Tropicalities

Magazine Section

) Now— Dehydrated Beer!

sounds a technical impossibility -but there may be a hint of hings to come in the Pacific by sport from London which says ; the Army is co-operating with breweries in developing a method lehydrating beer to reduce the ■/y cost of shipping to troops ■seas. T tie Army rightly observes that e is no point in shipping the er cent, of water content of the , which can be added at destina -1 very well, of course, if the t kind of water is available at ination—or will any water do the Army? the research is successful there be some interesting develop ,ts in territories like Western oa and the Cooks, where liquor Id by the Administration, under lit, through the Treasury Office, le can imagine Monday, per ;, as beer-mixing day at Raro a, with the junior treasury :s plying their trade —one add the buckets of water, one wield the paddle in the big vat at the re of the office floor, and another ly ladling off and crown-topping bottles; with the rich, possibly er cent, (they like it stronger), ir of the brew floating along the jrfront road to remind all and Iry that it’s permit day! • will it be sold in powder form, every man using his own dis icn as to additives? A show of is will, no doubt, call for the ir.—JPS.

Joyita Brainstorms

IE of the best items of Joy itaiana collected recently was the report (with large head -5) in a Sydney newspaper that ler, reading a tea-cup in Well on, NZ, had seen the survivors he ill-fated vessel on an island ter identified as Swains Island, le seer had identified a ship, h bows rising out of. the water” he tealeaves in her cup—also a /ily-timbered island with one on. As she knew nothing about Pacific, she went to the Well on library, where the only island fitted her description was ins—which was providentially in right locality (it is between the elau group and the Samoan ids.)

While the Joyita flap was upon us, PIM heard also—by coconut wireless from Suva—that the reason that the Japanese murdered the 25 people aboard was because they had discovered the Japs building a secret submarine base.

Unless they were building it at the bottom of the deep blue sea, it would be pretty difficult to see how the Japs or anyone else could be making use of anyone else’s islands to carry out construction of that

sort unbeknown to Authority which has a long arm these days.

Before and during the Pacific war, the Japanese did all the charting and spying that was necessary around our Pacific Islands—there can’t be much more that they need to know. Yet PI residents see all Japs as spies, first—and as shell poachers (as they very often are) second.

That Blasted Channel

Again!

WE are interested to hear (Sept.

PIM, Page 18) that ICI made the explosives that blasted, at Ivirua village here on Mangaia, Cook Is., a channel connecting beach with reef-lip, affording easy passage for w h a 1 e-b o a ts . Also that “magician” Aloysius Smith wrought this eighth wonder.

There appears to be confused

Sigatoka

Valley

The 33-miles feeder road up the Sigatoka Valley from the coast to the Fijian village of Keiyasi gives access to this rich part of Fiji and should be of in terest to tourists who hitherto have not had much opportunity of seeing what the interior of Viti Levu is like.

The Sigatoka river is never far away and on top of some of the switch-back hills, magnificent views are obtained of the whole valley.

The road is aiding the development of flourish ing farms that grow potatoes and other root vegetables, greens, sugar cane, bananas, fruit and tobacco. It is also aid ing the manganese in dustry—a road branches off just before Keiyasi and leads to the mines.

Our photographs show, top, a manganese dump beside the road; centre, part of the valley road; lower, Keiyasi Village. —Photos by Lema Low.

data. The channel is a natural one.

It has always been there, connect ing beach with outer ridge of Ivirua lagoon. The aim of blasting was not to create a passage, but to blow away the reef-“lip” that has always impeded entrance to this lagoon (and at Oneroa village also).

The abortive attempt of a wander ing novelist to achieve improvements pales into insignificance beside the magic success of Mr. Smith!

But our trouble is that ICI has got all its facts wrong. Mr. Smith only inspected the alleged improve ments. Perhaps he wasn’t quite clear just what the site had been like before the explosions. Locals saw little difference.

We find it remarkable that the nonsense as quoted was from, of all places, “canny” Scotland.—EDWlN

Gold.

He Ties Himself In Knots

SOME people do odd things for a living, and Palmer Chetti Appalsami, 32-years-old Fiji- Indian exponent of yoga, is one of them.

He started practising yoga postures

at the age of 9, when he visited an ashram in India with his parents.

After a spell back in Suva, where he attended the Marist Brothers’

School, he practised for a few more years before staging his first public performance of yoga in 1940, since when he has become well known in Veti Levu for the excellent way in which he ties himself in knots.

In 1941, he became the light weight wrestling champion of Fiji, and remained undefeated for 5 years.

In 1946 and 1948 he toured New Zealand, demonstrating yoga postures at sideshows and cabarets.

Now he has recently returned to Fiji after a visit to Tonga, where he tied himself in knots to the astonishment—and amusement—of

audiences at 24 shows staged in various parts of Tongatabu.

Appalsami plans to visit Samoa and Tahiti early in 1956. This photo, by Jack Thornton, show the supple Indian doing one of his less com plicated manoeuvres the yoga version of sitting cross-legged.

After this most readers will, no doubt, prefer to stick to more orthodox ways of relaxing in the islands.

Filming In Western Samoa

WORK on the film, Pattern of Islands, had been 60 per cent, completed by late November and all concerned were reported as well satisfied with it.

The original story is based on a book of the same name by Sir Arthur Grimble—but Grimble’s story is about the Gilberts, while the movie makers decided to make it in Western Samoa.

There is a great deal of geographical difference between Samoa and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony—but apparently Samoa had advantages over the re mote atolls in the movie makers’ estimation—less isolation being one of them.

Grlmble’s book was very popu overseas, but most people who ki well the area Grimble wrote abj ridiculed much of it.

There have been a number movies made in the Pacific in cent years—none of which have ceived the seal of approval fr Islands residents.

Moira Macdonald, who did well in the Gary Cooper fi Return to Paradise, is again app© ing in the Pattern of Islands. Mo —who is now married—had no sire for a Hollywood career. : now two movie making compar have come to her door with tH blandishments. Few movie actres; have been so accommodated.

The Samoans who have tab part in the new film have b( praised for their work. They natural actors who enjoy the jof t The Royal Suva Yacht Club have a representative at the footer world contest at Brisbs Qld., in January. The yacht TV has been shipped from Suva i will compete in five races.