Drought, Smoky Haze
p. 22 · Read in the full issue
And ’Flu At Suva
From Our Own Correspondent
Suva. Dec. 3.
rpHE heat of a Suva December has JL followed a phenomenal period of dry weather. November was the driest for 63 years—the month’s rainfall was only 1.03 ins. compared with an average of 10.29 ins.
Since September all parts of Fiji have frequently been covered by thick, smoky haze. The haze has generally been attributed to the disastrous fires in Australia, with a contribution from the normal seasonal burning-off in the Viti Levu canefields.
These persistent haze patches,
sometimes hanging like a fog over south-east, west, and north Viti Levu, have caused the calling-off of the partly-completed and expensive aerial survey, which was being undertaken by a UK firm.
Almost invariably, prolonged dry weather means an epidemic of some sort in the Suva area. For several weeks now townspeople of all races have been suffering from a par ticularly vicious form of influenza.