Pacific Report

The month’s round-up of news and pictures of people and from PIM correspondents in the South Pacinc.

!> of Ocean Island

Discussion

[M. L. Bernacchi, Resident assioner of the Gilbert and i slands Colony, went to Can jit the beginning of May for ions with representatives of Australian, United Kingdom, ew Zealand Governments on 111 matters associated with : Island, and on the future of

hand generally. .

mgh the British Phosphate ission, these three countries the steadily diminishing nate resources of this and Nauru —which is admin as a Trust Territory of the Nations by Australia, r taxation discussions are pre iy directed to the possibility copra levy, paid by BPC, be icreased for the benefit of jcean Islanders, though Mr. ;chi was not able to discuss atter prior to the conference, ihe passed through Suva. [.king of the future of the after the phosphate sup ire exhausted in probably 20 ;:ime, Mr. Bernacchi said that EIC Government’s claim was ve the various capital works sd in the change over from a uate economy to some other :of livelihood, established be lie phosphate people pulled re was also the matter of tig local people to take over liministration of the island in branches. It was important 100, that the island’s reserve be built up in the remaining of phosphate exploitation so :here would be a substantial ;e available in interest from ;as investments.

edy Followed

sal of Fish

;cken by fish poisoning, the of an inter-island trading , Nikau, fell ill one by one in the end, only three men .eft to handle the ship. Eleven ; were sick, and one of them, Smith, of Fiji, Third En r, died.

Sickness hit the crew after they had eaten a fish caught by hand line off Malekula, in the New Hebrides. The following morning, 11 of the men were ill. At one period only three members of the crew were available to work the ship.

Smith was so seriously ill that the ship went into Lamap, where he received medical attention from a French doctor. He appeared to be recovering, but a few nights later developed a high temperature and was the victim of hallucinations. He was so ill that the ship put in to Lamodu Bay, Epi, to seek medical assistance from the doctor at the Presbyterian Mission Cottage Hos pital. But Smith was already dead when the doctor went aboard.

The name of the fish which is believed to have caused the poison ing is not known, but it was de scribed as being “white with red lips”.

The fish which caused the poison ing is possibly a type of snapper known in Fiji as dokonivudi.

Loss Of Southern Cross

In The Solomons

Amongst the disasters to Southern Pacific smallships in recent years, Solomon based vessels have had a high rating. In April, another one — this with a famous name, the Southern Cross, mission craft of the

Anglican Melanesian Mission —met disaster, but fortunately there were no casualties.

The Southern Cross, No. 8 in the series, was blown onto a reef at Maravovo Lagoon, north west of Guadalcanal in a gale on March 31.

Aboard her were the Rt. Rev. A. T.

Hill, Bishop of Melanesia, who is a master mariner and is in com mand of the vessel, and 14 crew members.

All hands got ashore and it was hoped that the ship might be re floated. But a “tidal” wave from an undersea quake later caused further damage and has apparently resulted in a constructive total loss.

Fortunately, Southern Cross was insured.

Like some of her predecessors, the life of Southern Cross VIII was short.

She was launched from the Ballina yard of S. G. White Pty.

Ltd. on March 8, 1958, at a cost of £65,000, and went into service some months later. She was a wooden twin-screw diesel vessel, 71 1 ft x 20 ft x 8i ft moulded depth.

The first Melanesian Mission

southern Cross was launched Ih 29, 1855, and was lost on ■r Zealand coast four years sext of the series was com ad at the beginning of 1863 disposed of ten years later, ter Three was launched in ?e first with an auxiliary :jind was eventually sold in ifore she was sold, Number as commissioned in 1892, was ee in many ways, and was jut eight years later, sr Five was ready for ser i August, 1903, and gave 29 of service until decom >d in 1932. me that year Number Six ly to roll—but she ended her reer on Aneityum Island on 31 of that same year while first voyage north from d. September, 1933, saw Seven in service. She was tin 1954 and today operates Guinea waters under the Kilinailau for the Bougain rmpany, of Rabaul.

Melanesian Mission has id or owned other vessels not ithe name of Southern Cross, present has the small vessel iy, a 50 ft. wooden craft, in e in the Solomons-New 8. ;t will probably not be too ifore Southern Cross IX is 0 follow in the wake of her usors.

