Territories Talk-Tar

By Tolala

Warning

To Phd

The PHD of P-NG has often complained of the shortage of medicos on its staff. Such short age would have been far greater had the department not been able to obtain the services of many European medicos, who were not permitted to practise in Australia, and P-NG was fortunate, for many of these Continental doctors were highly-qualified.

Now, however, NSW is experiencing a shortage in this same professional field and there are indications that the ban on European doctors is to be lifted in that State.

This will mean that some of P-NG’s medicos will be toying with the idea of packing up their stethoscopes and heading south to participate in more congenial conditions generally and parti cularly in a greater freedom from officialdom.

On the Silver Screen In Parliament last month Minister Hasluck, in reply to a question, said the News and Information Bureau would make documentary films about the government’s work in P-NG.

There was a need, he added, to present the government’s policy in P-NG in a suitable form, both for

those who wanted to understi; and for those who were disposed to criticise.”

We can now be prepared i on the screen one day al high-lights of administi achievement and most —if not will be those attained durur post-War II periods.

It could be a most illumiii documentary illustration of' great changes that have thrust upon the P-NG m according to the desires oc government. And, here, \ thetically, let me refer to a j which took my fancy re«; uttered by Padre C. A. O (who is usually referred “Major-General the Revereno an ABC talk referring to “good” people of the wondering how they can others.

“Is it,” he asked, “what want, or what we want toe And he has something theres not we emphasise our good to justify having done whether those receiving our i really want them or not?

We have now the prospect all-in effort to record in ces the progress and advance brought about by government amongst the P-NG natives. : be of interest to see wheth© credit is also given to those other main civilising instruu i.e., the Missions and H Enterprise, which in pioneering laid the foundation upon government has in recent reared its Temple of Accorm ment.

Let us hope the Minister*! not grab all the glory for his of administration officers who been working since 1946. L»i folk who first contacted wildest savages in the world] brought them into a prii submission be given some creo the work done three score before.

If the documentary starts 1946, then it’s just so muchi wash and not worthy of a m Hasluck’s stature who prides hr on his historical accuracy.

What of the

Pioneers?

Some considerable time the Minister made his statenur the House (referred to as Writer Olaf Ruhen took u]i cudgels for P-NG pioneers letter to the “SMH”, foil! articles by that paper’s S 3 Correspondent on the Territe: which he blithely recorder

ss” as stemming from the ir II years. i makes a valiant attempt unt the activities of past i, and mentions such folk as , Parke, Karius, Champion, Rentoul, Ryan. Humphries nnery, most of whom worked Sir Hubert Murray—the if the lot. so, they were only itively recent explorers and ;rs of the Territory, sr was only a fugitive the 1914 War, and never ished much in a practical of Missionary George his colleague Benjamin of Farrell and his partner Porsayth; of the numerous officials and scientists, who much of the hinterland the Sepik? t was done the hard way i days: no radio; no air- U 1 done on personal 3e and individual initiative, should be allowed a fair 's not right that the should be the only ones to the klieg lights. one example: Coconut in figures in TNG alone indication of pre-War I lent. In 1923, before the of the German properties German planting exception of the operations Australian companies in dlle), planted areas totalled cres; in 1940 the area had I to 244,750 acres, ermans left us a very fair > start off with. :ret )iness shington (DC), if reports ect, it has been left for Father Gusinde, recently from a study of pygmies ■, to discover the elixir of s, which is of far greater in all the A and H-bombs de-minded people, gh Father Gusinde passed Sydney on his way back States, he did not see fit 5 into his secret which is, a simple matter of diet.

Little People whom he “in a region where no an had set foot before,” >py souls because they eat and beetles contain the s-inducing vitamin T. itary! But fancy having to NG to find that out. y. I rather suspect that nad no contact with our ligh-pressure modern world r e quite a bit to do with Dpy dispositions, e how these Little Folk dically “discovered” in these areas. Lord Moyne, who trip up the Sepik in the nd a tribe of pygmies and

there was much rejoicing* antropological circles. Then: argument arose that they ] had already been found before, and I think the nanii that so-popular Sepik priest.

Kirschbaum, was mentioned an discoverer.

With Father Gusinde’s annou ment, all we need now is CSIRO to get cracking with to see whether a high percei; of Vitamin T is obtainable Rhinoceros beetles and Ceylon \ Weevils and, if positive, then i demand should go a long ws exterminating this planters’ p« The collecting of the raw mat for happiness would at least the planters happy.

NG’s Volcanoes

Could Help

While on the subject of res? and potential new industries, t could add to the Territory’s i let me mention Perlite. This material obtained from i volcanoes, a kind of lava t when crushed and quickly Ir to more than 1500 degrees expands to form light-weight,, combustible particles of ce structure that, combined plaster, is revolutionising plastering industry because « fire-resisting qualities.

This fire-proof plaster pn the United Nations headqm building in New York. (And better test could there be thi this building, where there much hot air and inflamm matter let loose!) Perlite was on show durim recent Building Exhibition Sydney. There’s plenty of! material available in P-NG.

Any enterprising company' moters in the audience?

Cause and Effect?

Complaints were made month by the Milne Bay DC Advisory Council that the Copra Inspector was “wr rejecting large quantities of c: which was later accepted J passed in Moresby. (See elses this issue).

His action was having adverse effect upon the dis economy, so it was claimed] local business man statec£ main cause of rejection was u cured copra.

At the beginning of this m a fire destroyed a quantii copra on a lighter at Brothers’ Balmain wharf, S;i and a company spokesmanr spontaneous combustion probably the cause.

