[?]rrent News Items From Our Correspondents
pp. 35-49 · Read in the full issue
In Papua-New Guinea
Administrator’S Tour
’he Administrator (Brigadier D.
Cleland) will begin a tour of Rabaul area and Bougainville May 11. He will spend a week Rabaul, from May 11 to May 18, I then will fly to Buifi, where will board the Laurabada 11, if s ready after refit.
'he tour of all sections of Bou nville will last until June 1. ;re are many parts of the island ich the Administrator has not visited. trigadier Cleland originally hi ded to visit New Ireland, but whole tour would take too ?. New Ireland will be visited arately, probably about July.
Port Moresby Busy
brt Moresby has a busy series events ahead of it in the next months.
LCtivity will begin on May 14, m the Aero Club of Papua ?es Papua’s first aero carnival Port Moresby. It will include obatic displays, forced landings, I parachute jumps (if permis i can be granted). Aircraft will ive from all parts of the Terri -7 for the pageant and the RAAF
has been invited to send aircraft from Australia.
Queen’s Birthday holiday in June will see a race meeting at Boroko, on a special track with only a straight—six furlongs. There will be a race for women jockeys.
About eight horses are expected to be entered for each of the six races.
There will be native dances, canoe races and conducted tours at the end of June when Port Moresby will be visited by the luxury liners Himalaya and Oron say, on Pacific cruise from Syd ney. They will also call at Noumea.
About 1,200 passengers in each liner will receive a colourful wel come after the style of the success ful Orion visit to Port Moresby last year.
Food Poisoning
There was a tragedy at Wau in April when four natives, including a woman, died after eating a dead cassowary which they had found in the bush.
Six more were admitted to hospi tal at Wau in a critical condition, and slowly improved.
One of the victims died outside the hospital and the other three
died shortly after being admitted.
Early medical investigation pointed to food poisoning being the cause of death. Normally, cassowary makes satisfactory eating.
Telephone Expansion
Recent improvements to Papua- New Guinea telephone services, enabling telephone subscribers to talk to outstations in the two main zone areas of Port Moresby and Rabaul, were the subject of further extensions in late April, The Posts and Telegraphs De partment announced that the new system had been extended to Samarai and Wewak and that it would be extended to Lae and Madang two weeks later.
It was also made possible for people in the town area of Madang to speak to Port Moresby people without having to come to the tele graph office to take the call. This did not mean, however* that Madang people had a direct tele phone link to Australia, like other centres, including Kavieng (the latest town to get the service).
Reception between Madang and Port Moresby is rather poor and a link with Australia is unlikely until a new transmitting station is built at Madang.
Madang has been asking for an Australian service for a long time and asked again at the March Ad visory Council meeting, a few days before the Administration announcement.
Helicopter Crash
One of the Territory’s four heli copters was damaged in a crash in the Moorehead River area of Wes tern Papua in April, while it was on oil survey work.
A bearing failed in the tail rotor, and the helicopter turned over
when only a few feet from ground, smashing the main r blade, among other things.
Pilot was Frank Shannahar DCA official from Melbourne, • is in Papua getting flying perience with helicopters. I year for a time he was aci
irector of the Department of Civil viation in Papua-New Guinea.
High-Yielding Rubber
Plants In P-Ng
Twenty-two clones of imported gh-yielding rubber are established , the Papua-New Guinea Admin tration’s Bisianumu rubber breed g station in the Sogeri district.
This range covers virtually all e first-rate clones available to 'erseas rubber-growers and in udes four from the famous 500 ries of the Malayan Rubber Re arch Institute.
Preliminary tests indicate that tien the imported stock reaches aturity it will yield up to the st Malayan results as in general e soil of rubber-growing areas in ipua is richer than that of the bber regions in Malaya.
Mr. F. C. Henderson, head of the ant Industry Division of the jriculture Department, has said at it will be six or seven years fore the imported clones start oducing seed, but it may be pos )le to distribute budwood from e improved varieties earlier.
Aero Club Field Day
The Aero Club of Papua had its st field day on April 17.
The club moved its entire ac uities from Jacksons Airport at rt Moresby to the emergency iding ground at Fisherman’s and (three aircraft and a inch were needed to do it) and ent the day flying almost from wn to dusk, Some people in the Boroko area Port Moresby thought there ould be more field days—the ise of low flying Tiger Moths is coming a nuisance during week ds.