Wage Inquiry

1 Soon

nvestigation of the native •,ttern in Papua-New Guinea I soon. investigation is being con- Iby the Native Employment which was established in It year. It has heard months’ mce from a cross-section of ;y employers and employees. important proposals are <> be made by the Board fol r the investigation. i-New Guinea’s native work 70,000; 13,770 are employed Administration, most of them tract workers.

tudents Staged

!k-out

>u say that the Chinese and stes are better than we are, Lve them our school,” ex a group of native students oaul recently. Then they their bags and walked out. upshot was that the District on Officer, Mr. Frank Boisen, spend part of his week hunt ;he missing students, smooth :m down, and asking them * back. re back at their studies now, >e incident highlights the

peculiar problems which face the Papua-New Guinea Administration in trying to raise the level of native culture It also shows that the outwardly uncaring native of New Britain can be deeply sensitive over inter-racial relationships.

The incident occurred at the Malaguna Technical Training Centre, show piece of P-NG’s native secondary education system, and venue of last year’s South Pacific Commission conference.

Modern, extensive, and built on a garden block, the school trains natives for the trades—mainly as carpenters, mechanics and plumbers, But, unfortunately, the Tolai native of New Britain—and this

must be admitted has not so far built up a very fine record as a tradesman. His skill, if he wants to work, is not questioned; but the position involves more than skill, Native affairs officers believe that the root of the trouble lies in the fact that the Tolai has no basic economic necessity to work. He can ii Ve o ff the land or off his relatives.

Therefore, he is likely to take any j 0 b lightly, and to walk away if not happy.

The position in Papua, as an ex ample, is different. Real economic ne ed exists for the semi-urbanised Papuan to earn a wage, and to earn it as soon as possible. He learns a job or a trade when he is quite young, and he gets a kick in the

from his father if he walks tfrom the job and comes home rounge his meals. 53 opinion was expressed at ul recently by witnesses at a ng of the Native Employment ,1. They agreed that Rabaul ct employers were not taking jiany apprentices or trainees ■ the ranks of the natives, but >did not hesitate to say why. oyers said they had received er satisfaction by taking on iise or half-caste lads. ; trouble at Malaguna Tech ’ Training Centre was triggered hen a small group of trainees of these statements, sat was the use of learning a , they wanted to know, if the •>yer admitted himself he would :r have a Chinese or a half '? Why not turn the school over i.e Chinese or half-caste, and go at that? ; fortunately for the system is a solid core of responsible i.g among the Tolais which be . the only way to dispel the mt feeling is to work hard and i the feeling incorrect, sordingly, a group of native ■3 have now formed a school nittee for Malaguna. Their aim is to instill a feeling of [nsibility among the students, to encourage the students in work. =ey will inspect the school sarly and will talk with students Department of Education ■;rs. In this way they hope to . further dissatisfaction among students. [mbership of the new committee ides the presidents of the five ’e local government councils the Rabaul area.

uney Lost" In

• Upset

wording to the Papeete roneod 5-sheet, Les Debats, in corn ice and lack of planning has

resulted in the loss of thousands of pounds in the construction of works intended to lengthen the deep water pier at Papeete. The newspaper says the foundations are sinking and will have to be taken out and relaid.

PlM’s Noumea correspondent, commenting on this report, recalls that a marine slipway in Noumea Harbour, started six years ago, had to be stopped when nearly com pleted because of trouble with the foundations, and that the uncom pleted slipway now seems to have been abandoned with the loss of much money.

Future of Big Goldmines

Being Investigated

An expert investigation and appraisement of the Tavua Gold field in Fiji is being made by Mr.

Arthur Taylor, a well known min ing engineer, at the request of the British Colonial Office and the Fiji Government. The question of whether the subsidy on gold pro duction in Fiji will continue will probably depend upon his report.

Mr. Taylor was in London at the end of March, in consultation with the Colonial Office.

More than two years ago, when the then Governor of Fiji, Sir Ronald Garvey, learned that the principal operator at Vatukoula, the Emperor Gold Mining Co. Ltd., had to make a choice between abandon ing operations on the worked-out top-level ores, or spend a large sum on investigating the richer lodes believed to lie at deeper levels, he became a little anxious.

Fiji’s gold exports represent a rather important item in the Colony’s economy. So, to assist the Emperor Company in carrying on, he arranged a subsidy of £2 per ounce on gold production, for three years; and investigation of the deep levels at Vatukoula has been going on ever since.

The three years period will ex

pire in the middle of 1961, and the Government now has to make up its mind about the best course to pursue.

The annual production of gold in Fiji is worth about £1 500,000, and the industry employs a labour force of about 1,600 and takes care of their 3,000 dependants, in relation to housing, education and similar amenities.

