The Editors' Mailbag

rfiell Poaching In

)6w Hebrides

k An indignant resident of Santo ci the New Hebrides) writes of dw a Japanese tuna fishing crew, ling obliged to spend some time i an outer island of the New sbrides while undergoing repairs, .proved the shining hour by scrap !g about four tons of trochus shell If a reef there and taking it away, nd subsequently selling it to a ell-known firm in an Islands port.

'There is no evidence that the cpanese are making a deliberate actice of poaching shell, in the ;anner that made them notorious many Islands groups prior to orld War II; but the incident lows that they still are ready to icognise the value of the shell, lerever and whenever they find it.

The Japanese vessel in question a regular tuna fisher. Apparently, ie sprang a leak and had to be nrriedly beached for repairs.

The trading concern which bought e four tons of shell from the ipanese is well known in the New ebrides and it took a risk. That cident could have been and could have been—reported to the ondominium officials.

At the present time, the shell ids in the New Hebrides are under •otection, so that they may recover om the intensive fishing of the ist; and the Government would ,ke an unfavourable view of jaching by Japanese—or anyone se.

he Tennis-Playing

umphrey Berkeley

Mr. A. C. Monckton, now of Syd ly, has something more to say bout Mr. Humphrey Berkeley PIM” for Dec., etc.): I was Hon. Sec. of the Suva Lawn ennis Club at the time (about •06-7 I think), when Humphrey erkeley was a practicing solicitor i Suva. He had been a very good amis player, so it was said.

As we tennis players wanted some enerous donor to give a tennis chal nge cup I approached Mr. Berkeley.

He promised me a cup, but told ie to come and see him later on. approached him again several mes during the next few months, at he always put me off, and told te to go away and see him later.

But one day I heard that he had ist made a profitable deal over anning Island with Father Rougier, ) I made haste to tackle him again, tying, “What about that challenge ip you promised me?” ■ Said he: “Certainly, certainly, I ill give you a cheque now”. And

he did, one for £2O. It was with this money that we purchased the silver cup from Sydney, and called it the “Berkeley Cup” for the Lawn Tennis Championship of Fiji. It is now, no doubt, gracing the home of the present Champion.

On my arrival in Fiji about 1900 I heard that there had been great rivalry between Humphrey Berkeley and Dr. Keith as to who was the better player. A match had been arranged on the Suva Tennis Club courts. It was said that during the match Berkeley had to be fortified with stimulants at every change of ends, and many towels were used by him as a relief to his feelings.

I do not now remember what the final outcome of this match was, as I did not see it. Perhaps someone else can say. However, during my period as Secretary of the Suva Tennis Club I tried unsuccessfully many times to induce Berkeley to enter for tennis tournaments, or even to come and play, but he always refused.

News of a

Copra Cutter

A resident of Vella Lavella, in the British Solomon Islands, refers to an article in PIM of September, 1953, in which there is a description of a mechanical copra-cutter, in vented by a resident of Tahiti. He asks if this, or any other mechanical copra-cutter is available to coconut planters.

The Tahiti invention of 1953 did not get very far —the people con cerned seemed to run into dif ficulties of manufacture and dis tribution.

Soon afterwards, a copra-cutter of a somewhat different type was invented by a resident of California, and the latter showed much energy in trying to market the machine.

There was some suggestion that it could be an infringement of the Tahiti patent although nothing more was heard of the matter here after 1954.

The Californian inventor brought a prototype of his machine to Syd ney, for demonstration, and we be lieve that it was eventually sent to New Guinea, for a hard try-out under plantation conditions, we heard nothing more of the machine in the South Pacific, but there was a report, two or three years ago, that it was being operated in tne

Philippines.

So far as we know, there is no established make of mechanica copra-cutter in general use in tne South Pacific Islands.

Islands Bananas Too

Poor for Overseas Market

A New Zealand reader of “PIM writes wrath fully of the suggestion < made by a Tongan banana shipper, in January issue) that cracks in the packed banana cases from the Islands should be filled with small bananas.

The burden of his song is that Islands bananas as sold in NZ, and whether they come from Fiji, Samoa or Tonga, are horrible enough any way, without including under sized specimens as well. He con tinues: We can have plenty of sympathy with this banana shipper and his surplus undersized fruit (which might better be used as the basis of a small processing industry) but before landing small bananas in New Zealand, the aim should surely be to land sound bananas, of what ever size—and at the present time it is virtually impossible to pur chase a full-flavoured sound banana in New Zealand.

Any Islands grower who doubts this statement should arrange for a reliable friend to walk around the Auckland fruiterers and purchase a pound of the best-looking bananas that he can locate, take them home, peel them, and report accurately on what he finds.

What he will find is that three out of four bananas are rotten at the core for at least an inch from one end. Some will be rotten to some extent for the entire length at the core, though this will not be apparent until the banana is broken. None of them will taste like good quality bananas.

The reason for this condition may be no fault whatever of the grow ers, pickers and packers. It may be that the fruit is picked in too immature a state in order to get it to the New Zealand consumer be fore it is too ripe. It may be wrong shipping temperatures or other faults in ship-stowage, or in storage on arrival in New Zealand.

Whatever the cause of it all, no one appears to show the slightest interest in carrying out research to improve the fruit, or if anything is being done in this direction it is having precious little effect over the years. If anything, the situation as to rotten fruit has worsened in the past year.

Islands bananas as at present ex ported, would be completely un acceptable in competitive overseas markets such as Canada or the United States or Europe, where the fruit is retailed in sound and at tractive condition, whatever it s flavour may be.

The truth is, of course, that every one concerned with the Islands banana industry knows that the New Zealand public is not likely to be offered any other bananas, and that fact governs the present if you don’t like ’em, don’t buy em attitude. (Over)

Changes In

islands Governments

“What is being done to bring the nations into line over Pacific Islands fcvernment?” asks a correspondent.

The answer is, Nothing.

Anyone, looking over the South “acific countries today, can only ixpress a hope that something soon mil be done to bring sense and co ordination into government and ad ministration. At the moment this is written: • A UN Trusteeship Mission is louring Micronesia, Nauru and New S-uinea, checking on American and Australian administration. • An Indonesian Minister is in Canberra, trying to induce Aus iralia to take a more definite line »egarding Dutch New Guinea. • A British Colonial Office Mission s getting ready to visit Fiji and ixamine the constitutional position against a background of racial •roblems. • A UN Trusteeship Mission is in route to Western Samoa, to pre pare a further transfer of NZ "rusteeship towards se 1 f-govern ment. • The French Territories which idhered to the new De Gaulle con jtution of the Fifth Republic await larification of the laws which con :ol their future measure of self rovernment.

There is no connection between ny of these things.

Meanwhile, what has happened j the South Pacific Commission, hich was created as an instru ment of over-all consultation and d ministrati ve co-ordination? Noth ig has been heard for some time.