In Papua-New Guinea

Current News Items From Our Correspondents In Papua-New Guinea

Aero Club Gets Its

Wings

After twelve months as an Aero Club in name only, the Aero Club of Papua, in June, took delivery of two aircraft —its first.

They are two Tiger Moths bought from Disposals, NSW, for £250 each.

They arrived at Port Moresby on the Sinkiang and created a lot of interest as they were taken through the streets aboard two of Mr. Vince Sanders’ biggest trailers, with Mr.

Sanders shepherding them along

like a sheep-dog, in a jeep.

He is a club member, and is anxi ous to fly, so he provided transport free and loaned the club money to buy one of the aircraft.

New Ado’S

The Papua-New Guinea Gazette in May carried the names of 28 post-war patrol officers who had been promoted to Assistant District officers.

They are the first to be appointed since the war.

The list created interest through

out the Territory, and a certain amount of teeth gnashing. There are likely to be some appeals.

Ball Of The Year

Perhaps because it coincided with Australia election night, Rabaul’s ball of the year, the Frangipanni Ball, was reported to have not been its usual bright self this year. The ball—first held in 1938 to celebrate the first flowering of the frangi panni after the devastation of the 1937 eruption—has become an annual event and symbolises Rabaul’s peculiar faculty for rising above its many vicissitudes.

The attendance was not as large as usual and about 11 o’clock it was announced that Labour was winning the Australian elections. This made everyone feel low—and they re mained feeling low because an hour or two later, when the Liberals made a late run, someone forgot to tell the assembled dancers.

A New And Better Kone

Club

A special meeting of the Kone Club (Public Service) at Port Moresby early in June discussed plans for a new club building.

The President of the Public Ser vice Association, Mr. R. Brennan, said the club when finished would be the best equipped in the Terri tory. It was expected that finance would be arranged through de bentures taken up by club members.

It is to be erected along the fore shores of the harbour. Plans call for a large, two-storey building, with swimming pool, tennis courts and a large sports area,

Attacking P-Ng’S Cost Of

Living Scientifically

The Minister for Territories will be asked to set up a “Cost-of-living” committee following a special con ference held at Port Moresby, in June, between the Secretary of the Territories Department, Mr. C. R.

Lambert, and representatives of the Public Service Association of the Territory.

The PS Assn, believes that a cost-of-living figure should be set every year, and that it should not continue to follow the allowance fixed for Australia. Mr. P. Clarke, on behalf of the Association, said that present cost-of-living in the Territory was a third higher than in Australia.

The cost of living committee could examine and advise on such matters as the amount paid to parents towards the costs of educa tion of children attending secondary schools in Australia. (The present subsidy is £ll5 p.a.) The PSA suggested that the com mittee consist of a Commonwealth officer, a private citizen and a mem ber of the Public Service Associa tion.

Mr. Lambert told the conference that the Minister agreed that a

local basic wage should be deter mined and that the Territory was operating on a basic wage and cost of-living borrowed from Australia.

Mr. Lambert also promised to pass on to the Minister the Association proposal that a Supreme Court judge be appointed as a public ser vice arbitrator in the Territory.

Mr. S. Fox, a Port Moresby accountant, is favoured by the PSA to represent the citizens on any committee. Mr. Fox said that the deliberations of the committee would affect everyone in the Territory be cause salaries paid by private enter prise were influenced to a great extent by Administration salaries.

He added that in the index borrowed from Australia, no allowance was made for the cost of native labour, which was something most people had to make allowances for.

Lae’S Overdue Hospital

Lae’s new European hospital will cost £220,000. Mr. S. A. Watkins, who arrived in the Territory at the end of June, will make final arrangements for its completion.

Mr. Watkins is a director of T. J.

Watkins (New Guinea) Limited — the parent firm is in Cairns, Qld.

The new hospital will consist of LI separate buildings. The con tractors will take a large number af specialists up to New Guinea to work on it. Trans-Busu or Bulolo timber will be used wherever pos sible. It is hoped that the job will ae completed before the end of the contract time, stipulated as 80 weeks.

Murderer On The Loose

Lae had a day of excitement in June following the escape from the ocal gaol of a native criminal after be had allegedly murdered a fellow prisoner. The native was already serving a sentence for killing a fellow prisoner in the Madang gaol.

When he escaped on the morning jf June 22, he was armed with a large knife and Lae people were warned that he was dangerous.

Police hunted for him all that lay and two native constables re captured him about midnight.

Port Moresby Shivers

Port* Moresby residents on the light, of June 23 put on more clankets, and complained about the The reason: temperature at 6.00 ajn. was 58 degrees—the lowest reading the Weather Bureau could and on its records, and 15.9 degrees Lower than the average June mmi num for Port Moresby.

Soldier-Settlement Again

The Morobe District Advisory Council feels that it might be the thin edge of a solid wedge of soldier-settlement if they can get the Administration to assist one in view, they P rop at their May meeting of the DAC

to ask that a returned soldier, Mr.

Austin Ireland, be assisted on a £1 for £1 basis to plant up 100 acres of coffee.

Mr. Norman White asked that the DAC take a personal interest on the application in the hope that it would • start something moving.”

Mr. A. Eldred supported the idea, but did not seem to have much faith in its chance of success. He said that when the RSL had first tried to start a settlement scheme he had been asked by the Admin istrator to submit a concrete pro posal.

He had ejected the names of 40 reputable citizens who had desired to participate—some of them with a substantial proportion of their own finance—but nothing had been heard since.