Japanese Interested

In NC Smelting

It has been announced in Noumea that a delegation from Japan is shortly to arrive in New Caledonia to study the possibility of creating a smelting installation for nickel ore Mr. E. Pentecot, of the Pentecot group of industries in New Caledonia, whilst recently in Japan had discussions with Japanese in dustrial groups interested in nickel.

The delegation is expected to study practical plans for a smelting plant.

It is thought that the position chosen will be at the northern end of New Caledonia in the region of Poum, an important nickel mining centre.

There exists interesting hydro electric possibilities along the north east coast, some of which have been

Built It

Themselves

This new Lutheran church, just officially opened in the Markham Road, Lae, New Guinea, is the result of native self-help. The church, which seats 900, was built by native trades men and other volun teers, who also financed it. Hundreds of natives witnessed the dedica tion.

Photo: Pat Robertson.

carefully studied. The establishnl of a smelting plant would aim certainly see one or more of th. hydro-electric sites utilised to sup fuel for the smelters.

If the smelting project is reaUl it will be of immense benefit to II Caledonia’s “disinherited” north)

"It Had Never Happened

Like That Before"

Near the little village of Ri not far from Rabaul, a pop-d circle of native youngsters crovjj round a group of Japanese sold one morning 17 years ago.

The Japanese occupation was its peak—the initial fighting en< the final Allied onslaught not! begun.

With time on their hands I with opportunities for entertj ment limited, the Japanese v getting ready for a party by trj their skill at distilling spirits f: pineapples, pawpaws and banal And among the admiring na circle which pressed around wa thoughtful youngster by the nj of Topidek. If the Japanese c« make this spirit, he thought, ’ couldn’t he?

So he built up his own s mashed up his own fruit ferm and soon was on his way to ! cess. Right from the start, his n learnt technology went with a b: It was not long before the he of Topidek became a well known treat for the hardened drinker! the village.

Topidek even invented a name his product. It was indeed a week-end in Riem if he didn’t the wink to his friends to droj for a quick one when returi from a session of hard work in. taro fields.

By this time the war was c civil government was back, andi government was telling the na that he was not allowed to dl (let alone make drink).

But Topidek forged ahead. He up a secret shed in the middle cocoa plantation, and there i manufactured his potent drink ’ the aid of a couple of petrol dn and an assortment of tubes pipes salvaged from old nr vehicles.

All went well until Satun March 26, this year, when Topidek Distillery Project came: stuck. The day started as usual Topidek and his friends dig? taro, and returning to their vil late in the afternoon.

Topidek asked four friends in a drink (a fifth joined later w the party had warmed up) and sat round on the floor drinking spirits. They used only one which they passed from one another and “there was plenty talk but no crossness” as Tor described the party later.

Round nine o’clock, and still

> g to eat, sleepiness descended • party. Two of the men went but Topidek and the others where they fell. by one they woke up the next rmt one of the drinkers slept ils friends tried to rouse him we him a cup of tea”, but he l.thout movement and breath seply. , , noon he died, without having >ed consciousness, tthat night the secret of the yas a secret no longer. Police

ative affairs officers questioned

iillage, seized the equipment,

;d away the body, arrested the ning members of the drinking full story was told at a court a coroner’s inquest at Rabaul EBk later. The coroner found Tourawa, 35, of Riem Village, lied accidentally from a coma Eed by alcoholic poisoning. :»idek made no secret of his (experience as a distiller. He “Often I have made it. I r, from the Japanese. I have idrunk more times than I can . We have sometimes wakened . the morning with our heads and our mouths dry, but there never before been other •s.” [i the sequel? Topidek went to • or six months when he pleaded • to a charge of drinking and ;arge of having possession of till. His friends of the drinking each received three months in when they pleaded guilty to :es of drinking.

lins Will Replace

AF Sunderlands

forecast last year, the RNZAF ■3 certain now to re-equip its ;j-boat squadron with Ameri- Martin Marlin flying-boats . the existing Sunderlands are lirawn due to obsolescence, e RNZAF had the choice of :ging to land planes, or of Dting Marlins, which are virtu !the only aircraft in the world h could replace the Sunder ;. There are no large British g-boats in production today.

The Sunderland is a four-engined the Marlin two engines though of greater power. Both are piston engined.

The Marlins will cost approximately £1,000,000 each and six are likely to be ordered. Spares will cost y a further £1,000,000 for the six.

