Those Sloppy-Joes?

[?]Orial Note

When Will They Take Them Out of

3 Papuan Police-Band is now retty well travelled, and so ir as the boys themseves are rned, they are excellent ssadors for their country.

But isn’t it about time that some thought was given to scrapping these terrible uniforms and giving them something that will make them look less like fugitives from

.d-Victorian bathing-machine? ce a look at the photograph, 53. Not even a Grenadier dsman could look smart in shapeless hunks of navy Heaven knows who dsslgned jriginal uniform —but popular is that it was Sir Hubert ay who patterned the top half after an Australian bushman’s ael” to keep out the damp the boys were on mountain Is. It is obvious that Sir rt —if he were responsible— sast an eye at an early-model ng suit. ore the war, there were two 3 police-forces—one for Papua one for New Guinea. After var when the two territories combined for administrative ises, the police-forces were ined also, becoming the Royal i and New Guinea abulary (although how the eeship Council can square its ience with having allowed operating “on the other side” cept the title of “Royal” has been explained), vas rumoured some years ago when heavy supplies of blue were used up, the whole force change over to the old Man- Territory style of uniform, lis, alas, appears to have been a rumour. the benefit of Behinds who )t know how smart the pre- New Guinea policeman looked, iblished photo, at right, taken labaul in 1938. Inspector ey was leading the parade on occasion, also. cold or wet patrols, the boys wore heavy khaki wool ers. way of comparison we h, also, a photograph of . police dress. In conception nearer to that of the Papuan tu than to the old NG *m, but for smartness it would ird to beat.

P-NG force takes the booby for the worst dressed men in the South Pacific he current fashion of hitching at lap-lap above the owner’s knees doesn’t improve matters, s is a matter in which Mr. J.

IcCarthy could exercise his isive talents. If I remember tly, he made a speech at the meeting of the P-NG ative Council in which he d the modern dress of native s, and urged that New a natives be encouraged to likewise.

V not start at the top, with ’olice Force? —JT vy rain on the new airstrip muru, near Kikori, Papua, put i Anson out of order for a ays in mid-December. After ig, the aircraft’s wheels sank ; mud, and it had to remain until the strip dried out.