In know not whether there connection between these : incidents. There could be. the point at issue is who is <

(Continued on Page 33)

ua-New Guinea there are upwards of bers of Australian Imperial Service o have few opportunities of meeting and perhaps only meet in their clubs leave in Australia. le of years ago some of them decided lething about the matter, and arranged at the New Guinea Club in Rabaul.

The function was so successful that another dinner was held in 1955, when it was decided to make it an annual event—to be held on the first Saturday each September.

About 30 of them gathered at the New Guinea Club on Saturday, Sept. 1 this year, with Lieut.- Col. J. W. Richards, secretary of the Imperial Service Club in Sydney, as the guest of honour

Major Don Barrett, and Mr. Keith Cummings president of the New Guinea Club, main movers in organising the dinner, gave a hearty wel come to the guests.

Lieut.-Col. Richards, on his return to Sydney, said the dinner was an outstanding success, with speeches "delightfully short". (Continued on Page 33)

3 as it should be done? The n Samarai or the bloke in ay? *e was talk at the meeting 3 Samarai inspector setting fh a standard. Is this possible? •a is either cured or it is ired. I don’t see where there 3 any half-way measures, planters’ best solution to the m is for them to produce

and ship the best quality copra The slap-happy standard of “that’s good enough” wants to be avoided where copra is concerned.

Companies spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in bringing coconut plantations into production: best-selected nuts, well planted’, well maintained and then let carelessness come into the picture when the matter of curing comes along.

A Well-Groomed

Territorial!

I had often wondered who originated the idea of replacing the old-time hair-bleacher, kabang. with the more compact peroxide (PIM August, p. 81), and that it was Lil. Bennet-Miller is in character with the Territory’s No 1 Glamour Girl, whose personality and chic grooming were known, in pre-war days, from Wanimo to Kieta.

The news that she is writing a book may cause some consternation in some quarters, but there is no doubt that there will be many buyers of it when it appears, parti cularly by those who may have high-hatted the lady at some time or other; I hope she does not omit that delightful incident when she was hostess to a party in Rabaul, thrown by an Australian G-G’s

ADC, who was staying at Govern ment House.

Undoubtedly the book will be a best-seller. There are some people who probably would like to buy up the whole edition. (Over)

Col. Richards was guest of the New Club during his fortnight in the Terri is hosts made certain that his stay was rable one. in Rabaul he was taken to the war at Bitapaka. From Rabaul he went where [?] was guest of local business [?] L. E. Ashton. Then followed two Bulolo, where he was able to look new plywood mill, nursery and digging Col. Richards also visited Wau and before going on to Ft. Moresby as guest [?] McInnes for four days before return- Sydney. ought it was a wonderful trip, and as the Territory is concerned I think it reat future," he told RIM. hotograph was taken at the dinner; Row (left to right) Lieut. D. Campbell, G. Kent, F/Lieut. A. N. Holland, Lieut.

Drken, Sqd.-Ldr. D. M. Lees, Lieut. F.

Maj. S. Snow, Lieut. R. Hershey (US), R. S. McKay, Lieut. L. H. Corbett, I. C. MacMillan, Capt. S. Smith, M. Garrett.

Row (left to right): Lieut. A. L. Cor ut.-Cmdr. F. A. Rhoades, DSC, Capt. lammer, DCM, MM, Lieut. K. E. Cum ieut.-Col. J. W. Richards, MC, Maj. ett, Capt. N. C. Barry, Lieut. A. E. n, Maj. H. Lyons, FI/Lieut. A. N.

Lava Lava

A La Mode From an August issue of the “Rabaul News” (the local Pidgin Press of the Dept, of Education), I see where a meeting was held in Moresby when Mr. Keith McCarthy, who shepherded the P-NG delegates to the SP Conference, advocated the adoption of the lava lava (not the lap lap) for standard wear by the natives of P-NG, especially for State occasions.

He explained how Fijians and other islanders had adopted the sulu in preference to English clothing, and how much more suitable it was in every way. Natives attending the meeting favoured the suggestion of adopting what they called the “pocket,” or “Solomon” lava lava.

Here’s hoping the idea is adopted generally throughout the Territory.

A native retains far more dignity in this dress than masquerading in European clothing, in which he so often looks so self-conscious and ridiculous.

Apropos of forcing our clothing onto the indigenes I see a par. written by a Sydney Columnist describing how the Administrator’s chauffeur—“a dazzling Fuzzy,” who drives bare-footed, has been told that when the Duke arrives he must wear shoes when he drives

His Royal Highness about in a newly-purchased limousine.

Just how stupid can we get? I do hope the Duke asks for him to be relieved of this Gilbertian pomposity.

A Lass in The Boob Territorial European woman in gaol? (PIM Sept., p. 19). Certainly a rarity.

I knew of only one case which occurred in Rabaul in the German days. The wife of a German planter (and, incidentally, a niece of Queen Emma) took a buggy whip to a visiting Naval officer who had made over-zealous amorous advances to her younger sister, following a dance at Government House.

Despite personal appeals to the Kaiser, the lady was sentenced to a short period of house detention —served in a Rabaul bungalow— as the “insult” to the Imperial Navy could not be overlooked! It was not long before War I.

There were no boobs for Europeans of either sex in Rabaul in those days. Any offenders were given the office to leave the country or, failing that, the males were appointed honorary road-masters for an appropriate period. At that

time, before race equality ream head, it was against govern policy to degrade white peop] putting them in the boob native country.