[?]e P-NG Copra Mill At Work
p. 63 · Read in the full issue
By H. E. L. Friday
The sweetest scent (far too attractive to be called a smell) t captivates the nostrils in the New Guinea Islands is that ich emanates from Carpenters’ crushing mill at Toboi, a ►rt distance out of Rabaul on the dusty Kokopo road. The npany has a similar mill in Fiji.
C. B. BAILEY, who was nee in Fiji with Carpenters, las been manager of the ;r for eight years, rt from the Administration, lill must be Rabaul’s biggest ;ry, as it is the most profit- We saw it at a good time, at the company’s wharf the ition vessel Kilinailau was un g copra which was moving inically across to the big e sheds, while over on the side of the mill oil from the and 2,000 ton storage tanks being pumped into the big ter Westhank, of the Bank 5 vessel, and others of the which call regularly, take to Europe sometimes via the na Canal, and sometimes by rn routes. They carry a d number of passengers. ! mill is self contained, with m water and power supplies, 3 mechanised in every particu- It works 24 hours a day the
year round (although it stopped for a time this year) and processes some 45,000 tons of copra a year, When we were there the freighter wa s loading 2,500 tons of oil for Germany and other countries, for food and soap processing, and several thousand tons of coconut stock meal. x the mlll itse if w e watched the w h"le process Irom beginning to cm the one hand, to the final Y* mpni hners and s‘i tch “S °(iwed to clfmb the tn take nictures and
“afe 6 t^top'<££
Qf the fre i g hter. It was an m teresting experience to watch what mU st surely be the most up-to-date an d economically run business in Territory Besides the European staff chemists and 80 f2^i OV ed ves ar6 cocoa The company . ti ns on fermentanes on its pl & nta , New Ireland and New Britain.
view from t he up P er deck of the freighter "Westbank" shows the "Kilinailau" unloading bagged copra from New Britain plantations for bulking in the storage sheds of Coconut Pro ducts Limited's crushing mill, Rabaul. At left bagged stock meal is being hoisted on the freighter for Europe. At the same time 2,500 tons of coconut oil were being pumped into the freighter's tanks.
Photo: H. E. L. Friday.