They carry a crew of seven men and have an endurance of about 12 hours at a somewhat higher speed than the Sunderland. Their armaadvanced* n “ tar eqUlpment “ mOTe aavancea. mm L .

More Gilberts bettlement

. c ,

In Solomons Lommg

Mr M L Bemacchi, Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, said in Suva at the end of April that the resettlement scheme under which Gilberts

people had made new homes in the British Solomons in recent years had been a success and that the

Pfople were now th^ usted '

Others wanted to follow them, Any further transfer would be delayed, however, until the BSIP Government had set up a Native Lands Trust Board. Until it was functioning, further areas be made available. Meanwhile, the Gilberts people were building up Tr" Beracchf said that the lesson of Kioa, in Fiji, where Ellice Islanders had earlier been settled, was that communal land ownership wa s hopeless. It crippled initiative and development. The Gilberts people traditionally enjoyed private owership and the freedom to develop their land as they wished, It was considered that a mini mum of 5 acres per holding was

[ole in Solomons resettlement. ;jind would be owned by the CDf the family or group, but molding would support the I family.

To Do About

jorcerers?

sery is a serious problem in --New Guinea —and what to do it has exercised the minds iministration officials for a me. There is a law against the >;e, but that hasn’t stamped it cd recently the Gulf District iry Council of Papua sought Hositive steps. It suggested that be compiled of reputed “rs and a close watch kept [;m. council claimed that fear tted by sorcery was the chief ent in educating villagers to ition.

April, the Administration re lit rejected the idea of sterner ires.

Jis obvious,” it said, “the im minent of practising sorcerers ± be expected to remove y beliefs from people’s minds.

It often has been said that ionment enhances a sorcerer’s se.”

"only way to tackle the situa >t said was by education of native people, which would r understanding—which seemed mg the problem back to full

.a's Vanilla

i and Coming

jugh Tonga is some distance [being an important exporter nilla, considerable progress is made at Vavau in extending [lantings as the result of a inment publicity drive to en ge land owners to establish ay village and school plots as as private plots l , each of 100 have now been planted with inment assistance. !ga is still seeking the services i experienced vanilla curing Last year efforts were made •tain a Chinese curer from h Polynesia, where this side : industry is almost entirely in icse hands. The difficulty ired to be that the Tahiti Gov •nt is apt to refuse re-entry Its to Chinese who leave that Dry. Two Tongan agricultural ants studied the curing pro fit Tahiti for a short period ra 1 years ago, but were lently not able to master all •icks of the trade in the time to them. While overseas firms reported most favourably on ;igh vanilla content of sample .ents of beans, some have men

tioned certain weaknesses in the cur i ng What seems certain now, however, is that before many years Vavau will be quite definitely entering the world vanilla market with a high quality product.

The Government intends to see that the reputation of Tongan vanilla is established from the start.

Cocoa has been tried at the Vavau experimental farm but the indications are that climatic conditions are not satisfactory for this crop, due to the often lengthy droughts throughout Tonga.

Robusta coffee, however, is showing promise at Tongatapu and nearby Eua, and experience is being gained in varieties, planting tech-

niques, and necessary shelter condi tions. The Government is encourag ing the establishment of coffee plantations by private land owners and villages.

Seed is being provided from shrubs which have reached bearing at the Government experimental station, .

TonOd Hopes tO Improve

... r

|fs NOWS berVICO

Tonga has no newspaper yet, but there are hopes of improving the existing news service, which is re stricted to one or sometimes two sheets of duplicated foolscap, with usually no local news, a brief over-

lews summary, and a few Gov mt announcements and some tisements. however, a Klischograph graphic block making machine the way from Germany. As us this is installed in the Gov mt Printing Office, it will be lie to include occasional local photographs in the news just as is now done in the Hslands, and also use them in other Government publica oresent, any blocks have to be ;in Suva, so they are scarcely 11 by the time they can be in the news sheet.

Your Hands

om's Hens

en the English yacht Goode en route from Papeete to put in to uninhabited :tow atoll in the Cooks in the crew were surprised to locks of hens running around i.chorage Islet and a notice in ng all and sundry that they ;ed to Tom Neale and to leave strictly alone. appeared that Tom Neale, of ;onga, who received some iity in the world’s Press during :me stay on the atoll several ago, had called again last ary in the yacht Tahiti, which tied by American Lorin Smith, based at Rarotonga. Or per :he had despatched his hens ;ome other belongings by this Anyhow, there were indica- Ithat Mr. Neale would himself ouming with other equipment

ralian Prefabs For

INew Hebrides

iricane devastated Vila in the Hebrides, slowly picking up the following the blows of late über and early January, re . a shipment of £ASO 000 worth houses from Aus in April. homes—ls of them—were ■;d by the Compagnie Indus de Traveaux Australia, from IBook Homes Pty. Ltd., of Bris

bane, a subsidiary of the John D.