However, th e resolution was carried in regard to Mr. Ireland’s claim, and now the Morobe DAC— and the rest of P-NG—will wait to ree what transpires.

Rabaul’S Inadequate

Electricity Service

Because Rabaul power-house is inadequate for the demands now put upon it, it is unlikely that the new Administration houses being erected in Malaguna Road will be Greeted to the supply. This was stated by District Commissioner McCarthy at the June meeting of the Rabaul Town Advisory Council.

At the same meeting, a motion was passed to the effect that the local regulations relating to prohibition of certain electrical appliances be policed.

At present, alleged council members, some consumers were obeying the regulations while others were using cookers and other prohibited

appliances with the result that peak-hour drain caused some local ities to be almost without light and power at all.

Mr G Kent sueee sted that the

Administration might have powe?

to control the sale of prohibited appliances, which another member of the Council, Mr. J. L. Chipper,

said were on sale in the local stores and therefore presumably bought.

They Built In A Roadway

If the P-NG Land Board agrees, a street running between Kamarere St. and Malaguna Road, Rabaul, will be cut from its surveyed width of 66 ft to a laneway of 21 ft, to allow two Chinese merchants to re tain the land upon which they have built their’ shops.

Misinformation about survey pegs led Man Kwong and Man Hee, shortly after the war, to build their shops on land that subsequently was shown to be reserved for a road.

Warning On Rations

District Commissioner F. A.

Bensted caused a mild panic in Port Moresby when he declared that many rations made up by local stores did not contain all the food a native is entitled to for a week under the Native Labour Ordin ance. He said the responsibility was the public’s, that people detected giving* insufficient rations to em ployees could be prosecuted.

Many people have been simply ordering “a ration” from their local stores and handing it, once a week, to their house boy on the assump tion that it was all it should be.

Price for the rations is usually about £l. The latest price set by the Dis trict Office in the Central District for a reasonable ration is 24/6.

Mr. Bensted’s announcement caused many people to check the rations they ordered, and one or two stores began to alter them or to explain that more items should be added.

Possibly the trouble started through price cutting, with stores competing to put up the cheapest ration.

Mt. Michael Climb

An Administration patrol planned to climb Mt. Michael, in the New Guinea Eastern Highlands in June, to make a geographical fixation of the peak and a general survey.

The peak is about 12,500 feet.

Permanent beacons were to be erected, and mirrors fixed in re lation to the main beac9n to allow distant horizontal bearings to be taken at certain times of the day.

Use of normal beacons for this pur pose is limited by the bulk of the mountain and its sheer slopes. The largest beacon will serve as a con

trol position for aircraft.

The survey was organised by Mr. ran Downs, District Commissioner, LasteVn fifghlands, Leader of the climbers was Patrol c qnrV p Vor rhver Others were Staff -Smveyor Bridges, Chainman M Zachai, of hbp Lands Surveys and Mines De partmentf’ and Cadet Patrol Officer

w. MacGrath.

Previous ascents have been made, mt this was the first with equip ment fo? survey work. Carriers, who "needed ?W0 of Mr. I. F. G. Downs’s

men on the Hagen-Sepik patrol, were given special training. Pre fabricated beacons of sheet iron and sawn timber had to be carried to the peak.

June 24: Party seen at 11,500 feet.

All heavy equipment oh site, beacon for air navigation nearly com pleted. Expected that all objec tives would be accomplished.

Modern Shop For Moresby

Natives

A new shop built by the Pore porena and Hohodae Co-operative

Soci ety at Hanuabada, Port Moresby. and locked with £3,500 worth of goods, was officially opened by the Administrator, Brigadier Cleland, 0 n June 12. u The shop cost £3 - 000 10 build - rt

fan"

Society was formed in 1947, and in the last five years it had increased its annual turnover from £5,000 to

more than £27,000. It has 308 mem- Ders. Net trading surplus last year was £1,622, a 21 per cent, rebate to members amounting to £785. All Society business is conducted by members without outside help.

Ten Natives Drowned In

Strickland

Eight native carriers and a native constable were drowned when a :anoe accident occurred near the junction of the Burnett and Stnck and Rivers on June 15. The follow ,ng day another native carrier was Irowned during the crossing of the Murray River.

All were members of an Aus tralasian Petroleum Company sur /ev party which has been operat ng northwest of Tari and south ward through the Strickland Gorge :o Everill Junction during the past few weeks.

The survey party, which was accompanied by Assistant District Officer D. Clancy, comprised two \PC geologists, a field assistant, 13 native police and 163 carriers.

Mr. Clancy conducted a Coroner•’s Enquiry, and Mr, P. J. Mollison of the District Services office at Poit Moresby, flew to Everill Junction to y et first-hand information and dis cuss arrangements for compensa tion payments to the relatives of the natives who were drowned.

June"on Kgtaje

PfP— l0 ° Uin H e e a 5£

t"thodist Mission

n Fiji.

fl The Anglican Bishop of New Guinea, the Rt. Rev. P. N. W.

Strong, returned to Samarai, Papua, on June 8 after attending the con secration of the Bishop of Melanesia at Honiara, BSIP, on May 30. He has since been making a tour of the diocese before attending a con gress of Anglican Bishops in America, after which he will visit England and Holland, and then re turn to America. He will do deputa tion work in England and America.

The islands of Dalakalau and Dalakalonga in Western Florida, BSIP, have been declared a bird sanctuary. These two islands, which are separated by less than half a mile of water, are both known as Pigeon Island, and are situated off Bonavista Island. They are about three hours sail from Tulagi.