Goroka Bank Branch
rhe Bank of New South Wales s converted its agency at Goroka, w Guinea, to a full branch. 3oroka, 5,500 feet above sea el, is developing as a holiday re •t for people in Papua and New linea as well as a coffee and ?etable-growing area.
Native Liquor Bill
3 roposed amendments to the tive Liquor Bill, the debate on ich was adjourned in March, will one of the most important itters to be discussed when the gislative Council meets at Port >resby on June 27.
Influenza Epidemic
During April, a fairly widespread demic of influenza was reported the Territory, It affected many tives and some Europeans, fhe ’flu made serious inroads into ; labour force in some areas, but was not the lethal type that has uck on some other occasions, rticularly in 1953, when the Terri
tory was practically quarantined.
Visits to some Island groups, notably Mortlock and Tasman, have been banned.
Housing Schemes
In April, the Territory Housing Commissioner, Mr. H. Reeve, was examining the effects of a recent announcement by the Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck, which varied the housing schemes in New Guinea and the Northern Territory. He expected to make an announcement shortly.
It was a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing, as usual. The Minister made his announcement in Aus tralia to anybody who wanted to hear it, but nobody thought of
officially notifying New Guinea about the details.
The Administration first saw it in the press and it was a week be fore it got confirmation from Aus tralia.
The Canberra announcement stated: “The Minister for Territories, Mr.
Hasluck, announced to-day (April 6), that the Government had approved of amendments to the housing loan schemes operating in the Northern Territory and the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.
“The most important amendments are: “(1) The upper limit of advances is raised from £2,000 to £2,750.
(Continued on Page 38)
WEDDING AT RALUANA: The wedding Miss Bernice Williams and Mr. Brig lph took place at the Raluana Methodist
Mission, New Britain, on April 2. In this picture are, left to right, the bride and bridegroom, Mr. Arthur Brown (bestman).
Mrs. Molly Valentine (matron of honour), Mr. John North, who gave the bride away, and Mrs. N. Lee, mother of the bride.
Photo: C. H. Meen.
“(2) The interest rate is reduced from 5 per cent, to 4i per cent.
“(3) The repayment period is ex tended to a maximum of 45 years.
“In the Northern Territory, approval has also been given to a scheme to enable tenants of Gov ernment-owned houses to purchase such houses along lines similar to those applying to tenants of houses under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreements.”
Lands Department
The Secretary for Lands, Mr. D.
Macinnis, is to become Director as a result of a departmental re organisation.
Under the new system, officers have been appointed to take charge of three separate divisions under Mr. Macinnis. Mr. L. C. Anthony* has been appointed chief of the Lands Division; Mr. T. V. Webb, chief of Surveys Division, and Mr.
A. J. Legg, chief of the Mines Division.
Native Development
The Apostolic Delegate, Arch-' bishop Carboni, had some import ant things to say about native de velopment after completing a visit to Papua-New Guinea and the British Solomons in April. The trip took him 40 days.
One of his main points was that native progress could come much more quickly than many people at present believed possible. He said
early development was always a little slow, but he believed there was a surprising movement on the way, and development would then take place much faster.
Native development, he said, was not only a matter of direct educa
tion. In nearly every section ofl Territory the native people surrounded by the products; civilisation—aircraft, radios, m cars, cinemas—and it was impos tor them to-day to avoid the th of civilisation.
They had learned to produce pra at good prices, and had even tapped their canoes with outboard >tors. Already they were working le by side with the Europeans.
Archbishop Carboni described the >vernment’s land policy as wise d prudent. He said it showed con m for native land, yet promoted lite settlement as well, in a way at could be of help to the natives.
Welcome Rain At Wau
Wau, at Easter, broke an un iial dry spell which had been •iously threatening crops in the ;a. March was the driest month record, with the rainfall seven •hes below the average, and with t rain new crops were threatened fore they had even been planted.
Wewak-Maprik Road
K new road link has been opened the Sepik—a stretch of 100 miles >m Wewak to Maprik, inland im the north coast, rhe road was travelled by two ndrovers before Easter in a trip ung four days’ travelling time, ader of the party was the Dis ct Commissioner, Mr. J. P. White, rhe road is native-built, under ministration guidance, and ex
tends over the Prince Alexander Ranges, along the Sepik grasslands and to the foothills of the Torn cellis.
