[?]oniara Building

[?]cal Sawmill an [?]d to [?]oniara Building

(See photos pages 124 and 127) H. building problems of the Solomon Islands, which have been aggravated by the scarcity and h expense of imported timber, uld be assisted by the new saw- I, which has been erected at lavatu, near Honiara. All timber duced will be for local use. ’he mill was built by Tenaru ibers Pty. Ltd. Both machinery I labour will need a “settling in” iod before full production is ieved. But when full-scale rations begin, the mill should idle about 5,000 feet of timber a A planer for flooring and itherboards is being installed.

'enaru Timbers Pty. Ltd. estab ,ed themselves on Guadalcanal ee years ago with the object of •vesting forests in the Tenaru a.

'he company has progressed idly, and, in addition to the new 1, has constructed a light gauge way to haul logs from the forest, ginally, logs were taken out tractor-hauled trailers. These iile r s, although “caterpillar” :ked vehicles, could not manage swampy ground during the wet son. The railway, however, has ved thoroughly successful as an weather means of transport, bout two miles of track has been I. It passes through spectacular y\e forest and in places is flanked great banyan trees and dense ibing vines. The line crosses le bridges and a cutting has been de at “Bulldozer Hill.” Switch es and sidings ensure efficient king of the single track line.

'wo petrol-driven locomotives are dto haul the log trains. At the 3st terminus, a 10 tons mobile ne loads the trucks. Another ne at the end of the line trans ; the logs to motor trucks for two and a half miles haul to lavatu beach. The company has vided two “excursion cars” for tors to Tenavatu, affording them opportunity to visit the forest •kings. .n average of 40 logs a day are lied to the beachhead whence y are towed out to waiting ships, st of them are shipped to Aus [ia, although some shipments r e been made to Japan. The logs mainly Mangifera—a timber hly suitable for plywood manu ture, general joinery work and aiding. With the installation of planing machine at the new 1, floorings, weatherboards and ilarly dressed timber will all be duced. Timbers used will be

inly Kwila and Taun, both of ich are local hardwoods, additional European and native ff bungalows have been erected, 1 a 15 KVA generator has been tailed to provide light and power oughout the camp. A park and dens have been laid out and

ther amenities are projected.

\echanical Tea-Picking

[ECHANISATION of the pick- L ing operations on tea planta tions in Ceylon and India is ing practical shape, the PIM ; informed lately by Mr. A. Imlay, 0 has been a plantation manager Ceylon and Malaya. Tea is now ng picked mechanically on one of ! large tea estates in Ceylon— : Dick Wella Estate, at Ban raw ell a—stated Mr. Imlay. e machine is somewhat similar principle to the now well )wn hedge-t rimm e r. It is strically operated and a feature it is a blower system, which sucks 1 leaves into position where the chine can take charge of them, e South India Tea Association d has been giving a lot of atten a lately to solving the problems the way of the mechanical opera i of tea plantations. These facts y be of interest to those people New Guinea who have ascer aed that tea can be grown quite icessfully in that territory, but far have found no answer to the Darently insuperable problem of ack of a trained labour force.

Ir. T. Campbell, of the Australian IRO, has gone to Fiji in a reliev capacity as Senior Government tomologist, in the absence of Mr.

A. O’Connor, who is on furlough.

If Major C. V. Phillips has been appointed District Officer, Suva, on agreement for 3 years. He was formerly Development Officer, Fijian Affairs Board, and had earlier served in the District Commissioner’s Office, Suva.

ff Mr. R. O. Hassell, at present Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bechuanaland, has been appointed to the same position in Fiji. He is 44.

At left, one of the new bungalows that have been built for European em ployees. Right, loading logs off Tenavatu.