Tropicalities
pp. 68-74 · Read in the full issue
A Memory Of “Lucius J.”
WHEN Lucius O'Brian James Connolly died m Brisbane in mid- March from cancer of the lung, at the untimely age of 54, the Courier Mail described him as a "colourful" personality. He surely was-he fought in both World Wars, and reached the rank of lieutenantcolonel; he hunted big game in Africa and India; he drove a car from Capetown to Cairo.
Old Papuans remember him well.
He arrived at Port Moresby in the ’Thirties with a party to “explore the hinterland of New Guinea,” and— after some lively publicity—they all set out across the Gap towards Kokoda, under the guidance of ARM Jim Fowler and a party of native police.
No one who has not seen the Owen Stanleys can imagine the discouraging character of the Kokoda Trail. The Japs know all about it.
It broke the hearts of the comrades of the indomitable "Lucius J."
"Jim" Fowler told some quaint stories of how they hated getting out of bed in the early mornings, and their bitter quarrels. They got across the ranges, and then disbanded. A rather fine type of Englishman Cap tain Mortished, who apparently had partly financed the expedition, was so disgusted with affairs that, when he got back to Port Moresby, he put an end to his share of the fiasco in tra ditional style, with a Service pistol.
Lucius Conolly was held in high esteem in Brisbane, where he was prominently connected with the RSL organisation.
Operation Mid-Ocean
MR. and MRS. L. G. USHER, of Suva, Fiji, expected to finish their six-months leave in the United Kingdom by a quiet sea voyage home via the Panama Canal, but the last 17 days of the trip proved to be far frem restful, at least for Mrs. Usher.
Three days out from Panama on January 8, the ship on which they were travelling, the S.S. Duquesa, hove-to in mid-ocean to take on board from a tanker a man dying of a perforated duodenal ulcer. There was no doctor on the tanker but Duquesa carried a medical officer and among the 12 passengers were a Harley Street surgeon and a trained nurse—Mrs. Usher. A team the patient could hardly hope to better in a modern hospital, much less en counter in mid-ocean.
While the operation was performed the ship cruised slowly. It was a success; then, while the ship con tinued the voyage to Wellington, it became a job of expert nursing, 24 hours a day. Mrs. Usher trained the chief steward in nursing technique and the chief officer assisted, and as a team they fought for the patient’s life with such success that when the ship berthed in Wellington on Janu ary 25, he was moved at once to hospital where his condition was
officially logged as “satisfactory.”
Hurricane Aftermath
THE hurricane aftermath in the Suva area was marked by the appearance of clouds of abnormally
vicious mosquitoes.
They despised all the usually effective insect-repellants and ap parently tore mosquito nets to
pieces.
The plague in the central town area lasted only a fortnight or so, but was then succeeded by a plague of flies presumably bred in the masses of decaying vegetation piled up everywhere. One of Suva's normal advantages is its comparative free dom from flies, but from mid- February until early in March the town was as fly-ridden as any of the western islands.
By the middle of March both mos quitoes and flies in central Suva were almost down to normal.
The Club Hotel, a central Suva landmark for nearly 70 years, was still standing derelict seven weeks after the hurricane, while the hotel bar was in operation in a large con crete annexe at the rear of the smashed and roofless main building.
The hotel will probably be de molished very soon, the Town Council having declined to grant per
mission for repairs to be made. There are rumours that a modern hotel will be built on the site—which is owned by Morris Hedstrom, Ltd.— but nothing is official.
A similar silence is being main tained about the fate of another old hotel building, McDonald’s, also badly smashed on January 28.
The Central Buildings, fronting the Triangle, which provided one of the most spectacular examples of hurricane damage in the inner town area, are being repaired. The Town Council has condemned an un specified number of old wooden buildings since the hurricane.: —S.
Aqua Pura
THE bungalow water tanks were empty and the house-boy had been getting the daily requirements from the water-hole leading off from the river. One day he came burst ing up on to the verandah where his boss reclined at ease. Something serious seemed to be the matter: the boy could hardly speak, and was shivering with fright.
“What’s the matter with you?” said the boss.
“Master, big fella puk-puk {croco dile) stop along hole belong water,” the boy replied.
“Well, don’t be frightened of him,” said the boss, “He’d be a lot more frightened of you than you were of him.”
“No, Master, this fella puk-puk ’e big fella too much.”
“Nonsense, everybody knows that puk-puks are more frightened of men than we are of them. Pick up the buckets and go and get that water,” replied the boss.