Booker group which not long ago built a complete township in the Snowy Mountains area of Australia.

The prefabs were loaded on the Polynesia, and a 15-man team of tradesmen, headed by foreman car penter George Parker, followed by air for Vila to complete the erec tion. The houses have three bed rooms. .

A sample of the prefabs was built in the New Hebrides late last year, and this house came through the hurricanes a month later without any damage.

New Broadcasts From

Fiji and Tarawa

A new Fiji Broadcasting Com mission outlet came on the air late in April, and another one will soon be on the air at Tarawa in the Gilberts.

The latest FBC outlet is on 5980 kc/s and is to be used mainly in the English language service. It is not expected or intended that this transmitter will be heard much be yond Fiji. However, the transmitter should provide better coverage for English language listeners in the outer fringes of the Fiji group.

A month earlier FBC put a new outlet on the air on 6005 kc/s and this is carrying the Fijian and Hindi programmes.

The FBC thus now has trans mitters on 3980 kc/s in the 75-metre band, on 5980 and 6005 kc/s in the 49-metre band, on 930 and 840 kc/s in the standard broadcast band from Suva, and on 890 kc/s in the broadcast band from the relay station at Lautoka.

Tarawa, which has been using a transmitter normally employed for overseas morse communications in a very limited broadcasting service, took delivery of a new 2 h K/w broadcasting transmitter in Jan uary and it should be on the air within the next month or so.

Tarawa has had a programme on the air on 844 kc/s between 0730 and 0830 GMT on Fridays intended for listeners in nearby areas, and another programme on 6050 kc/s in the 49-metre band between 0430 and 0530 kc/s on Sundays intended for

the more distant parts of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony— which extends eastward to Christ mas Island and westward to Ocean Island.

It is believed that the new transmitter, which is five times more powerful than the one it replaces, will be operating on 6050 kc/s or some other short-wave channel.

It should be heard in areas well beyond the limits of the Colony.

New Guinea Development

"Won't Be Speeded Up"

A straight-talking appraisal of how neither the Government nor the missions could speed up development of native people in New Guinea was given recently by a senior mission officer who has lived 22 years in New Guinea.

The speaker was the Rev. Father J. Hoehne, Manager of Vunapope Roman Catholic Mission near Rabaul. Contrary to most mission and Government reports, his state ments dwelt on things which had not been accomplished in addition to what had been accomplished.

Rabaul businessmen who heard him speak (he addressed a meeting of Rabaul Rotary Club) came away with the idea that Father Hoehne was firmly convinced suc cessful self-government was a long way in the future. But Father Hoehne did not commit himself specifically on that point.

The two main problems he out^

An Australian prefab in the New Hebrides. See below.

SYDNEY VISITORS. Visiting the Polynesian Association of Sydney recently were (top) Mr.

Clyde Low and Miss Lavinia Wong, both of Suva and (below) Mr. and Mrs. Geoff Nash, of Tonga and Fiji. —Tele-Photo.

connection with native de rm t were; [ present levels of develop ne native would tend to re umediately to his original )jice the immediate stimulus •oean education was removed, imany cases the native had from anti-social or illegal ss not so much because of Uture but from fear of con t Hoehne said that visitors ) Guinea saw the surface in -2S of a new native culture, the people who lived in New Iknew how much still had to mplished. could be no speeding up of isent system of development, the keystones to success in Dgramme were time and :d at from a basic point of the development already li was remarkable. Little nan 60 years ago the New [native had been a primitive 11, but today he was already [,n to a new civilisation.

fjse Interest in

Shells

al shipments of South Pacific nave gone to Japan—from Western Samoa, and the ns —in the past year or so, purchased by Banno and ly, who have their own sd shipping. In April, the ntative of another Japanese ir. Tayayasu Suzuki, of Shin 3eki Kaisha K.K., Tokyo, was Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, copra and other Islands .. Shin Toa are agents in Ifor the Tonga Government t. Suzuki was also visiting of a in connection with the r vessel Teiko (see elsewhere).

