Pacific Report

The month’s round-up of news and pictures of people and vents, from PIM correspondents in the South Pacific.

it Trans-Pacific

|ht 30 Years Ago

is exactly 30 years (May 31- 3 9, 1928) since Australian tors Charles Kingsford Smith C. T. P. Ulm, with the iricans Jim Warner and Harry i (radio-man and navigator) e the first crossing of the fic Ocean by air. le event is being celebrated in ius ways, Australians interested iviation are bringing the only Ivor of the quartette, Mr. ner, from United States, for a ial ceremony. le flight is of special interest to aii and Fiji, where “Smithy” e re-fuelling stops, tere are many people in Suva remember that great occasion i the pioneer airman brought three-engined Southern Cross i to a pocket-handkerchief ing in Albert Park.

I Then Across the Tasman

.ree months later, on September 1928, Smith and Ulm, with ?ator H. A. Litchfield and '-man T. H. McWilliam, flew Southern Cross from Richmond, Sydney, to Christchurch, New md, in 14i hours—the first lan Sea crossing, e Australian Air League, in leration with New Zealand ests and Tasman Empire Air , has made arrangements to : the anniversary. Litchfield McWilliam, who now live in Zealand and Brisbane re ively, will travel with a party s the Tasman in a com orative flight; and there will special issue of Australian and

Zealand postage-stamps.

am Still Grunts

Bellows

nam Island volcano (north of New Guinea) still is ;ing and bellowing, but seems y becoming less active. It right through April without a r eruption. it December, about 3,500 es were transferred from tm to the nearby Madang ct, just before the volcano’s ities overwhelmed practically vhole island. They are eager Jturn, but Government Vul ogist G. A. Taylor says “not lere are movements going on

deep inside the volcano,” he says, “and more eruptions could take place.” He and his helpers keep ceaseless watch on Manam.

The active Volcanic belt extends right along the north coast of New Guinea mainland, along the northern side of New Britain, keeps the Rabaul area perpetually sim mering, and then turns away south eastwards through Bougainville towards the New Hebrides. It is seen again, as it follows its south easterly course, in Tonga and New Zealand.

And Mt. Langla Has a Go

Mount Langla, at the western tip of New Britain (seven miles south of Cape Gloucester) erupted in the afternoon of May 21, shooting smoke up over 20,000 feet. Langla last erupted some three years ago.

There now seems to be a new crater on the northern side. Mr.

R. A. Webb, ADO, at Talasea, re ported no danger to native villages in the area, although they are being showered with pumice dust.

Farm Training Plan

For New Guineans

An elaborate—and, if the word may be permitted, idealistic—plan for the training of Papua and New Guinea natives in agriculture, was announced by Australia’s Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck, on May 26.

A study of the Ministerial hand out indicates that the following is the programme: • In 1958-59, a total of 518 native farmers will be given agricultural training courses, extending over nine to 12 months, at agricultural extension stations throughout the P-NG Territory. There is no indication of how the 518 will be selected, or what qualifications are demanded, or how they will be ac commodated. • By 1961-62, about 1,000 native farmers will attend these courses every year. These trainees will in clude married couples. • In 1960, an agricultural college ( equivalent in standard to the agricultural colleges in Australia”) will be established at Keravat, near Rabaul, with 30 students. There are to be 90 students by 1962. The col lege will be open to Europeans as well as natives. Nothing is said about Asians, or part-Europeans, who might conceivably be capable of absorbing agricultural knowledge.

The length of the proposed college course is not indicated.

Requirement for admittance to the college is three years “success fully passed at a secondary school”. (How many secondary schools are available to native students in Papua and New Guinea or does the Minister look to the native students at secondary schools in Australia for his agricultural college re cruits?) Evidently realising that that en trance qualification imposes prac

1 difficulties, the Minister adds t, in order to assist students to lify, “a sub-diploma course will jonducted temporarily at Mageri, r Port Moresby”: and that a 3-diploma agricultural training itution will be established at ondetta (northeast Papua) in ! to take over the function of Mageri centre”. appears to be a double-bar id scheme; Anything up to 1,000 ;ive farmers” to be given nine ve months’ training each year various places throughout the •itory; and from 30 to 90 stu s, who must qualify at second schools to be trained at a regu agricultural college, ince most of the native peoples apua and New Guinea are agri irists”, says the optimistic Mr. uck, “the impact on village culture of the farmer training ramme will be considerable in future”. le theory of it is worthy of je. Everything possible should one to show New Guineans how icrease the productivity of their But the Minister’s outline of plan seems woolly and imprac >le.

jf was Hoist

His Stolen Whisky

imerous robberies in the stores offices of Apia had the Samoan e baffled. The thefts indicated and knowledge—but the thief :ed his tracks cunningly, en the liquor bond at the Cus louse was broken open, one b, and a quantity of whisky was a. ,e worried police were examin the premises for clues when noticed a Euronesian youth ring near the bonded store. He mtly was interested in the acti -5 of the police. They remem -1 that he had once been con d of theft. ey had a word with him. They d he was intoxicated—and he been drinking whisky! went to gaol for 4i years, and waterfront thefts have ended.

ister's Second Thoughts

School Subsidies

rents of teen-age children in a-New Guinea breathed freely i late May when it was an ced that the secondary-school dies would be paid for all ren reaching the required lard for “another two years at is reverses a decision an ced a couple of months ago r , April, p. 141) that from year secondary schools would rovided in Port Moresby, Lae R-abaul and children who could d those schools conveniently

tvould not be eligible for the sub sidy—amounting to £145 per annum plus one return air-fare.

The schools, when they are functioning (and those in Rabaul and Port Moresby are expected to be ready by the end of this year) will take all comers, Europeans, Asians and natives, providing they reach the required educational standard.

Heyerdahl's Fight For

American-Polynesian Idea

Norwegian student of Polynesian history Thor Heyerdahl (best re membered as leader of the Kon

tiki rafting expedition from South America to Polynesia) seems to have obtained more scientific back ing for his contention that some of the present-day Polynesian’s ancestors came from the American continent.

On the subject of the origin of the Polynesian there appear to be two very dogmatic schools of thought.

On one hand, there is the old established group who insist that the Polynesians originated in Asia.

Another, and much smaller school, is equally emphatic that the East Polynesians, at least, came from the Americas.

A very few are prepared to get

ther in a third group, which is that they came from both rtions, to mingle and inter ry in Eastern Polynesia, and the Polynesians of today are descendants of this mixture, le Asian theory supporters say cultural similarities between rican Indians and residents of nesia were introduced by re -trippers from Polynesia, and by Indians from America, aile there may have been a few return trippers, most seamen duding probably Captain Eric isschop of Tahiti Nui I —would thumbs-down on the theory of great number of such return ges by canoe. Winds, climate, currents are all against it. voyage from America to Poly , (westwards) in a simple craft, fair winds and currents, in a

:al latitude, would be com ively easy —as raft voyagers shown in recent years. An ard voyage in a raft is well impossible, unless made via Counter Equatorial Current the equator, far to the north rench Oceania. v, according to Heyerdahl, -typings carried out by the alian serum laboratories at >urne have shown conclusively rong racial affinity between esians and American Indians, iplings of blood from isolated esian communities in Melane and from other Polynesian s, “infer no relationship le Malays, Indonesians, or ?s of South Eastern Asia”, have been expected >eoples supposed to have ted through that area over igthy period. On the other the blood samplings show “a blood genetic relationship be the Polynesians, and the ;inal tribes of the American tent”. us”, says the Heyerdahl state

ment, “the results of modern blood group surveys are perhaps the strongest argument in favour of an American-Polynesian racial unity, and not at all a valid argument for an Indonesian origin for the Polynesian tribes”.