The trip was the longest under taken by vehicles in the Sepik. (In 19 3 6 w hen we walked this route we thoug ht (in the foothill CO untry) that one day there could easily a mo tor-road there, in the game way as people now think of the possibility of a trip to the moon. - s harc i t e n from the above despatch just where the road goes, But four days by jeep is by no means record breaking. We walked it in five, and spent considerable time cajoling reluctant carriers, at that. The greatest reading difficulty would lie right behind Wewak through the mountains to the foot hill country, after which, if the road follows the route we took, it “ 14 UP ° n ““ SepiK grass country. jil
Armv Ration Tested
Army Kai J- Ujn
Eruopean members of the Pacific Islands Regiment are to help test a new Australian Army ration.
The ration, for one man for 24 hours, was recently given initial
tests at the Army’s Canungra jungle training camp in Queensland, and will now be passed on to the PIR in New Guinea for further tests under field conditions in rugged country.
Brown River Bridge
Tenders are being considered at Port Moresby for the erection across
5 Brown River of what will be ! largest bridge in Papua, t will be of steel, with a single in 170 feet long. It is expected • bridge will be across the river the next 18 months.
'he Brown River road has so far in extended to the river, and aring and survey work is now ng ahead on the other side. »bably no real progress on the d will be made until the bridge s across, unless the machinery rts working from the Kanosia \
Big Timber Shipment
>n her latest visit to Lae the )chovo discharged 10,100 dozen ties of beer and then uplifted of the largest shipments of sawn ber to leave the port of Lae. * consignment consisted of 400 s of sawn timber and 200 tons log timber for Sydney. he sawn timber included bat f flitches and egg-packing case ts and the log shipment con sd of 90 logs. efore arriving at Lae the vessel uplifted a cargo of coffee beans, ra and peanuts and was ex ;ed to take on consignments of Der from Pert Moresby. Also uded in her outbound cargo was tons of sawn timber for Port •esby and nearly 200 tons of sral cargo for Sydney and Port esby.
Boana Crash
Dragon-type aircraft crashed
on landing at Boana Airstrip on April 22.
The aircraft was owned by Terri tory Airlines, operating from Goroka.
The pilot, Mr. Tony Chadim, escaped injury but the aircraft was severely damaged. No passengers were on board at the time.
Boana Airstrip is only 20 minutes’ flying from Lae and is well known as a Lutheran Mission station.
Wedding At Lae
Master of the Administration vessel Morobe, Mr. Geoff. Hall, was married in April to Sister Molly Johnson, of the Lae European Hos pital.
The ceremony took place at St.
Mary’s Catholic Church and the Rev. Father Geo. Bernarding officiated. Mr. Hall is very widely known along the New Guinea coast.
Development Plan
The Acting District Commissioner, Mr. Les Williams, said at Lae that the Administration was very happy with the progress of the native economic development plan which had been instituted in the Morobe District eight months ago.
The system was evolved to im prove the economic standard of natives in this area and the De partment was encouraging the planting of coconuts on the coast, and, in the mountain areas, coffee.
“We have also been encouraging the natives to clean up old coconut
groves, thereby making them pro ductive again as soon as possible,” he said.
Mr. Williams said that on the south coast of the Huon Gulf 10,000
young palms had been planted and old village groves had already been cleared.
Six villages in this area are already producing copra from their erstwhile unproductive groves on the east coast of the Huon Gulf and Bukaua natives have planted approximately 20,000 palms, besides clearing the old plantations. Already 12 villages in this area are produc ing copra.
“All these plantings have been encouraged and assisted by an official of the Department of Dis trict Services and Native Affairs, and it is hoped that a regular system of yearly planting will be continued.
I am sure that the natives have been convinced that they can obtain future security by planting their own groves,” said Mr. Williams.
“In the mountain areas a similar system has been implemented but in this case the plantings have been coffee. At least 100 acres of coffee have been planted in the Lae sub district alone. The coffee-planting shows every sign of success and the industrious mountain people have adopted the system with enthusiasm.
“An officer of our Department has been visiting the areas for several months to guide and assist the natives. One village at Busama claimed that it can produce at least one ton of copra a month, and it is not without the bounds of pos sibility for each of the old village groves to equal this figure when the
improvements have been effected.”
