Tropicalities

Pacific Islands Monthly

Magazine Section

Why Americans Like To Leave Home HEN Mr. Herb Caen, gossip . columnist of the San Fran cisco Chronicle, went back ie after a short time in Fiji in ust, he left those people who are iys talking about the big tourist istry the Pacific will have some , with a couple of fascinating ights. imericans,” he said, “do not t to see how the other half i ” >. e went on: “And when they leave ie to be tourists they are spoiled, ipered and expect everything r had at home laid on for them rever they go. If they don’t get hey don’t like it.” 3 tourists to the Pacific expect ;ach to be handy, he said; just ewhere where th£y can paddle he knees then get right back lath the beach umbrella, to be ►ed down with oil by the hotel seur. msidering the amount of money iricans spend on travelling right ss the world, it seems a helluva g that all they want when they there is just what they left be 1. r. Caen didn’t seem to think Fiji could hope to get much of American tourism until iricans changed their attitude — if Fiji, the most tourist-minded itory in the South Pacific, gives that impresison, the touring ks will be leaving the rest of the th Pacific for dead for a long i yet. Which is what PIM has in several different ways in re ; months. —J.

ndarin Might Help the Plot

3CORDING to the movie ad vertisements in the North Borneo News (Jesselton’s daily news sr), you haven’t got to go to South West Pacific to have :uage problems. i Jesselton, movies come in ay, Cantonese and Mandarin, as as in plain Hollywood English technicolour. here is even something called ble Mandarin—but no clue as to ther that’s a language in its own it, or a dubbed-in Chinese voice an orthodox movie. Mandarin iking, two-gun men would be ething that might make even the rent crop of Westerns endurable.

Stick 'em Up—Or Else! (IHIEF Judge Kay issued a warn j ing in the Cook Islands High Court in July. Too many people had been ignoring Health Depart ment notices requiring them to erect privies on their properties.

The judge implied that if they don’t get those privies up fast there’ll be something doing shortly.

Maori Standard Time

RADIO operators may live in a world of GMT, and the Cook Islands Administration may operate on Cook Islands standard time, but apparently the population have other ideas —if Motion No. 25 before the Legislative Assembly in July is a fair indication.

The motion, proposed by Mr.

Wm. Watson—also known as Viri Vokotini—was “That this Assembly amend the Cinematograph Ordin ance 1951 to provide that the hours of entertainment be extended to 11.00 pm where circumstances warrant.”

Speaking in favour of the motion, the Hon. T. J. Browne pointed out that extension of time in summer was necessary because pictures start much later than normal, mainly be

cause the Maori people do not go by the European clock but rather by the setting of the sun.

If movies were commenced at the normal time, said Mr. Browne—who should know because he’s in the movie business—half the evenim would be without audience.

The motion was adopted.

No Paradise Really

AMONG a recent batch of Norfolk Island news wq. found this plaintive message: “It has gener ally been thought here that there are no gaming laws on Norfolk Island. But last week the Adnii;. istrator ordered the dismantling of the one armed bandits at the Norfolk Island Country Club. It : understood that ‘housie’ tourna ments, as held by the Tourist Bureau are also frowned upon. The Country Club —an adjunct of the Paradise Hotel—was operated for members only, and while the poker machines were good fun for wealthy tourists, apparently it has been felt that too many of the young local residents have been losing more than they could afford.”

Keep It Short AVARUA, Rarotonga, which is the administrative centre of the Cook Islands, has recently in stalled the Cooks’ first public tele phone call box. It’s on a 24-hour service through Rarotonga’s manual exchange, but there are some dif ferences between it and overseas

This young New Caledonian native is holding up a dawa, or daoua, which was once a tabu fish, but not now. The reason for the tabu was that in the early days this splendid eating fish was reserved only for high chiefs. Lesser mortals ate it on pain of death.

Photo: Fred Dunn.

phone boxes. Rarotonga’s calls cost Id, and for that users are allowed only three minutes.

Not Deductible

THE P-NG Taxpayers’ associations have had a big increase in en , rolment lately, despite the fact that income tax is now operating there. The taxpayers’ associations are in reality, of course, anti-tax paying associations. However, officials in Lae were a little as tonished recently when one newly enrolled member asked whether her fee of two guineas would be de ductible from her income tax re turn.

Roadworkers Need To Be

On Their Metal TOWN advisory councils in Papua- New Guinea frequently discuss, as matters of routine, subjects that would be guaranteed to make the newspapers in more civilised areas of the world.

A recent meeting of the Rabaul council happened to note, in pass ing, that it was pleased to hear that a bomb disposals officer would be

visiting Rabaul again soon because (as the council mihutes put it): “The Commonwealth Works De partment, in pursuing a rather energetic roadwork programme is turning up more bombs than per haps we had counted on. The Chair man has sighted one bomb in the middle of Blanche Street and another one was discovered on allot ment 26, and has been brought to his notice."

Brown Man's Burden FROM Rarotonga, collection centre for the Cook Islands network of weather stations, Met. radar balloons are now released twice daily, superseding the smaller, visually followed pilot balloons that have been sent up for years past whenever weather conditions per mitted upper wind measurements.

Today a team of young Cook Islanders scan their cathode ray tubes and handle the new scientific methods with nonchalant aplomb.

On the finger points of elevation, azimuth and range combinations 15 miles up, they talk like seasoned

Southern Leave

It might hot have been So cold in bed If what I said to my wife Had been left unsaid!

artillerymen. They are conditii cogs in the white man’s machii It was not always thus. S years ago in Penrhyn, a * balloon station since World Wa one Met. boy was taking the i mentation hard. A part of his c routine was to raise the stop w to his ear to chebk its mover before releasing the balloon, one day he saw the light.

This ticking thing, the p; cause of his servitude, was in hands. With nimble fingers he the stop watch to the balloon watched it soar out of sight, measurably relieved, he walked h to his village, a free man—G

They Say He's a Prince

and a Millionaire Under the heading of “Princ Fiji”, one of Sydney’s evening m payers, on August 10, published 1 A FIJIAN who began as a sn time metal prospector 18 y ago, flew into Sydney toda; millionaire mining magnate.

He is Mr. M. Hari Charan A 1 He was nearing the end of seventh world tour when he arr by Air India.

Mr. Akhil will visit his two s who are at Trinity Grammar Set Sydney.

He said he intended taking sons, aged 19 and 16 years, into mining business with him.

“I started as a mining prospe 18 years ago,” Mr. Akhil said.

“I struck it rich in Fiji, and sta: my own company in 1952.

“I now have nine manganese coppe; 1 mines there.”

He said he supplied copper manganese to the US and Ja] and business was “very good”.

Mr. Akhil admitted to bein; millionaire.

He is accompanied by his prr secretary.

Artist, With Chair The well-known artist, Miss M Edwell-Burke, better known as M Edwards, returned to Fiji on Aug 10—“ perhaps to settle permanei th.'s time”.

With the artist went her fam chair, which has accompanied everywhere for the past 20 ye : last time Miss Edwards went to she had cat trouble—because t: wouldn’t let her cat land, she turned to Sydney.