The Editors' Mailbag

Ward Williams' Party Saw

Telefomin in 1936-37

Mr. Eric Petterson, who was one of the men who made the journey from the Sepik to the Fly via Tele fomin when the Japs invaded New Guinea in 1942, supplies some cor rections to the history of that area which was told in December PIM.

It was stated there that no Euro peans had actually been in Tele fomin between the visit of Karius and Champion in 1928, and Taylor and Black almost 10 years later. He writes: “. . . I know that Ward Williams must have had quite a big station there in 1936 and early 1937. The late Bill Korn, with Joe Burke and Wally Kienzel were the ground party, and were supplied by plane drops until they constructed a run way at Telefomin. On our journey through the Telefomin valley (in 1942) we camped for a week along side the old strip. You will per haps remember that Bill Korn was mining with the late Gerry Keogh at Yamil (near Maprik in the Sepik district) in 1940. It was then that I first heard of Telejfomin, and read something of the Williams’ ex pedition. Bill told me that Towns snd, then D. O. Sepik Dist., had aeen flown in to make an inspection )f the work going on on the strip.

“One other thing we found in )ur stay in the valley was that the lanakas had a livelier memory of Bill Korn and Joe Burke than of my other white men they had seen.”

He is no doubt perfectly correct.

FT knew that Ward Williams and )thers had been in the area, but vhen writing the December article lad assumed from a line in Taylor’s eport that they had not actually )een in Telefomin—or that part of he area where the Government itation is now situated.

Checking back now, PlM’s account >f the Ward Williams’ expedition n 1936-37 was of the sketchiest, md approached from the Papuan md. We reported them briefly in he upper reaches of the Fly, and leading towards the NG-DNG ►order, but at no time, except by nference, that they were ever in >epik country.

Those were still the days when he NG interior literally swallowed ip expeditions of that sort—and his one, so far as finding payable :old-dredging areas was concerned -was a failure.

In April, 1938, we reported that Yard Williams, who was an Ameri an mining engineer, was away pmewhere on a similar quest in he mountains of Nicaragua.

Mr. Petterson reports that Stuart

Campbell, who was Williams’ chief pilot in the PNG venture, led one of the expeditions to Heard Island some years ago.

Well-Earned Honour

“I was glad to notice that our old friend, Wong You, well-known merchant in Bougainville, New Guinea, has been given the honour of inclusion in the special Terri tories delegation which will see the Queen at Cairns,” writes a Sydney merchant.

“He started trading, long years ago, with nothing. Industry and probity won him success and he was in a big way when the Japs in vaded. He was made a prisoner, and his stores were wiped out. He owed us £430 for goods supplied.

He never got the goods—and he was ruined, anyway. We wrote it off.

“Somehow, Wong escaped, and • spent the remaining war years dodging the enemy among the vil lages where, incidentally, he did much to help our Intelligence or ganisation. Soon after the war ended, Wong You, now nearly 60, went back and started all over again. A few months later, to our astonishment, he sent us the £430.

A typical Chinese trader.

“He tells us, in a letter this week, that his inclusion in the party to see the Queen, as representing the Chinese section, ‘is the greatest honour and pleasure of my life.’

“Maybe, as you say, the Asiatics in the South Pacific are a bit of a problem. But they would be less of a problem if they were all Chinese, and like Wong You.”

Crime in Solomons

The Criminal Sittings of the High Commissioner’s Court were held here in January,” writes a resident of Honiara, BSI. “Six natives, guilty of nine offences, got sen tences ranging from 18 months to seven years. I was struck by the proportion of sex offences—two of rape, and three of carnal know ledge. The only other crimes were manslaughter (1), attempt to strangle (1) and theft (1).”

Fish —Whole or in Part

As stated in February PIM, the strangely truncated fish shown on page 73 is undoubtedly a sun fish (writes a reader), and he says that it has the scientific name of Ranzanta truncata— with a world wide distribution in tropical and temperate seas. The variety, accord ing to Norman & Fraser’s standard work Giant Fishes, Whales and

Dolphins, rarely exceeds 2 feet in length. They generally drift close to the surface in sunny weather, lying on one side. When swimming they assume an upright position but move forward in a zig-zag, wavy motion from side to side.

As an auxiliary engine, these fish can eject a powerful jet of water from their gills, or from their mouth when going astern. Drifting with the current, they will allow a boat to come right alongside them and are said to be “extremely stupid,” frequently making no at tempt to escape when speared.