Later in the month Mr. Williams said that the planting of 25,000 palms in the Kaiapit area had been completed and that this work had been done in a little over two months.
Wau-Lae Road Again
The notorious Wau-Lae Road nearly claimed another victim when a Bulolo Gold Dredging Co. em ployee had a narrow escape from death when the truck he was driv
ing skidded and plunged over embankment.
The driver, Keith Bloom, told Lae police that when he applied brakes only the off side front w] operated and the truck skidded The accident occurred on “ Bends” about 27 miles from : Extensive damage was done to truck and another truck anc heavy crane vere used to rec< the vehicle.
The truck was carrying gen cargo from Lae to Bulolo anc
led by the Bulolo Gold Dredging
Imported Livestock
he manager of the Erap Agri jural Station, Mr. W. Robertson, i that one of the finest ship ats of cattle ever to come to New inea had been landed by the iern. recently. For quality and condition these the best we have seen,” he said. » consignment consisted of 9o fers and 20 yearling bulls for the jartment of Agriculture at Erap, Romney Marsh sheep for Men nya and 60 weaner boars for jondetta. The sheep and the rs were later flown in to these ;ricts by DC3 charters, me of the bulls slipped and fell ween a truck and the loading ip during the discharging from vessel and was badly injured. > animal broke away and defied attempts to capture him. He was *r found dead in a drain half a e from the wharf. [r Robertson estimated that the I was worth approximately £l5O.
New Football Season
he 1955 Rugby League season away to a good start this month I the three matches so far played r e assured enthusiasts that Lae witness one of its best football sons. .Ithough only three teams, St. ry’s, Comworks and Qantas, are ing part, the strength is evenly ;ributed and each of the matches attracted good crowds.
Unfortunately, the game between nworks and Qantas was stopped ;n a Qantas player, Frank Deck, broke his leg and could not removed from the playing field, this match two other players 'ered broken bones and another per was removed to hospital due illness. he only other setback the League suffered so far is that a new imittee had to be elected follow a no-confidence motion in the jinal organisation.
Ir. L. W. (Pat) Henry has been ;ted as the new president.
'he annual match between Papua 1 New Guinea will be played at ; on the Queen’s Birthday week [, June 12.
Anzac Day Services
’or the first time, returned ricemen and Lae citizens observed zac Day this year with a dawn idee at the Lae War Cemetery.
L officials were very satisfied with attendance of more than 250 iple. ’he usual 11 am service attracted athering of over 2,500 people, in ding natives. Members of the ting American survey ships took t in the service and laid wreaths the Cross of Sacrifice. )uring his address at the dawn vice the Acting District Com ssioner, Mr. L. Williams, told
the gathering that Anzac Day was “not only a day to honour our war dead but a good opportunity to ask ourselves if we were worthy of the sacrifice they made for us.”
Newly-elected State president of the RSL, Mr. Bob Buying, said at m l . se {’ vl 9 e °to of to the world the fighting Qualities oi the Australian and New Zealand Perfect weather prevailed through-
out the day and the Lae cemetery was at its beautiful best for the occasion.
After the service, ex-servicemen gathered at the RSL for a luncheon, mo re than 200 attending, A significant development in the Anzac Day memorial services in p a p Ua -New Guinea was noted this whpn manv more centres held
& Thefirsfume
In the past, most centres have
itpnfpd themselves with midservices with snorts in the prnoon However populations mwing and 6 apparently many ee g s niw g thtak toil the dawn dee "s well worth it-and eerfily it can be very moving in the
ier°the SS?* fighting, ‘or was
very far from it. one of the bie centres held
lawn^service for th“ flrat ’ tone.
Marges™ service, however, was. isual at Bomana War Cemetery, •t Moresby where there was a 3rd crowd this year. ipsnito the crowd and the ence of the Admtaistrato? ieadier Cleland) at the Bomana nee for the first time, this year seemed to lack some of the mnitv of past years ’ ‘ t Manus, a company of native )ps with the Pacific Islands ? ll }!iJf’pnin?,r W » e t re a rnmhlnld e 4ermarc h , . ‘ . .. „„ . prtl TTicVi t Goroka, in the Eastern Highis, the District Commissioner, lan Downs, said at a morning rice that in the event of another we must not again permit panic the forced removal from the utry of those who wished to reto, for that had been an act ch had done more damage to loyalty of the native people
than any other act since.
