Do You Remember?

Dress fashions appear to have come full circle in twenty years.

“PIM” in December, 1938, carried advertisements for swim suits and [ ladies negligees, in styles no different from those being worn in 1958. However, that wasn’t the most important piece of intelligence in [ “PIM” of 20 years ago. Here are some of the main ones:

In Canberra, they had decided finally on the system of “unified control” of Papua and New Guinea, with one administrative capital (but not Rabaul). * * Fiji, oddly enough, appeared to be hav ing banana troubles. More Fijians were growing them than ever, but the only market was in NZ, and to a small extent Canada. Sir Harry Luke said he would like to have them exported to Australia (which had given a permit for 40,000 cases a year) but so far the Australian market bad been unprofitable. * * * Nauru was having a serious drought— the worst since 1916. Practically no rain had fallen in a year.

The old “Macdhui” left Cairns. Queens land. for Lae, NG, with Mr. Jack Too good. and 15 head of Illawarra dairy cows which Mr. Toogood expected to establish in the Markham—“a most important step in NG development,” said a correspondent.

Pacific copra planters were further de pressed at news that all nations were sending bigger whale fleets out that year, and whale oil supplies, which were help ing depress the copra market, would be even larger than ever.

Mr. O. F. Nelson, former leader of the Mau. topped the poll for election of two European members of the Western Samoan Legislative Council. For the first time, the large community of European-Samoans had been given the vote. * * * Dr. H. N. Kunzru, a member of India’s Council of State, made himself very un popular following a Press interview in Honolulu in which he said Indians in Fiji were “forced to live under one of the most backward Colonial policies in the Pacific”, and their living and working conditions were “deplorable”. * « * A Tulagi (Solomons) correspondent was reporting that sporting history had been made on October 26 with the first Rugby football match in the Protectorate A Tulagi team had beaten the boots oil a team from the MV “Malaita”. * * * There were reported fears that Britain’s mid-Pacific possession, Christmas Island, might be next in line for annexation b> America, which had already got a share of Canton and Enderbury and some others. * * * Auckland yachtsman J. W. Wray, m the “Ngataki”, admitted after a search that he was unable to locate any on Suwarrow. in the Cooks. He h the search because of reports that had come to him.