There are, of course, weighty arguments in favour of the east ward migration theory; but Heyer dahl seems to be assembling suf ficient evidence for a westward migration to cause him to be taken a little more seriously than hitherto.

He yet may show that the real answer is more complicated than the late Dr. Peter Buck’s Vikings of the Sunrise would suggest,

Australia's Lopsided

S. Pacific Trade

The lopsidedness of Australia’s trade with the South Pacific Islands is effectively shown in a chart com piled by the Rural Bank of Aus tralia, published in March.

Australia sends out, to Australian Pacific Territories, about £l5 mil lions worth per annum; £lO millions worth to British Territories, and about £8 millions worth to French islands—a total altogether of goods worth £3O millions.

But Australia imports from the same countries goods worth less than £l2 millions—mostly from Papua and New Guinea, with a little from Fiji and Solomons.

Geographical nearness, plus the enterprise of Australian traders, gives Australia the trading advant age in the South Pacific. But that does not make the British, New Zealanders and French like the un balanced picture any the more.

Some 'Theory Stuff' for

P-NG Officials

Hard-bitten New Guinea lads whose knowledge of “administration as a profession” probably was gained the hard way, in filthy river jungles or isolated islands posts, attended with curiosity some of the lectures given in Port Moresby in early June by Dr. B. B. Schaffer.

Dr. Schaffer is “senior lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Queensland”. He is a graduate in economics and political science of London Uni versity, and was a Research Scholar and Tutor at the London School of Economics in the ’Fifties. He now is engaged on a machinery-of government consultancy project with the Public Service Board at Canberra.

Professors and doctors of this and that—scholarly experts of the first magnitude—are seen frequently in Papua and New Guinea, where Australia’s gift millions make such services possible.

Although “mere theorists”, they usually win respect on their merits, or because of charming social qualities. Others are mostly a source of joy to bearded and otherwise tough patrol officers and such.

Dr. Schaffer was in the first class. Despite his appalling aca demic distinctions, he seemed to impart much useful knowledge on some of the vexed problems of how to govern while keeping onside with the governed.

Preceding Dr. Schaffer, two lec turers of the Public Service In stitute of P-NG —Messrs F. A Negri, Senior Training Officer, and K. J. Gorman, lecturer in Eco nomics—made a tour of the prin cipal centres in New Guinea. Their object: To give advice and supply tutorial assistance to men in the field.

Odd Angles of Burns

Philp Administration

Points of interest about the Burns Philp empire, taken from the formal address of the Chair man, Mr. James Burns, at the general meeting of the Co. in Sydney on May 22: The Co., last year, contributed £67,531 to the Staff Provident Fund, which now has 1,300 subscribers, and assets worth £1,292,134.

Shipping activities show huge variations at times. Last year,

Rev. and Mrs. L. Buckman, with their ear-old daughter, Judith, who left on the May "Bulolo" for Port Moresby, Mr. Buckman will be secretary to the and Foreign Bible Society. His main will be in the translation of the Bible [?] various languages of Papua. He has in New Guinea twice previously—with Fantry during the war and as a delegate Mission Conference at Lae, more re-

rters were "sky high”. This r. they are at a record low. he Co. has a lot of cocoa plant ; coming into bearing, and hopes cover reductions in profits on ra with increased sales of cocoa, the price of each commodity is d by market variations, he subsidiaries Burns Philp nth Sea) Co. (which covers the area) Burns Philp (New nea) Ltd., and Burns Philp w Hebrides) Ltd.—all did well 957-8, and contributed their full :e of a 10 per cent, dividend, ae Co’s old-established whole ig business, carried on for 75 ■s, is disappearing under the practice by which distributors go directly to manufacturers, groups, or co-operatives. Con ently, the Co. now is disposing ;oods for cash, per medium of service stores thus making tantial savings in bookkeep insurance, bad debts, wages, head, and long credit require ts. le modern motor vessel Bulolo d not be replaced for less than (0,000 which means that (0,000 would have to be earned re taxes were paid, lere is a diminishing profit in operation of passenger liners.

Bulolo was built to carry 248 engers, and operating costs I profits) were calculated ac ingly. But under new indus laws, she had to be altered arry between 170 and 180 pas ers in two and three berth is, so that more accommoda could be provided for the crew, tart from that, passenger > do not pay because, owing to conditions, ships now are ;d to lie too long alongside •ves, while the crew remains Anything over a dozen pas srs means a large addition of to care for passengers, at additional crew has to be for time wasted in the ports ig the working of cargo—but passengers do not pay any e only passenger ships likely urvive under Australian con ns, and the 44 hours week at might be those of the ferry which can quickly land and irk passengers, and not be in an expensive port by cargo derations. e Co. finds itself nowadays ing in many different cur es— especially Australian, En- New Zealand, Fijian, French, dian, United States —and re ig a variety of fixed rewards whatever cash accumulations as for temporary lending seven per cent, for three hs Treasury Bills in London, 5-2 per cent, for long-term rnment bonds in USA.

William Crawford Currie, chairman of the BISN Co. has joined the Burns Philp 3, in succession to Dudley

Wynne Cross, who served Burns Philp and Co. Ltd. for 57 years.

One Month in Fiji for 20

Anti-TB Students

Two groups, each containing 10 Assistant Medical Officers, chosen from various South Pacific Islands, will spend one month each, in January or February, 1959, at the Central Medical School, at Tama vua, near Suva, Fiji, on a refresher course, on the diagnosis and treat ment of Tuberculosis.

The courses have been sponsored by the World Health Organisation, and the Government of Fiji will act as host to the students.

Allocations of places for the various territories are: Fiji, Papua and New Guinea, three each; Cook Islands, Eastern Samoa and Western Samoa, two each; (Over)

THEY SAILED AWAY FROM SYDNEY IN MAY: These "Bulolo" passengers, left to right, were: Mrs. G. McMillan, who returned to Rabaul after spending three months in Sydney. Mrs. Mc- Millan's husband, who had spent many years in various parts of the Islands while working for the OTC, died recently. Mrs. E. M. Norris, of West Australia, who will visit Mr. and Mrs.

E. A. George of Kokopo. Mrs. Florence Higham returned from Sydney to Port Moresby.

Mr. and Mrs. Horst Goetz after their wedding at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Lae, NG, on May 21. The bride, formerly Marie Patricia Edwards, has been in the Territory Education Department for a year; Mr. Goetz, from Ham burg, Germany, has been in the Territory for six years. They will live in the Western Highlands. Photo: O. Brabant.

•itish Solomon Islands protec te, Gilbert and Ellice Islands ny, Nauru, New Hebrides, Niue Tonga, one each.

