Do You Remember ?

From PIM of 20 Years Ago.

A LTHOUGH there was still hard ship in some parts of the Pacific, most Islands residents were able to face the new year of 1936 with increasing confidence.

Mining was booming in Fiji and

New Guinea; there was much activity in the same line in BSIP.

Copra was showing signs of stability,

at a price higher than it had been for years. The activities of Germany, Italy and Japan were still no more than small clouds on the inter national horizon.

The following extracts are from our issue of 20 years ago—January, 1936: King George V had died peacefully in his sleep on January 20. He was 70 and had reigned 25 years. ❖ sH “The copra quotation continues to rise and there is joy accordingly throughout the Pacific territories.” (The price was approximately £l5 per ton, cif, London.) Then, as now, there were plenty of cruising yachts in the Pacific. Three which occupied space in PIM columns for many months were: Lord Moyne’s yacht “Rosaura”, with its titled passenger list (the yacht was in Rabaul in January, 1935, and later sailed up the Ramu River, where Lord Moyne claimed that he was the discoverer of pigmies); “Joseph Con rad” on a world cruise with Alan Villiers in command and a crew of cadets in training; and American Dwight Long’s "Idle Hour” which had just made an eventful Pacific crossing from US to NZ.

Sir Hubert Murray, Lieut.-Governor of Papua, after much campaigning, had in duced the Federal Government to declare a “preference” of Id per pound in favour of all tea produced in Papua and New Guinea. The preference was a technical one only, and in the 20 ensuing years Australia has not been even one penny

out of pocket because of It. It would, however, be interesting to know if the old statute is still on the books—tea is grown in the NG Highlands these days, although not yet in sufficient quantities for export. * * * At the annual meeting of Oil Search, Ltd., in Sydney in January, 1936, the chairman, Mr. W. A. Freeman, said that the company’s geologists were unanimous in the view that New Guinea merited major attention as offering opportunity for development of oil fields comparable with some of the rich areas in the East Indies. In 1956, 20 years and £l5 million after, Oil Search, now a minor shareholder in the giant Australasian Petroleum Com pany, is still carrying on the search for oil in the Territory. * * * Another search that was even then going on. was for gold on Guadalcanal, BSIP.

We reported; “The search for gold in BSI is still going on in spite of many difficulties It is beyond doubt that there is gold in the ranges of Guadalcanal but no worthwhile field is likely to be developed until there is brought into existence some firm with the financial resources necessary to overcome the enormous obstacles.” Such a firm is still wanted. * * * Fifty unemployed Europeans of Apia, Western Samoa, many of whom had large families to support, had radioed the New Zealand Government asking that they be included in a Christmas hand-out of £lOO,OOO that was being made available for those out of work in NZ. Well—that is something that has changed in 20 years. Western Samoa still rides the crest of the uost-war boom. (In 1936, Western Samoa—particularly the Mau organisation—was rejoicing at the recent election to office of NZ’s first Labour Government). ❖ * * The New Year’s Honours list of 1936 contained amongst the names of the new Knights, that of Walter Randolph Car penter.