes offered them.

THIS year two senior Administration officers have gone to the United States for the annual examination of Trusteeship territory reports. Mr. J.

H. Jones, Planning and Development Se cretary, went to Lake Success as Aus tralia’s special representative for the examination on the New Guinea annual report. And at the same session, Mr. H.

H. Reeve, Papua and New Guinea Trea surer, was there in a similar capacity on the Nauru report. Mr. Reeve, until June, 1950, was Official Secretary for the Nauru Administration.

THERE are some handsome new cameras at police headquarters in Port Moresby, together with a lot of other photographic gear. This means that the Criminal Investigation Branch will be equipped somewhere nearer the standards of similar branches in Australia.

MARRIED women working with the Administration have had their an nual Territorial allowance of £ls* restored, and another bone of contention between the public servants and the Ex: ternal Territories Department has been buried. This little scrap, however, cos government departments several very usei ful temporary employees.

THE letting of a contract for the con struction of roads in the Matirog; Subdivision at Port Moresby will per mit development of another residents area. A number of residential blocks wer allocated in this area nearly two year ago, but as there is a steep rise from thi main road, building for most of the lease holders was out of the question until ac cess roads were constructed. This is magnificent site along a ridge overlook ing the sea and is easily one of the mos attractive residential areas in Poi Moresby.

THE trout fingerlings released at Nor dugl in the Central Highlands at tti end of 1949 are showing exceller growth, and some that have been sighte in the streams are a foot long. Howeve anglers will have to wait several years be fore they can take a fishing trip in ths part of the Territory. The young troi will not start spawning for two years, an after that the ban will be maintained ur til stocks have been built up to a goc safety level.

SPECIAL quarantine precautions ha T been introduced in the Territory t guard against the introduction of th overseas influenza epidemic. Overseas vis tors must have been in Australia for : least seven days before they can lar in the Territory, and a medical check being made of all aircraft passenge from the south. Flights into Dutch Ne Guinea from Wewak have also bee banned, and liaison established wi. medical authorities in the British Sol. m©ns.

SOON after the Lamington disast: pilots reported that an area of se; eral hundred acres of timber on tl banks of the Markham River at Gabens had been flattened. Unofficial accoun suggested this was due to ground he caused by volcanic action, and there w\ talk of tremors and ground rumbling A geological party that made a groui trip to the district was convinced th a freak atmospherical disturbance hi flattened the timber some months ago, at. that there was no basis for the repor of ground heat, rumblings and tremor;-