Pheasants for

imea tteen pheasants (four cocks and lens) travelled from Auckland loumea early in May as pas ers in a TAI aircraft, ed by Mr. E. A. Higgins, of ngarei, the birds are the ms of what is hoped will de ) into a colony of game birds Slew Caledonia, as an eventual tional tourist attraction, ccess of the venture will rest . the ability of the birds to it themselves to New Cale b’s climate, feeding conditions, and the possibility of pests— animal and human—depleting stock before it becomes estab ±

r Becomes National

ik for N. Cal.

e Melanesians of New Cale i, under the “more liberal” of recent years, have become ty drinkers of beer, tv Caledonia’s leading news r has pointed out that, in the quarter of 1958, no less than >0 gallons of beer were im d into the French Territory,

at a cost of about £133,000. This was at a time when high authority was deploring the gap between ex ports and imports.

The natives appear to be the chief consumers —and official figures do not tell the full story, because much locally-brewed beer is also consumed.

The newspaper says the figures are frightening, because all efforts to reduce beer-drinking seem to have failed.

Before the war, a bottle of bear was seldom seen in Noumea—and when it was it was Australian beer.

Beer is Big News

in P NG, Too

The non-indigenous population of Papua and New Guinea, in 1957 was estimated at 14,436, of whom 10,600 are Europeans, and the re mainder mostly Asians. As the natives do not drink liquor, it is easy to calculate the annual al coholic intake of the Europeans.

This shows that drinking in New Guinea nans neck-and-neck with similar drinking in Canberra, which has been described as “the alcoholic capital of the nation”.

The European population in New Guinea, from 1956 to 1957, rose by seven per cent. The importation of liquor, in the same period, rose 12 per cent. This takes no account of the output of the Port Moresby brewery. And now there is another brewery operating in Lae.

A Fiji Protest

About the SPC

Fiji probably has forgotten an incident of 1947.

When the six Pacific Powers got together in 1946-7 and formed the South Pacific Commission, and presented it to Fiji as a fait accompli, and asked Fiji to accept it, the unofficial members of the Fiji Legislative Council staged a minor rebellion.

They insisted that, in a matter so closely affecting the Colony, Fiji should have been consulted, before Agreement was reached.

The debate took place on July 25, 1947. The late Mr. A. A. Ragg moved: “That this Council strongly protests against the decision of the South Seas Conference held at Canberra on February 6, 1947, to include the Colony of Fiji within the ambit of operations of the South Pacific Commission”: “The ‘big boys’ have got together and have, without reference to the people concerned, decided what is to be done,” said Mr. Ragg. “We are expected, without question, to accept the decisions of the parti cipating powers in matters which are primarily our own concern.”

Mr. W. G. Johnson, in seconding, said: “The Agreement at Canberra

[?]k to the job on May "Tulagi" went the and Mrs. C. Mountford, of the Melanesian on, bound for Honiara after five months in NZ. Mr. Mountford first visited SIP in 1924 and stayed there for four working with the Mission. He also spent time there in 1956.

Rev. and Mrs. P. B. Baker (lower photo) of the Melanesian Mission, sailed for ra, BSIP, after an extended leave of 18 is, most of it in England. With them iss E. Stock, who has been associated the Mission in Honiara for about six and had just completed nine months in NZ.

5 signed, I understand, subject later confirmation. We were idering whether we were going be consulted as to whether we bed to participate in the Con mce.” [r. H. B. Gibson: Before the t was made and before the tlemen (His Excellency and the ing Colonial Secretary) went to tralia, some reference to the ter might have been made in Council so that we would have i able to express our opinions, may have different opinions on ,t ought and ought not to be e, and we may have different ss and fears as to what one bt expect from a South Pacific lament, such as is envisaged, r. A. D. Patel: I would like this ncil to consider what an impor part these communities have ed in helping our Fijian hren in coming out of a state jrimitiveness, and taking their •er place amongst the civilised »les of the world. Considering the British, the Indians, and Chinese people have not only i directly concerned in the omic development of these ms, but also directly concerned be cultural development of the s inhabiting these regions, I d say that we should have been i an opportunity to take part in 3 activities, which are of a lI and cultural nature. • Hugh Ragg: The people ly concerned (speaking in terms r iji) have not been consulted :tly. I agree that we had very representatives in Great lin’s delegation, inasmuch as tad the Governor of this Colony the officer now acting as nial Secretary, and no doubt . as advisers or as members able to bring forth the Fiji of the position and did a very

good job of work. But that is, after all is said and done, a very limited representation.

The motion was defeated by 19 votes to 11. Three Fijian members voted with the Officials against the motion. The 11 who supported it were: B. M. Gyaneshwar; A. D.

Patel; A. R. Sahu Khan; K. B.

Singh; Vishnu Deo; Ratu T. W. T.

Vuiyasawa; A. A. Ragg; W. G.

Johnson; H. B. Gibson; J. A.

Garnett; Sir Hugh Ragg.

The debate is worth remember ing because, if there is to be any formal consideration of the future of the South Pacific Territories, it may centre upon the machinery of the South Pacific Commission, created in 1948.

Hawaii's Fruit Juice Exports

The Hawaiian fruit juice export industry grows year by year, in most categories. Statistics covering the last three years are:

Guava puree and juice: 11,195 to 15,200 gals.

Guava nectar: 12,459 to 16,207 cases.

Papaya (pawpaw) puree and juice: 11,472 to 20,937 gals. Nectar 41,831 to 52,015 cases.

Passion fruit puree and juice: 16,359 to 102,817 gals. Nectar, 251 to 701 cases.

A large part of the puree and juice is exported frozen; the re mainder in cans.

Tribute to a

Great Indian Poet

The life and achievements of the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (who died in 1941, aged 80) v/ere described in addresses by Mrs.

K. D. Bhasin and Mr. A. D. Patel, at a meeting of the Fiji Literary Society, in Suva, on Tagore’s birth day (May 5).

Mrs. Bhasin said that the vitality of Bhasin’s genius, and the variety and beauty of the literary forms he created, were amazing.

He gave to his people in one life time what other peoples had taken centuries to evolve a language capable of expressing the finest modulations of thought and feeling, a literature worthy to be taught in any university in the world. He was one of the world’s few writers whose works withstand the severest challenge of great literature, East ern or Western, ancient or modern.

Mr. Patel said Tagore all his life pleaded and strove for social jus tice, for the right of the poor to material well-being, of the citizen to self-government, of the ignorant to knowledge, of the child to un fettered development, of the woman to equal dignity with man.

All communities were represented at the meeting. Mrs. B. P. Rattan gave a Tagore song, in Bangali, and a group of Fijian boys, from the DAV College, recited selections from Gitanjali— S. M. M. (Over)

At a recent Polynesian Assn, party in Sydney, this scratch group all over th e Pacific and beyond supplied the music. There is Mrs. a Little, from Fiji, Lucky Harris and Tex Foote, who recently got back Tahiti; Joe Musery, from Indonesia ; and Tui Jay Hamilton, of Zealand.

Photo: Telephotos.

Buy Bananas—Buy

Fijian

Fiji fielded a strong team w It sent its delegation to New 1 land in early June to urge Zealand to buy as many bansj as previously —if not more.

Commentary, this issue).