Kieta, in Bougainville, held its Anzac service at the newly-erected memorial to Baros, a loyal native who was executed by the Japanese for refusing to give away the posi tion of an Australian coastwatcher.
Blood Transfusions
The Director of the Queensland Red Cross Blood Transfusion Ser vice, Dr. Eric Shaw, arrived at Port Moresby in late April for a fort night’s tour aimed at expanding the Territory’s blood transfusion ser vices.
He said when he arrived that the big problem, as always, was to And the donors, and the problem was even a bigger one in the Territory because of the number of natives who were not educated to the mean ing of blood transfusion. &
Children’S Courts.
The Administrator, Brigadier Cleland, in April, spoke of H? e J} eec l for Childrens Courts in the Territory.
He sa^( j th e time had arrived for SO me kind of system to be set up. police could not take European children before special magistrates, but had access only to the normal criminal courts, which often were unsuitable.
At Port Moresby, about the time of the Administrator’s comments,
five young schoolboys, three Euro peans and two half-castes, were arrested for having broken into an Army magazine and stolen about 2,000 rounds of ammunition. They were released after a severe repn mand.
Okinawa Seaman Fined
Naval authorities arrested an Okinawa seaman near the Hermit Islands, west of Manus on April 23, and took him to Lombrum.
The arrest was made after the Navy had sighted a fishing vessel near the Hermits, and had allegedly found 18 fishermen fishing along a reef.
The fisherman was fined £2O under the Pearl Fisheries Act, or in de fault, 2 months’ gaol. (Okinawa is under US control—therefore the vessel is technically not Japanese, as nriinnallv renortedl originally reported).
Medical Services
An estimated 2,000.000 natives re ceived medical attention at Admin istration aid posts throughout Papua-New Guinea last year, according to Health Department figures.
In addition about 98,000 natives wptp hnsnital in-natients and about “Se 97 '°°° we ™ out P^fnts.
Three thousand Europeans weie admitted to hospital, and 2I,UUU re
ceived out-patient treatment.
Highlands Survey
Professor Elkin, Professor of Anthropology at Sydney University, arrived in the Territory on April 27 to arrange the details for a scientific survey in the Highlands.
Later he went to Wabag to find a suitable site and arrange for the reception of a small team which will follow him in a few weeks.
The team will make a study of physical anthropology and certain aspects of medical science, and phases of the work are likely to take two years.
Professor Elkin will not take part in the actual work in the Terri tory.
Senior Forestry Officer
Mr. D. B. Dun, formerly of the New South Wales Forestry Com mission, arrived at Bulolo on May 2 to take over the duties of Senior Forestry Officer for the New Guinea Mainland. He had already spent a short time at Port Moresby gather ing general information on Terri tory forestry matters.
A Regional Forestry Officer. Mr.
A. C. Richardson, has been stationed at Rabaul in charge of forestry matters in the New Guinea Islands since February, 1954, and will re turn to this posting early in June on completion of his recreation leave.
Later it is intended to appoint a Regional Forestry Officer for Papua.
Archives Officer
Mr. H. J. Gibbney, a Common wealth Archives Officer, will visit Wau, Bulolo, Lae, and Rabaul shortly to advise on the classifica tion of official records, and gather historical material.
He has been working on a similar assignment at Port Moresby and has already found some valuable historical records which will go into
the collection of Papua and New Guinea material assembled by Commonwealth National Library.
From old Administration files Mr Gibbney has obtained a record of land transactions back in 1882, including the official register of pro perty claims established before the annexation of Papua.
He has also conferred with Rev. D. E. Ure, of the Lond
Missionary Society at Port Moresby, yarding the original copy of the ill of the Rev. James Chalmers, ho was killed in 1901 by natives [ Coaribi Island, near Kikori. The ill at present is retained in the irly records of the London issionary Society at Port Moresby, id discussions are now in progress garding the possibility of the jcument being placed in the safe jeping of either the Commonwealth ational Library or the Mitchell ibrary. , Other material found by Mr. ibbney includes a number of ntern slides and a copy of a lecture written in 1904 by the late r. A. C. English, based on his ex •riences as an Administration fficer in the Rigo District.
During his visit to the New uinea area, Mr. Gibbney will meet me of the pioneers of the Morobe id New Britain Districts, and, aere possible, arrange for historical aterial held by them to be sent the Commonwealth National brary.