The Editors' Maillag

Correction Please: The

liquid Was Tumeric

There are indications that some Fiji Indian is going to have his knuckles rapped for giving one of PlM’s editors, Stuart Inder, some iwrong information about Indian fire-walking. (October PIM, p. 53).

The secretary of the Kaliamman Temple Naisinu has written ask ing for the name of the person so le can be better instructed in future.

It was the piece that said that as a spiritually cleansing process, “quantities of cows’ urine were swished about on the watching urowd”. It seems that the reason is correct, the swishing is correct but the cows’ urine is not— it just looks like that. It is really tumeric which is pounded and dissolved in water to produce a pale yellow liquid, lumeric is, of course, a well-known ?pice, used in curry and for colour ing generally.

It is obvious that Editor Inder’s nformant—an unidentifiable Indian spectator—did not know everything about the ceremony himself, or thought that cows’ urine made a nuch more newsworthy purifying ingredient than powdered tumeric.

Everything's Up To

Date in Moresby City

The Papua-New Guinea Overseas Frade figures, in the handsome, >ound, “Library Edition”, for the Jeriod ending June 30, 1958, arrived n this office in late November. In •ide was tucked a wee note from omeone in the Statistical Office, Port Moresby, referring to some fighting remarks that were made n PIM for July, about the time-lag •ver certain statistics. We think that mr withers were intended to be wrung.

The July remarks referred, how ever, to the Papua and the New guinea Annual Reports to the Jnited Nations—at that stage, those eferring to the year 1956-57 had ust turned up. The UN reports for 957-58 are still many months off ■o what we said about them in »uly, stands.

But we should like to say that hese Trade Figures, which are pub ished quarterly and then in an ex tended version at the end of the 'ear. are always prompt, detailed md everlastingly useful. ;As at the moment we fill the fditorial spare time in compiling the 559 edition of the Pacific Islands rear Book, we feel that we can •peak with some authority on the

matter of extracting information from Government Departments.

When it is all over we intend to write an article about it called Getting Blood From Stones—l9s9 Series.

But not yet—on the principle of no complaints, no pack-drill. Some of these statistics are not in yet.

But as it looks at present, the trade figures for Papua-New Guinea are going to be more up to date than those for most of the terri tories that appear in the Year Book.

We don’t know whether the Statistical Section or Mr. Tommy Grahamslaw’s Custom’s Department is responsible, but whoever it is can stand up and take a bow.

Moresby—With

And Without its Port

From Mr. Evan R. Gill, in Liver pool. UK, comes a middle-sized letter directed mostly at Tolala, and calculated to wring his withers.

Says Mr. Gill: “The caption, ‘Historically Casual’ in Tolala’s Talk-Talk {PIM, October, p. 33), was, I think, just a little unfortun ate. First, the Administrator is taken to task for omitting any refer ence to the historic event of Sep tember 1, 1906. Had he done so I am sure he would not have been so ‘historically casual’ as to refer to the Territory which came under Commonwealth control on that date under the terms of the Papuan (sic) Act, as ‘P-NG’!

“This pedant’s eyebrows rose when, in the next paragraph, he read what might be called an

Want a Free

Coconut?

An oddment out of the Mail bag this month was a packet of literature about a new and very glossy magazine called "Realities”, published in English or French, in London. The really interesting thing about it was the offer of a free bottle of Dior perfume to anyone who took out a year’s subscription.

This seems to be a bit excessive surely.

Inspired by it, how ever, Pacific Publications almost de cided as a New Year resolution to give away a free coconut with every subscription to the “Pacific Islands Monthly”.

‘and/or’ in the spelling of the first Administrator’s surname. As if there could be any question as to the correct spelling! This was “Mac- Gregor”, in proof of which I have several official documents bearing

his autograph.

“Forgive me if I seize this oppor tunity to air a long-standing griev ance. We are speaking of correct and incorrect appellations and we might as well be thoroughly pedantic whilst we are at it. I refer to the, to me, wholly abominable practice of referring to your Capital as ‘Moresby’. All very well, perhaps, colloquially or in conversation but in print, no, a thousand times no.

Can you—will you not —persuade your contributors, including Tolala, to write ‘Port Moresby’ or, failing that instruct your copy-readers to make the necessary alteration?”

After that we fear that Mr. Gill is not going to be pleased with the heading on the previous item—for which we claim editorial necessity: “Moresby” will fit in; “Port Moresby” will not. (The modern journalistic habit of using the irritating “probe” instead of the longer “investigation” is another sample of the same thing).

So far as Port Moresby is con cerned, there are plenty of pre cedents for dropping the Port —Vila and Darwin being just two local ones. At one time, the most import ant thing about Port Moresby was its port; this is not so any longer, and there is logically no more reason for retaining the port, than there is in hanging Port onto, say, Sydney, In any event, we much prefer “Moresby” to another version of the same theme which drops out the Moresby and simply refers to the place as “Port”.

Eugene Paul of

Western Samoa

“Kai Viti” asks for more details of Eugene Paul, the Apia business man whom “PIM” regards as Samoa’s natural leader.

Happy to oblige.

An American, E. Ripley, was one of the very early settlers in Tutuila —before 1850, we believe. His son also was E. Ripley, and was a planter and trader in Samoa; and the latter’s daughter, Caroline, married a Mr. Paul, who was a builder and contractor in Samoa in the German time.

The Ripleys and, we think, the Pauls, were wealthy, and owned a lot of land at one time. Eugene Paul is the grandson of Mrs.

Caroline Paul, who was a Ripley, so Eugene has his roots very deeply in the Samoan soil.

No one in Samoa, by the way, calls him “Eugene”. He is invariably, after the German fashion, referred to as “Huegen” (hard “g”) •