The delegation was led by Financial Secretary, Mr. H.

Davidson and included: Maurice Scott, new speaker of' Legislative Council; Mr. W J chnson, European Nomini Member of the Council and cW man of the Banana Commit 1956; Ratu Penaia Ganilaui Fijian member of the Legisls Council; Mr. A. B. Ackland, ms ger of Fijian Banana Ventu and Mr. J. L. Chalmers, of Colonial Sugar Refining Comn and a member of the Rewa Vs Planning Committee.

More Aid for

Islands Women

Matters connected with the soi development of South Pas Islanders were considered by Research Council of the Sci Pacific Commission, which a menced a session in Noumeaj May 17.

The provision of reading n erial; promotion of co-opers societies and similar methods aided self-help: records for broadcasting of Pacific Ist songs; and especially the prco tion of Islands women’s inter in the various archipelagoes, t discussed.

The Council welcomed two « suit ants Miss Freda Gwilli woman educational adviser to < British Colonial Office, and Pro sor Horace Belshaw, of the torian University, Wellington, Plans were developed under w'.\ specially qualified women speciae will visit the Islands communl to advise and instruct ns women. Funds to assist this ; ject have been made available the United Church Women i America.

Among those who attended Council sittings were: Mr. C. H. Allen, Senior Assistant Secrn for Native Affairs, British Sold Islands.

Dr. J. V. de Bruyn, Adviser for NP!

Affairs, Netherlands New Guinea.

Mr. W. C. Groves, Director, Depart} of Education. Papua and New Guim Mr. J. Guiart, Professor of Histon Oceanic Religions, Practical Schocu Advanced Studies of the Sorboc France.

Dr. A. H. J. Kroon, Executive Oflficeis Economic Development, South P, c Commission.

Dr. E. Massal, Executive Officer i Health, South Pacific Commission, r Mr. J. L. Noakes, Director of Socialfj velopment, Cook Islands Dr. Richard Seddon, Executive Officers

>cial Development, South Pacific Com ission T. R. Smith. Secretary-General, South icific Commission.

John de Young, Staff Anthropologist, ■ust Territory of Micronesia, Guam, essor J. W. Davidson, Research School Pacific Studies, Australian National ilversity, Canberra.

Desamais, Inspector of Primary hools, Noumea.

jmea-N. Hebrides Air

vice Resumed

aving had a new wing fitted in mea, TAl’s DC3 plane resumed Noumea-New Hebrides shuttle ics in May, and thus ended a

lot of inconvenience suffered especially by New Hebrides people.

Qantas, which runs a service be tween Noumea and Australia, has ceased to carry mail on that run, because the New Caledonian Post Office will not pay for such trans port in anything but francs. This means that airmail for Sydney now goes by TAI via Brisbane, and arrives late on Thursday instead of Thursday mornings.

Light for a Notorious Reef

After surmounting great techni cal difficulties, the Public Works Department of Fiji finally has been able to construct a lighthouse that will warn mariners of the locality of the notorious Horseshoe Reef,

which lies in the Koro Sea, within the Fiji archipelago.

The lighthouse was pre-cast in sections in Suva and taken to the reef in sections, and placed in po sition by men working patiently from small craft. It is a place of sudden winds, treacherous seas and tortuous currents but the very difficult job was completed in May.

Many ships have been trapped on Horseshoe Reef, in the last 100 years. Some escaped, to be repaired and sail again; others were lost.

Machines Displace

Costly Native Labour

It has come as forecast: Highly specialised machinery is displacing,

d for the Cook Islands in May to assess us crop prospects for the current season r. G. Bairstow (right) of Turners and Ltd., Auckland. With him is "Maui s" popular Chief Steward Wally Kain to thousands who have travelled in this rough the years (top photo). ning to Rarotonga per "Maui Pomare" after vacation in New Zealand, was adio technician G. W. Brereton of Raro- Radio with Mrs. Brereton and the (centre). thful Winter visitor to Tahiti from New for years past has been Mr. V. "Jim" n—seen off here aboard "Waitemata" by artist Charles McPhee of Auckland merly of Tahiti and Samoa (bottom).

New Guinea goldfields, the e labour that, pampered and ected”, has now become too r for economic operation, everyone knows, native labour iw and inefficient. But, if it >w in cost, three or four dent units may be used instead e efficient unit. But, lift the of inefficient units —as has done steadily by well meaning b over recent years—and the inevitably is reached when ines, operated by skilled anics, are cheaper than native r. aechanical loader, operated by Australian mechanics, for work e new 1,100 feet tunnel which Guinea Goldfields Ltd. is ig into a mountainside near its n Ridges mill, at Wau, arrived au in May. The managing or, Mr. John Hohnen, said native unskilled labour now ar too costly for such work. new tunnel, incidentally, i be completed at the end of ear.

for of Your

Stamps

latelists—that is, the in rable people whose active is the collection of postage 's —met the new issues of l and New Guinea postage s, on June 2, with orders hundreds of poungs. The id for “first day covers” was ive. spt *for one stamp (the 7d>, diole series was designed by nbert Griffiths, a 26-years-old ical draughtsman, who was yed for a time in Port by by the oil-search corn set his mind on winning that and, while in Port Moresby, sited many parts of both eries and took hundreds of graphs, so that his artistic s should be backed by

, accuracy. This was a remarkable achievement. He now is abroad, studying art. f Even the 7d stamp (which shows the khnkii plymill of Bulolo), while produced by Mr. Laurie Edwards, is based on a design by Mr. Griffiths.

Lonq Samoan Hours on

3 . i

Finance Problems

The new Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa, which began its Budget Session at the end of Feb nary, completed business on May Finance has given the members much thought and worry. The Esti mates were discussed for eight and a half weeks before acceptance.

Members who try conscientiously to understand the financial propo sitions which they are asked to adopt are not given much official help in their request for informa tion.

When the NZ Minister for Islands, Mr. Mathison, visited Apia recently, he was asked for help.

Mr. G. F. Betham, European elected member, referred pointedly to the fact that the Government had not supplied members with balance-sheets over the past three years, which they needed so that they could see the Territory’s true financial position.

They wanted to know, for ex ample, the position of the Govern ments Liquor Trading Account, Electric Power Scheme, and P.O.

Savings Bank. Why were excessive stocks, approximately £400,000, car ried by the Public Works Depart ment? Why did the Treasury not more closely supervise the PWD accounts?

The Minister addressed the As sembly at some length, but he gave the members practically nothing of the information they were seeking.

In the opinion of the Samoan and European members, who have been critical of the governmental set-up, the Minister has accepted completely the viewpoints and the finance policies of the High Com missioner and the members of the Executive Government.

The Customs Amendment Ordi nance, providing a 10 per cent, sur tax on import duties, as one means of raising urgently-needed revenues, received a lot of opposition before it passed.

Private members find these long

Wally Downing, left, with three young people from Norfolk island — Quintal, George he Creu and Peter Knapton. They met at a Poly- Assn. party in Sydney.

Photo: Telephotos.

ions harassing and expensive.