“Master, suppose you talk true, water along this fella place belong puk-puk ’e no more good now be long drink!”
Pacific Film Fever
Hollywood film studios have just re-discovered the blue Pacific—mostly with the help of Mr.
James Michener.
As reported elsewhere, Warner Brothers are preparing to film a Michener story in Western Samoa— and that Territory could not be more of a-twitter if a new Messiah had shown up there.
Last month, it was reported that another Michener story had been or was being filmed in Tahiti.
In Sydney, in March, more Warner Bros, film-men were causing flutters in girlish hearts—they were looking for someone capable of playing the part of a part-Polynesian beauty in
a film about a Captain O'Keefe of Yap, Mapia and all points East, The film is to be “shot” in Fiji about July. (The film to be made in Western Samoa isn’t really about Samoa, either; it hapened on some other Pacific Island).
Apparently O’Keefe really existed.
Way back in Georgia in 1870 he thought he had killed a man and fled to the Pacific and founded a dynasty in the Carolines. He had red hair, and probably a red beard, but if you want to know the rest of it you will have to wait until the movie is made, PIM has never heard of O’Keefe; but there have been some references, in the past, to another Irishman, O'Brien, we believe, who also had a red beard and made his presence felt around the Ellice Islands about the same time.
Mapia Atoll
A RECENT enquiry from Mr.
John Riedel of Washington, DC, former USAF meteorologist, led to some investigation of Mapia, an atoll rarely in the news, but men tioned above in relation to the O’Keefe film. It is farther west than New Guinea’s so-called Western Islands, the Hermits, Anchorites, Ninigos, etc., and 100 miles north of Manokwari, Dutch New Guinea.
Mr. Riedel thinks that an American named Miss Brown operated a coconut plantation at Mapia before the war. She was removed by the Japanese to the Dutch East Indies, so the natives told Riedel when he was stationed there with the USAF in 1944.
Now from an issue of the Polyne sian Society Journal (of New Zea land), Volume 10, dated 1901, we learn the following.
“At the time of the cession of the Caroline Islands to the Germans, in consequence of the arrangement of 12th February, 1899, the Mapia Is. have been considered as forming part of the Spanish possession. But by constant visits to the Archipelago and by having taken possession of in 1844, the Dutch consider the islands as their property. The dispute be tween the Governments of Holland and Germany is not yet concluded.
“Mapia, also called St. Davids Is lands, Freewell Islands and Bunaj Islands consists of 5 islets on a reef.
“The original population was of Melanesian blood, but in 1898 there remained only 7—the rajah, his wife, and 5 children. They have been re placed by an immigrant population composed in 1898 of 65 islanders from the South Carolines and from
Pleasant Island (Nauru) in the Gil bert Group, and 5 white people.
“The rajah has, in fact, made over for some years to an American the monopoly of beche-de-mer fishing, and the collection of cloves in the Islands. The American, with his wife and two workmen, constitute the only ‘civilised’ element.”
No doubt these Americans were the ancestors of the Miss Brown re ferred to.
The latest Pacific Islands Pilot states that there are now only 3 islets —indicating the build-up which has taken place in the past 50 years.
Few people know much about Mapia's history, and such writings as exist are probably mainly in the Dutch language.
Pioneers
ONE becomes more and more con vinced that the inborn initiative, enterprise and enthusiasm of the in dividual can never be killed. It can be bottled up, controlled and hypno tised into dormancy by years of frustration and procrastination, but never killed. No one will ever per suade me that the spirit of enterprise which pioneered and opened our Northern areas is not still in us. — I. H. Grabowsky, originator of Australia’s promising Air Beef scheme, formerly of Guinea Airways in New Guinea.
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take up a position in Rabaul. Shortly after doing so, he married.
“When the Japanese forces occu pied Rabaul, To Keta was recruited into the native police forces; and, even in this capacity, he remained faithful to the Europeans.
“Oftentimes he was posted at the gates of the Ramale Internment Camp, where all our missionaries were incarcerated.
“From time to time he made con tacts with Australian Coast-watchers, giving them details regarding Jap anese movements and encampments.
His one great achievement was the supplying to the Allied forces of a detailed map of Ramale and its en virons, thus sparing the camp of Allied bombing attacks.
“As months went by the Japanese began to suspect To Keta, so the lad escorted his wife and child across the Warongoi to safety, where Japanese patrols were fewer; he to follow several weeks later.
“However, when he tried to do so, he was captured, quickly tried and executed.
“Without a doubt it can be said that To Keta died the death of the brave, for his country.
