Japan Buys Scrap From

Who-Won-the-War Dept.:

Million-Dollar Pi.

SALVAGE of scrap from the vast American under-sea dump at Million Dollar Point, Santo, New Hebrides, is being continued steadily by Monsieur Gubay who now owns the rights.

Salvage from seaw T ard was orig inally undertaken by New Hebrides Trading & Shipping Co., with Cap tain A. Duff controlling operations from Vila Star. However, during last year all rights were handed over to M. Gubay, who has been working with grabs from the land ward side. He purchased El Retiro (ex Kapiti) from Captain Savqie, of Noumea, for use as a salvage vessel.

To serve this purpose the old ship had to be moored alongside the reef —and she was caught in this situa tion last June, unable to get off shore in time, when a squall set her onto the reef, where she now sits, hard and fast, another contribution to the pile of scrap that will eventually be shipped to Japan.

Million Dollar Point, of course, is the small point jutting into the Segond Channel where the Ameri cans—to keep faith with manufac turers who feared a post-war market glutted with wartime good s— dumped millions of dollars worth

of machinery and gear at the end of the Pacific war.

Not far away from the point lies the President Coolidge, ex liner, ex troop carrier which, given wrong docking instructions in 1942, ran into a defensive mine, then backed into another. She was beached and subsequently sank. Tenders for her

removal as scrap were called by the US Government about a year ago, but, as far as we know, Coolidge still lies beneath 200 feet of water in Segond Channel.

If Captain E. L. James, Assistant Harbour Master, Suva, is at present on 6 months’ furlough in Australia.