Assembly, by a large majority, ded to ask the Government to ease the members’ sessional 7 allowances.

le Variety of

ts in N. Guinea

ie Papua-New Guinea Christian ion field becomes ever more ;d in character. Even Euro s find it confusing, e latest enterprise reported is he Church of Christ. Mr. H. er, who was a missionary once ;e New Hebrides, and lately has stationed in Toowoomba, in msland, has now entered the Guinea Highlands. A scout 3, some time ago, selected a ion for him in uncharted try. somewhere near the boun of Dutch and Australian New ea. He told a meeting in Too iba that he expected to be i for two years—“if I don’t up in the cooking pot of the Lbals”. o Salvation Army girls (Cap- Ruby Dalrymple, of Brisbane, Lieutenant Dorothy Elphick, of igarei, New Zealand) have to the New Guinea Highlands irect a mobile medical clinic g the natives there, memorable spectacle, in New 9a, is that of an earnest man ? to explain to primitive es, in Pidgin, the differences ?en the various sects which to him so large a proportion of ledical care and simple tuition he receives. v Guinea is a Trust Territory, ically any sect can go in. ; are about 40 established now.

Gets Small

es in King-Size

en the first two Otter Aircraft Qantas internal services in a-New Guinea were handed

over by De Havil lands at Banks town, NSW, oh May 27, the oc casion got full Lockheed Electra treatment.

About 500 people includ ing De Havilland and Qantas ex ecutives, and rep resentatives o f newspapers, tele vision, news-reels and radio watched Mr. Les ter Brain, De Havilland’s mana ging director, hand over the log-books of the planes to Mr.

C. O. Turner, general manager of Qantas —and it seemed that most of these stayed on for a buffet lunch afterwards.

The Otter has been described as a “King - sized”

Beaver. (The small Beavers have been used in P-NG by Qantas for the last couple of years, but are now being with drawn.

The Otter, like the Beaver, is a single-engined plane, but it has 600 HP to the Beaver’s 450. It has a range of over 1,000 miles and can carry 11 nassenaers or about a non

llVof 3,000

ICS OI ireignt.

In both the standard type and the amphibian type, which PIM saw at Bankstown, 11 small but adequate forward-facing seats were fitted. But it was noted that these were easily removable—and there is no knowing what will happen to them once they get to the Territory.

Qantas will take four of these aircraft, which will be used on air strips not suitable for the companys DC3 s. At the demonstration at Bankstown, the amphibian, landing into a strongish west wind, and empty, pulled up in about 400 feet.

De Havilland’s association with Qantas goes back to 1922 when as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, the company was pioneering its early routes in Western Queensland. The Otter is the i4th DH type that Qantas has used since then.

Captains W. Nye and K Montague, of Qantas’ New Guinea services, came down to Sydney to take the aircraft home. They have now entered service In P-NG.

c||| * n u au( j a «' ,u ndVC d

Hibiscus Hiohwav

~„ 3 1 following a suggestion by the Governor, Sir Ronald Garvey, the people of Savu Savu, Fiji, propose to plant hibiscus along the fine, new road recently constructed at Buca Bay, and to call it the Hibiscus Highway, Tt . run s for 50 miles through country of great scenic beauty and, o ir, br iiJ lant ’ quick "

a^O S

attraction for tourists,

Wasps to Fiaht

D , a

Beetle Menace

Most places want to drive wasns away. Fiji is going to breed them. • is P art of the drive against the Rhinoceros beetle which feeds on

the Colonic JniiL threat t 0

copra industry m '° n a year The beetle was introduced by accident into the South Pacific by the Germans before World War I (and by the Japs during World Var an d flourishes there be *t has no natl i ral enemies,

PtS t 0 find a predator

Now it 1q hPiWpH , caUed * ra/fcornfe‘feeds'^

At Bankstown on May 27, Mr. Lester Brain (left), hands over to Mr. C. O. Turner, of Qantas. The amphibian-type Otter can be seen in background (picture of the plane in flight appeared on page 141 of April RIM). This plane got Important Treatment when it reached P-NG, too. It was christened in Moresby—the wife of a civil aviation V. I. Person aimed the bottle. In Lae, the aircraft caused some lifted eyebrows when it landed. Lae is not used to flying-boats, and the wheels of this amphibian are not readily seen, while the floats certainly are.

larvae of the beetle, e Fiji Coconut Pests Board •ts that cocoons are being in iced experimentally from Koror le Palaus (Caroline grop) by H. W. Simmonds, a former mment Entomologist who now s part-time with the Board, ling sites are being prepared iree places. If the experiment ;cessful if it is hoped to extend other areas.

bed by a

-Sized Garfish

unlucky native fisherman at Papua, was killed late May a fish leapt from the water punctured his jugular vein. i man was spear fishing on a cvhen the accident happened, thought the fish was a “long -a sort of king-sized garfish a long sword-like beak. This s can grow up to three or feet long in P-NG waters.

Seven New

ralians

lignified ceremony was con l by the Magistrate, Sir Col- O’Loghlin, at the Masonic Lae, New Guinea, on June m the first Chinese residents naturalised. ough many more have ap for naturalisation, only seven received their papers in or the ceremony. Six of these ed, the seventh, Mr. Seto Kui, >eing absent on a visit to ong. >e naturalised were: Mr. el Kam Hong Dang, Miss Yuk Tai Hui, Mr. Seeto and Mrs. Henry Chim, Mr.

Seeto and Mrs. Angela Seeto, fr. Mah Ming.

Kam Hong, well-known ant of Lae, who was born

in NG, spoke for them all when he said he was indeed proud to be come an Australian citizen.

In attendance were Minister for Territories Hasluck, the Adminis trator of P-NG, Brigadier D. M.

Cleland, Mr. Howse, MP, Under secretary for Territories, and Mr.

H. Niall, District Commissioner, Morobe. A reception at the Lae Residency followed the ceremony.

At Lae the

New Beer Flowed

People in Lae, New Guinea, who hitherto have imagined that beer is something that can be easily brewed in a bath-tub, have become increasingly amazed in the last year at what really constitutes a modern brewery.

On June 4, 1958, the Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck, before a distinguished gathering, opened Lae’s new brewery, New Guinea Brewery Ltd. It was the culmination of 12 months of effort by two cheerful, bustling people, Messrs. R. Meier and J. R. Nydam.

Australians who think they are

past-masters at the art of giving “anything a go” have been shown a thing or two by these two Euro peans, one a brewer and the other a brewery engineer, who literally built the enterprise from the ground up.

They have cleared the ground, poured the concrete, built the office block (which they initially used as living quarters) and erected the

brewery building.

When the machinery and equip ment began to arrive—refrigeration gear, huge stainless steel vats, bot tling machinery, all sorts of queer bits and pieces of pipes and gauges and motors—they installed that too.

Now they are brewing the beer and going out and selling it.

Messrs. Meier and Nydam were under no delusions as to what they had to produce. It had to be beer equal to the world’s best, or It would not be good enough. Papua- New Guinea drinkers are beer drinkers—having brought their native Australian talent with them and unproved upon it.

And the new brew has plenty of £ lvals already established in the field: the product of South Pacific Brewery—where Mr. Meier was brewer before he began on the new Lae enterprise—and any amount of imported Australian bottled beer.

