Postmen Don't Always Knock Twice

By Peter England

WELL, the New Guinea wet season is with us again, the airstrip is closed, and the chances of the weekly mail-plane getting through on Friday look distinctly doubtful.

Reminds me of the last time we had an extended hold-up of the mails. ,It was a few years ago. The North-West had come in with a week’s steady, soaking rain by which time the airstrip was awash and closed indefinitely.

It went on raining. After four mail-less weeks, and with no sign of the weather letting up, official dom was reluctantly prevailed upon to re-inaugurate the old runner ser vice.

It is five days by easy stages from Angoram to Wewak, and runners despatched from each end meet after two and a half days at the back of Kaup. Here they exchange mail and parcels, and return to their own bases.

Of late years there had been a more-or-less regular service by air, and the drill had grown a bit rusty: it took a couple of radio conversa tions with Wewak to get the pro ject properly teed up, but at last we saw our precious outward mail de part in two mailbags carried by ten “calaboose” (it would take at least that many to bring back our accumulated inward mail), escorted by a trusted native Corporal of Police. Just like old times!

We counted the days—five, four, three, two, one! Then, right on the dot, Nicky sang out, as he hurried past our bungalow: “Mail’s in!”

We didn’t waste any time, but by the time we got down to the post office, the rest of our tiny popula tion was already there with its elbows on the counter waiting eagerly for the sorting to begin.

The Patrol Officer was tipping the mail-bags out. The ADO was con gratulating the Corporal on a smart job of work.

“Very good, Corporal; you’re right on time! How were the roads?”

The roads, said the Corporal, were very bad.

“And the Wewak people—they were on time when you met them?”

Yes-sir, said the Corporal, the Wewak people were on time; they were already at the meeting-place when he arrived.

“And then you exchanged cargoes and came straight back?”

Well, no-sir, said the Corporal, not exactly, because the Wewak people had not brought any cargo.

They had just come to say that they

would send the mail out by the very first plane.

“But-but-” spluttered the ADO, a horrible thought entering his head as he waved a hand at the Patrol Officer sitting on the floor and examining bundles of letters with an increasingly puzzled expression, what’s this?”

Well, sir, said the Corporal, the Wewak people hadn’t brought him any cargo, so he didn’t give them any of ours. He had brought it back, After that we just naturally knocked off work for the day and, when we’d got over the first bitter half-hour, we had a very good after noon’s session at the Club.

t Mr. John Harrington, well known Aitutaki business man, paid a visit to Papeete in November.

Time Out For Refreshment: All Dressed

up for the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Lae in November, this native woman steps out of the dancing-line for a minute to nurse her baby .

Photo: D. Stewart.