Noumea Engineer

Unexplained Death Of

THE unexplained death of Mon sieur George Peloux, chief engineer and sub-manager of the Societe le Nickel has caused a sensation in Noumea.

Recently he was found dead in bed at 5.30 p.m., death having re sulted from two revolver bullets, one in the region of the heart and the other in his lungs. The bullets were recovered at the autopsy carried out under police instructions. He was in pyjamas, stretched out on his stomach with the right arm hang ing out of bed. A revolver, of which he was the owner, was lying on the carpet. On a table was a half empty bottle of champagne and two glasses.

Indications pointed to suicide, but friends insist that nothing in his manner gave the least indication that he was under mental stress or worry.

The discovery was made by an other nickel engineer, M. Audet, who called to see why he had not turned up at the Pointe Doniambo smelters to supervise the evening’s smelting operations. He immediately in formed the authorities. It was then established that Peloux, who was 48, and one of the Colony’s best known men in the mining industry, had left the smelters about 8.45 p.m. the night before, but had called in at the Cercle Civil, a well-known club on the Place des Cocotiers, where he had spent the evening with two general councillors and other friends. He returned home about 5 a.m. What happened bet ween that time and the following afternoon is what the police have been trying to find out.

His funeral was attended by some of the most prominent people in the Colony. They included the Secre tary-General (M. Bordarier), the President of the Chamber of Com merce (M. Gaudriault), and the Noumea manager of the Nickel Company (M, Rapadzi). The latter caused a stir when he said, “Before this grave we must all swear to help in the discovery of the truth.”

Noumea was excited by the re mark and by statements by the Nickel Co. staff that every effort must be made to discover the author of “this crime.” But although there seems no motive for his suicide, it has also been pointed out that ap parently no object was missing from the house, where there was kept sufficient money to tempt the ordin ary thief.

It is hoped that a Paris police inspector will be sent out by the next Air France plane to the Pacific.

Miss Noelle Sandwith, of Surrey, England, arrived in Sydney, in early August from Tonga. She went to Tonga to visit and to paint, and she stayed six months to teach English to Tongan schoolchildren.

Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Monckton are spending a holiday with their daughter, Mrs. Sybil Cannard, in Suva. Mr. Monckton then Adviser of Fijian Affairs, retired from Gov ernment service in 1940 and went to Sydney. Mrs. Monckton is tne daughter of the late Mr. Percy Morris, a founder of Morris Hed strom Ltd. They intend to visit as

many country districts as possible during their stay.

A new teacher in the service of the Methodist Mission in the BSI is Miss Nancy Ball, of Christ church, NZ, who travelled to Choiseul in company with Sister Lucy Money, who was returning after furlough in New Zealand.