Alter the war, the Territory suffered a beer drought along with Australia and all sorts of foreign brews were imported; but now Temtonans literally have never if if k° g ? od on the beer front. pLb U Lo e r,w nt / t 0 w *tch how mv. br T and l ares from now on.

The Lae brew flowed freely on opening day. Local connoisseurs pronounced it a “potent drop the real McCoy”. p ’ '

Suggested Union:

Fiji and N. Zealand

In the course of a discussion bv members of the Royal Empire in London on November 26 1957, the future of Fiji was touched Upon - (Over)

LEFT: Mr. and Mrs Les Hastings, with daughter Rebecca, aged onths, returned to Lae on the "Shansi” after six months leave, in Victoria and NSW. Mr. Hastings is a patrol-officer and has in New Guinea for about eight years.

RIGHT : Mr and Mrs. Kev. Lake, with son Doug (6), and [?]ters Robin (8), and Jenny (12 months), returned to Lae on the "Shansi" after four months leave in Sydney. Mr. Lake has been Comworks there for 10 years, as a supervisor.

i leading speaker said there were ee simple alternatives to giving iplete sovereignty of a colony ,ch was not large enough to »t by itself. They were:— Participation in a Federation, b as the new West Indies eration.

Self-government within a Com iwealth, such as had now been posed for Singapore. This, he I, might be suitable for Gambia, Mauritius.

Integration with an existing ainion—and here he suggested t Fiji might be integrated with r Zealand, or Zanzibar with an t African country. omment : If Mauritius is big igh for self-government within British Commonwealth, so also iji; and there are more reasons according that status to Fiji i to Mauritius. ie simplest alternative for Fiji, rould appear, is membership of ritish South Pacific Federation, bn the British Commonwealth, awever, it was apparent from report of the discussion that Royal Empire Society members v very little about the units of Royal Empire.

Land "Unfertile,

ifficient, Unavailable"

iere is a note of urgency in the nents of well-informed public ints in Fiji on the land and ailture situation, as they see :veloping. ie land, for the most part, is by the Fijians. The Fijians are outnumbered, by over 0, by the Indians, who are rally landless. The Indian md for land is growing Con ors population has doubled in Bars, and is now about 370,000. ill be well over the half-million : in another 20 years. How

will this population be sustained, if fuller use is not made of the land?

An evidently competent writer in the Department of Agriculture’s journal declares that a new set of land laws is needed, and points urgently to the following evils: • Because of the increasing number of Indians demanding land, and the smallness of the areas available, Fijian land values are exaggerated, and becoming worse.

• The man with land to sell or lease can get his own price, without delay. The Crown is powerless to hold down these soaring valuations, which could gravely affect the Colony’s economy. • The Crown controls less than 4.5 per cent, of the land —and much of the Crown area is totally un suited to farming. • Circumstances (he refers to the racial unbalance) have produced in

an emergency which most itries experience only at a time uternational stress, r. I. T. Twyford, a chemist in Colony’s Department of Agri are, has stated flatly that the story that Fiji’s lands are rich fertile is almost completely un- He said there were some s which were rich and fertile, not many. 3 says that unless the general lity of the Fijian soil is built nd maintained, agriculture must ine and the Colony would face ster —“as is already beginning appen in some areas”.

iging Home the

on in Lae

pig is an animal with dirt lis face, he can’t read a book vrite his name”, were words h Bing Crosby made famous in ng My Way”. But what self “cting pig cares about these >s? rtainly not the happy looking shires on Mr. Jack Maloney’s outside Lae, New Guinea, e 40 of them browse con dly, and produce little pigs, in turn will produce more little irting with one sow and one pig wo acres of leased land, five out of Lae township, Mr. ney is still another example of in with faith in the future of [’erritory. eventual aim is to obtain a of 400 acres of land (and as s eligible for the recently unced credit scheme for ex ;emen settlers in P-NG the n could come true) where he un 400 pigs. This could lead to ch-needed industry for Morobe. would require to build oir and treatment plant, and would be able to supply bacon, pork, pickled pork, cheeks, irs, and all offal meats. Avail y of pigs for sale to natives means to improving their e stock will be of immeasur able, as already experiments of nature have shown a vast ivement the progeny being as big as the native pigs. rtati<pn of pigs to the Terri unlike cattle, is not sub- Qi yet they play an important in the native economy.

Maloney’s 40 Berkshires are d like pets—he knows each nl they all know him—but the nent pays off. sa.nliness is the main thing,”

Mr. Maloney giving a few “A clean pig is a healthy Worms are the worst enemy ie pig breeder (an internal ite picked up from the ground) is most evident under dirty tops. Pigs kept clean and ed, do not succumb as easily attacked.” )rm invasion can go to the ch, kidneys or heart. The

first sign is general lassitude and obvious ill health, and if allowed to continue the pig wastes away and loses the use of its legs.”

“It is necessary to keep a close watch to ensure that no wound or cut is neglected, and when detected, it must be treated immediately.

One pig with neglected ground worm could wipe out the whole herd.”

At Mr. Maloney’s farm, the pig lets are kept on concrete for 6months, and the older ones are allowed to run on grassy ground which has a fresh water wallow running through it.

Every day, after their first meal, they are let out for grazing, then brought back to the pens and washed down. They are also oiled once a week.

Natives with bags of Taro are always welcomed as the taro is good fodder, and the money paid for it enables the native to save enough in time to buy a pig—an ambition dear to every native’s heart.

Lae Welcomes

"New Guinea Courier"

The New Guinea mainland’s new newspaper, New Guinea Courier, made its bow to its public for the first time at Lae on Wednesday, June 4, and the healthy-looking, well-produced first issue was very well received.

It was nice, said readers, to get some mainland news for a change, instead of all that stuff from Port Moresby.

Lae has not had a newspaper since February, 1942, when the Morobe News (which began pub lishing in 1939 from Wau) was closed down. Reason for closure was that the printery got in the way of a bomb which was dropped just outside, in the first Jap air raid.

Emergency on

Niue Island

Niue Island, small, high, unpro tected and surrounded by a lot of Pacific Ocean, usually gives the

Masters of the vessels trading there from New Zealand some uncom fortable hours while they are hanging off unloading stores and taking on bananas. And it is cer tainly no place to land a flying boat.

But a RNZAF Sunderland from Suva accomplished it on June 1, to take off a seriously ill woman for surgical treatment in Suva.

They made the flight from Suva to Niue in six hours but found the weather too bad to land.

Squadron-Leader M. S. Gurton flew around for an hour, then put the flying-boat down successfully in an 18 knot cross wind under the lee of high cliffs.

The patient, Mrs. Pamela Kim der, was taken out on a launch and was got aboard with a lot of trouble and the flying-boat then took off. But shortly it was in trouble again. An oil leak developed in one of the engines, the Captain had to feather the prop and finish the journey back to base on three engines.

They got back to Laucala Bay alright—after the crew had been more than 12 hours on the job. And

One of Mr. Maloney's pigs. A mama pig we think, although with pigs who insist on sitting we are by no means sure. If this is not a mother, then Mr. Maloney has other pigs who are (see story).

the patient’s condition was later stated to satisfactory.

News from Norfolk Island

The cruise ship Duntroon, which had arranged to land passengers on Norfolk Island on June 3 apparently changed its mind and merely circled the island. As the weather was perfect, Islanders could not understand why the tourists were not permitted a few hours ashore.