“His wife is now living on Matu
pit.”
Mr. Wynne, anxious to do some thing to honour the memory of To Keta, tried to make contact with his family. But his widow has married a Manus man, and gone away; and his father, To Paivu of Matupi, is dead. . . .
I am glad to publicise this example £>f what the New Guinea natives can give to Europeans, if the Euro peans treat them with understanding.
This is no isolated case—every European resident of New Guinea can supply similar examples of loyalty and trustworthiness and mutual regard. There is no real diffi culty in the future relationship of Australians and New Guinea natives, if only we can keep our accursed politics out of it.
A Fiji Colonial Development and Welfare Scholar, Miss Margaret Reay, recently returned to the Colony. After completing the degree of Bachelor of Home Science at Otago University, NZ, Miss Reay went to the UK to take a course in social welfare.
(Owing to import restrictions on paper and reduced space, we have had to discontinue Children’s Section for the time being.)
Worms Before Pearls
ONE of the most popular fallacies regarding the oyster pearl is that it is formed round a grain of sand which, lodging in one of the folds of the oyster, sets up an irritation which provokes the nacreous secretion, which, in turn, envelopes the grain and forms the pearl.
So frequently do we see this theory put forward that it seems worth draw ing attention to the modern scientific explanation. Victor Berge, well re membered in French Oceania (and not always kindly) gives it in his book Pearl Diver which was published in the 1930’5.
According to Berge—and he should know, for he spent a lifetime in the pearl business—the irritant, far from being a grain of sand, is a living organism. It is a flat-worm closely related to the liver-fluke which at tacks sheep. The worm lives in the scoter duck from which the larval eggs are excreted. Some of them in fect cockles. A cyst develops in the cockles, from which larvae are pro duced. The larvae ultimately reach the pearl oysters. Here they set up an irritation in the body of the oyster, round which the enveloping secretions form a beautiful pearl.
Basil Hall, in his book The Sea and its Wonders confirms Berge’s statement, in effect, by declaring that the cause is as stated above, but he says that the worm lives also in the intestines of skates and rays, which are found in all oceans. —S.
Acting
notices, on page 4 of the * January Gazette of the Western Pacific High Commission, four state ments, signed respectively by G. D.
Chamberlain, Acting High Commis sioner; R. J. Keegan, Acting Resident Commissioner; V. J. Shearwin, Act ing Treasurer; H. C. A. Bryant, Act ing Chief Secretary.
Becoming almost as remarkable as the Papua-New Guinea Administra tion, which was practically being run by “Actings” a couple of years ago.
No Profit In Magic
ACCORDING to the Old-timers, a magician in the Cook Islands 20 years ago would have been a man of enormous prestige, mobbed where ever he went.
Not so to-day. One came to the Cooks in mid-1951, suffered every
kind of discomfort travelling througH the widely scattered ’Group in vessel:! never intended for the passenger trade, and departed having barely made ends meet.
His tour sheds light on what an entertainer is up against to-day. Firs; there is an Island Council law thaj the charge per person shall not be above a certain fairly low ceiling!
Then, before any such entertainment may be put on, the permission of the Island Council is required.
This, of course, is usually obtaineo easily enough, but naturally the Councillors, having granted it, ex: pect complimentary tickets for theii families—and just where a CooH Islander’s (or any Islander’s) family ends the Lord alone knoweth. Cer tainly the visiting entertainer has no means of determining this.
He plays to a packed house, yes; but the takings are ; remarkably light; If he makes his schooner fare to the next Island he is lucky. But, at least he will be having a free look! at the Islands.
Up and coming cinematographers; magicians and sword swallowers are strongly advised to dicker for a flat, fee from the various Island Councils before leaving home,—S.
Private (Indian) Enterprise
A POST-HURRICANE story that went the rounds in Suva (and may or may not be true) concerned a betrothed European couple and the tailor (Indian) who was to make their wedding finery.
When they called on him, he dole-: fully indicated his wrecked shop only a half a roof, pools of raiir everywhere, ruined material, his workers standing around looking as though the Day of Judgment were at hand.
To get their job done, they offered him the loan of the empty flat which! they would occupy after thein marriage. When they called at thein future home a few days later, they{ found it a-whirl with sewing-machines as the tailor’s formerly unemployed) assistants carried on business as. usual. The wedding order was only{ part of the activity.
It is said that the bridal coupla went away to decide whether the>{ should move into the ruined tailoir shop or prepare to settle in with tha tailor and his assistants in their new* flat.