Burns Philp and Co. are reported to have bought out the old-estab lished general store of R. & J.

Needham at Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island.

This puts BP into the main shopping area of the Island. It will be an asset to residents if they also move their Qantas agency down there to the more central location.

New Cal. Plans

New Stamp Issues

The New Caledonian postal authorities will issue two new stamps from July 7. One of four

francs value will have a hibiscus as motif; and the other will be of 15 francs with a motif of a rare shrub of the Plain of the Lakes district xanthostes mon rubrum.

Towards the end of 1958 another issue of new stamps will be out.

There will be probably four stamps in this series with designs of coral and fish.

A 200 franc air mail stamp (25/-) will also be issued about the same time.

Business in the postal world has been so good over the last months that the New Caledonian post office is running out of current values. All sorts of combinations are now necessary to get the right value on air-mail letters.

The position will be improved in the next month or two by the arrival of a huge order of stamps from France.

Maybe Some Boat Building

in BSIP

The possibility of the establish ment of a Boat Building industry in the Solomons advanced one step further with the recent visit of Dr.

Kroon to the protectorate.

Dr. Kroon, of the South Pacific Commission, selected a site at Auki on Malaita Island for the proposed school.

A qualified boat builder is to be appointed and initially it is in tended that 24 Pacific Islanders will be trained in construction and maintenance of both boats and marine engines.

The cutter building industry Laulasi was praised by Dr. Krc who expressed the opinion ti with a little more knowledge Laulasi builders could constn boats for export.

BSIP Rice Growing—

-1,640 Tons to Go

Under the guidance of the Ag culture Department the rice dustry on Malaita, BSIP, is steao progressing and it is estimated t: about 60 tons will be produced! the current year.

Already four rice hullers hi been installed and it is hoped t!c three more will be purchased wH funds become available.

Paddy rice is priced at 5d pen and local Government DeparmeE are paying 9d per lb for polisi lice.

Retail price of rice in Honii is 1/- per lb and the annual ct: sumption in the Protectorate is< the vicinity of 1700 tons. (Australian rice price for BS is £A7O a ton, f.0.w., Sydney Melbourne —equal to 7id per IbX

P. Moresby Has

Undesirable Moth

Specimens of a type of ow moth which is eating the foliages poinciana trees in Port Morejf have been sent to the Britt Museum for identification.

In some parts of the town tH;

Members of the Eastern Samoan parliamentary delegation wh[?] recently paid a short visit to New Zealand to study the Domini[?] parliamentary system are shown chatting with the Governor of Fiji, Ronald Garvey, at a reception held in the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva.

On Sir Ronald’s left is the Hon. S. P. Aumoeualoge, president of Eastern Samoan Senate; next is Mrs. Mabel Reid, acting Speaker of E. Samoan House of Representatives. Extreme right, the Hon. Sotoa. A in the delegation, the Hon. Chief Tufela Faiaogo, and N. P. Fofogao[?] clerk and interpreter. p hoto : Ro b Wright of Fiji

completely stripped poin s: but government entomolo- Dr. J. Szent-Ivany, said there seen no reports of any outside Moresby. lis is a serious outbreak, but n’t think they will kill the as they feed on the leaves lot on the bark,” he said. “I think they will become a ;r to commercial crops—they to be a type which eats the 5 of only one plant.” ; officials are trying to eradi the moths with a chemical used against mosquitoes.— r.

> Loaders for

u and Ocean

hng successfully manufac and installed a new loading for the phosphate industry •cean Island, at a cost of 00, the Brisbane engineering )f Evans, Deakin and Co. Ltd., >een given a contract by the h Phosphate Commission to another new loading plant luru, at a cost of £500,000. * contract involves shore in tions, conveyors and huge ever loading arms, and the will take two years, lough the Pacific’s largest

phosphate deposits are on islands (Ocean and Nauru Islands) where natural shipping facilities are completely absent, the deposits are so rich that it pays to provide the installations described.

The islands are steep to the sea —there are practically no coral reefs to give any kind of shelter.

In rough weather, the ships lie off. In quiet weather, they came close in beside the cliffs, and lie there uneasily in deep water. The phosphate comes down from the workings inland by chutes and conveyor belts, and is carried out over the sea in huge cantilever

arrangements, and then is dumped directly into the holds of the ships, lying underneath, Great loading installations were in operation there prior to World War 11. The Japs occupied both islands during the war, and the machinery was more or less wrecked. It was quickly patched up after the war, and the old installa tions helped in the shipment of enormous quantities of phosphate to Australia and New Zealand, Evans, Deakin Ltd. won these valuable construction contracts in competition with engineering firms of many countries. (Over)

ma-New Guinea’s new stamps on sale in Territory post of on June 2. Hundreds of first covers were dispatched over by the Philatelic Section of p ort Moresby post-office. The drawing, of the 5/- stamp, like all but one of the series, pork of an ex-Territorian, Mr. riffiths.

tody of

ic Sanitation

ong Health Department people have been attending a course “environmental sanitation”, ged in Port Moresby by the i Health Organisation, are ' health administrators, assis medical practitioners, sanitary i inspectors and technicians. > Territories which sent Is to this course include lean Samoa, Solomon Islands, Islands, French Oceania, Gil and Ellice Islands, West New ja, New Hebrides, Guam, i and New Guinea, Tonga, Territories of Micronesia Vestern Samoa.

Wants Money

fourism

se trying to develop tourism means of improving Fiji’s as trading position say that iow receives 10,000 tourists a -from which substantial eco benefits are derived—but ictivities now under way will in 35,000 p.a. within six years, t number would give the / another £2 million per an in overseas exchange. But are the 35,000 to sleep and rism interests had been hope

fully looking to the Fiji Govern ment for a policy of loans —loans to assist in building new hotels, from which private enterprise has been scared away by the ever-rising costs.

The Government has not been re sponsible. In fact, the Government has told the Fiji Visitors Bureau (its chief instrument in assisting tourism) that it will have to get along with less Government aid in future.

It is the same old story: Plenty of business in sight, but no money wherewith to provide the mach inery to develop the new business.

Said Tourism Director R. A.

Hewlett, before leaving Fiji for Singapore: “We must spend money to make money. If there is no Government finance in sight, there is no hope for new tourist develop ment.”

Frank Exon's Job

For Australia

During the two years which the late Mr. Frank C. Exon, formerly of Fiji, spent in Pakistan as Super vising Installation Engineer, putting in telecommunications equipment under the Colombo Plan for Pakis tan, he and his wife made many friends.

Mrs. Margaret Exon (who has been residing with her married daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Cottee, at Nowra, NSW) has received numerous messages of regret and sympathy from Karachi, sent by both European and Pakistani high officials when they learned of Mr.

Exon’s sudden death at sea on April 22 (May, PIM, page 147)

The Australian High Com missioner in Karachi especially praised Mr. Exon’s work as an engineer, and commented on the way in which his skill, knowledge and enthusiasm won him friends in both East and West Pakistan.

Mrs. Exon, like her husband, suffered very severely from illnesses contracted in Pakistan, but she is making a good recovery.

See the East on

Way to US, UK

Dates for the first voyages of Orient & Pacific Lines’ vast new operations in the Pacific, linking Australia with the Far East and with North America, together with schedules of fares for the new section of the “Pacific triangle” were announced in Sydney in May by a spokesman for Orient & Pacific Lines.

The new services cover some of the most interesting routes in the world.

The new services of Orient <te Pacific Lines, combining the re sources and experiences of two of the world’s leading shipping lines (P. & O. and Orient) will provide the largest shipping service ever to operate in the Pacific. The new links between Australia and the Philippines, Hongkong and Japan, and between those countries and North America, will complete a Pacific triangle of great importance in bringing Australia and New Zealand and the islands into the pattern and flow of international tourism and commerce.

The first of the new voyages will embrace two sides of the triangle.

This old photograph was taken in the early 20’s in Papeete, and is one of a collection owned by Oscar Nordman. At extreme right standing, is the novelist, the late Robert Dean Frisbie, not long after he first arrived in Tahiti (he later moved to the Cook Islands.). It is suggested that that is Charles Nordhoff (of the famous Nordhoff and Hall writing team) seated far left. Does any “PIM” reader know who the rest are?

It will be made by Himalaya, to leave Sydney, March 18, next year and proceed via Auckland, Suva, Honolulu and Vancouver to San Francisco, thence via Los Angeles calling at Honolulu, Yokohama, Hongkong and Manila before leaving the Pacific via Singapore and Suez for London, where she is due on May 28.

The second of the new voyages will be a North Pacific crossing by Chusan, from Manila, May 9, pro ceeding via Hongkong and Japan to Vancouver and San Francisco, This vessel’s itinerary provides for return from North America to Europe via Panama.

The third new voyage will be by Himalaya, from Sydney, August 7, proceeding via Auckland, Suva and Honolulu to Vancouver and San Francisco, then from Los Angeles (August 30) across the North Pacific to Honolulu, Yokohama, Hongkong and Manila. In this case the route completes the Pacific triangle, coming south from Manila through Torres Straits to Sydney, where Himalaya is due on September 28.

Last of the 1959 initial voyages also covers the complete triangle. It will be by Oronsay, leaving Sydney, October 27, for Manila, Hongkong and Yokohama (where the vessel is due on November 10) and thence to Honolulu, Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles and south along the established trans-Pacific route to Sydney via Honolulu, Suva and Auckland. Oronsay is due to return to Sydney on December 15.

These four voyages are in addition to regular sailings on the established Sydney, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and direct return run Fares from Sydney to Yokohama WUI be from £Stg.l3s First Class, £Stg.lOO Intermediate First Class and £Stg.6B Tourist Class. Fares for

passengers who disembark at Manila or Hongkong will be less. For through journeys from Sydney to the North American ports via the Far East, the fares will be from £Stg.33o First Class, £Stg.26o Inter mediate First Class, and £Stg.l9l Tourist Class. There will be a 10 per cent, reduction for return or triangular voyages. The fares for the complete triangular Pacific voyage will be from £Stg.soo First Class, £Stg.392 Intermediate First Class and £Stg.2Bo Tourist Class.

Samoa's Banana

Comeback

The most encouraging develop ment in Western Samoa in May was the comeback of the banana industry, due to the shortage of bananas in Fiji and Tonga, the threatened restriction of banana export from those countries, due to the imposition of New Zealand import restrictions and the short age of overseas funds which do not affect Western Samoa where New Zealand currency is circulating.

During May banana exports amounted to the all time record of 101,813 cases and for the month of June four overseas steamers are expected to lift some 92,000 cases of bananas for the New Zealand market.

For the first five months of 1958 the exports for bananas amounted to 310,902 cases compared with a total of 329,569 cases exported in 1957. The total exports for 1958 may well amount to over 1,000,000 cases and there is no doubt that the quotas can be filled as required as long as sufficient shipping space is made available.

Though there have been some complaints regarding over-ripe fruit

having been shipped, latest re; are more favourable and San growers seem to realise the ur need to pack only the best ban:.

Norfolk Islanders

Celebrate Bounty Day

The Norfolk Island Frieno League which was formed in Sy< some years ago, had two func; in mid-June to celebrate Bo Day. The first was a social a John’s Presbyterian Hall, Pado ton, on the night of June 14; on the Sunday following: Memorial Service to “the Pito

Islanders who formed the se ment, the Norfolk Island Heroes and relatives and frit passed away” was held in Church.

Mr. John Christian is the pc dent of the League; Mr. E. Bn ley is Treasurer and Mr. H. Le 0 is Secretary.

Bounty Day celebrates the 1:1 ing on Norfolk Island in June, of the British ship Moraysi sent from NSW by the Go verm to transfer the population of cairn Island. Pitcairn Island become overcrowded, and alth< one attempt had been made to the descendants of the Boc mutineers to Tahiti (they retm to Pitcairn) it was decided to] move them all to more fertile folk Island. Some of the islan became homesick on Norfolk and returned to Pitcairn w/ their descendants have lived since. But the majority ses down to life on Norfolk Is quite happily.

Bounty Day, which symbo the links between Norfolk Is and their kinsfolk on Pitcairr always celebrated with gusto on Now Norfolk Islanders who ares ing in Sydney celebrate it tt also.

)45 Claimed from

Samoa Govt.

Government radiographer of Government Hospital, Mr. R. ’homas, has sued the West >an Government for £3,045 iges in consequence of his dis il before the expiration of the year term for which he had engaged in New Zealand, had taken up his duties in >er, 1956, and was given three hs notice in March, 1958. The was for balance of salary and ances until the completion of r ull term of three years and il damages to cover fares and it of effects to England, intiff was represented by Mr.

Jetcalfe and the Attorney ral, Mr. E. R. Winkel appeared le Government. The Plaintiff dairned misrepresentation and b. of warranty. > case attracted much public st as it was in the nature of : case. sr argument of counsel had heard in the case on May 22, sides agreed to discuss a settle and try to reach an agree regarding the amount of ?es and submit a statement to hurt. At June 7, no decision e case had been announced.

uldn't Have

in Dad's Day

es of the pioneer prospectors >ua-New Guinea! A veteran has been given the job of g the natives in the Maprik Sepik District of NG) “all is to know about mining”, terest them in the idea of >ut prospecting. 3 are about 3,000 native fossicking about the Terri d, in the last financial year, ’oduced £34,000 worth of gold

—a lot of it from the Kainantu area of the Eastern Highlands. There has been little native mining in the Maprik area hitherto, and if they manage now to get onto something good it will surprise a lot of people (including one of the editors of

Pim ).

Natives were not permitted to engage in gold mining in NG be fore the war; and the Sepik River gold-field (where they are now going to try their hands) was not a very rich one.

It came into existence in the mid-thirties and produced one rich

lease (owned by Messrs. J. A.

Thurston and H. Tudor) and a dozen or so lesser ones, from which the holders made no fortunes.

The price of Sepik gold is now worth about twice it was before the war —but it is still not worth while for Europeans. The cost of living has gone up many more times than twice, gold is more difficult to find in payable quantities, and there are far easier ways of making a living.

With native miners, the high costs of living and production do not enter into the proposition.