Suzuki said in Suva that :id not appear to be much of getting Fiji copra, which ned locally, but he hoped to t a deal with Western Samoa mga. aid that there was still a I for trochus and other shells :,n, though the price was not II as it had been in recent iuzuki said that his firm was to arrange barter deals, with ayment in Japanese manu d goods. He expects to be in ftintil the latter half of May mtinue on to Pago Pago and to Japan by way of lu.

ii Is A Taxi,

Said in Rabaul

Port Moresby plumber Bob threw away his wrenches to bus service in Rabaul he <>ut quickly enough that there

were more big wheels in the trans port industry than the ones under neath his shiny new buses.

The big wheels were the taxi operators —there are 54 cabs in Rabaul—who waited four weeks and then rose with a cry of “pirate!”

Owner-driver Clarke, they said, was taking away their trade by picking up and letting down passengers anywhere in the streets instead of sticking to specific bus stops.

They claimed he had even com mitted the terrible sin of picking up a fare from the very doorstep of a taxi business in Malaguna Road.

Said taxi operator James Bending, from whose magenta-coloured pre mises the alleged sin was com mitted: “A fare’s a fare, but we ex pect a bloke to be fair.”

Bending said that taxi operators

were prepared to work a couple of cabs in front of Clarke’s buses to pick up any trade that was offering.

But the upshot of the argument was not quite as drastic as that — or not so far, anyway.

The taxi operators drew up a peti tion claiming that Clarke should stick to specific stops, and that he should not deviate from his pre determined routes. “There’s room for us all, but a bus is a bus and a taxi is a taxi,” one of the operators said.

The petition was sent to the Police Department, the Department of the Administrator, the Rabaul Chamber of Commerce and the Rabaul Town Advisory Council.

And that’s where the matter rests at present.

Meanwhile Clarke’s buses are pro viding the first full-scale bus ser

v Rabaul has known. They on spell the end of liberal ,; facilities extended to oof the Administration in aew Britain District Com- Mr. J. R. Foldi, said re s.at existing transport facil se made available only be )iere had been no public cbus service proved satisfac my Administration officers r.ve to travel to work by bus \ special travel facilities ; withdrawn. ihey may have to pay their work —which is normal SB,” Mr. Foldi added.

0 Islands Teenagers

Streets

sest to cope with the grow >ious problem of teenage wandering around at a :d is a question that has [trcising the public consci -5 some Pacific centres. Idle no often turn to mischief, im, brawling and, at worst, aeving. :has tackled the issue by and equipping a youth mder the drive of the local )Club. The new amenity it Marks Park, Suva, was 1 opened on March 18 by the • (Sir Kenneth Maddocks), ;ymnasium and social hall, and library. Other activities, s club is in full swing, will (i dozen varieties of sport, English classes, woodwork, vspaper, photography, hik [i-playing, and first-aid in s middle of April, over 150 :3ns had been received from Fijians, Indians, Chinese, :opeans and Europeans be i.e ages of 13 and 19. .. J. Ragg is warden of the under the direction of a uent committee. In time, the till take an increasing share responsibility of running it.

s' Mother Still

:e Bride Price

; young Karavas, from near It, in New Ireland, reached sable age she was a nice sgirl, pleasant and friendly, ihad no shortage of suitors, mong the suitors was Mias, :ng, who willingly paid the [i the mother of Karavas :d as bride price. They made couple, but within a few Ihe wanderlust came to Mias travelled alone to Rabaul. ie mother of Karavas II her wise head and looked 'or another bridegroom for irted girl. Thomas was the

name of the young man finally chosen.

But the mother of Karavas no doubt reasoned that the girl, being more experienced, was worth more than before. Accordingly, Thomas had to dig deep and produce £l5, but he did not mind because he considered Karavas was well worth it.

And then Thomas, too, felt the urge of the wanderlust, but unlike his predecessor he took his new wife with him, and they arrived together in Rabaul.

For Thomas the trip was a big mistake, because Karavas roamed the town searching for her first love —and eventually found him.

So it was that Thomas was left stranded, while Karavas and Mias took up the life they had broken

off abruptly in New Ireland, Mias, with a secret fear niggling at his heart, hid his re-found bride in a hut in the bush, Thomas, bemoaning the loss of his helpmate and his £l5, stormed through the streets and bush tracks until he found the hideout. Mias wanted to talk but Thomas wanted to fight. Karavas giggled coyly in the background, Friends came from all directions and split into opposing camps. The talks broke down and the shouting started. A fight was in the offing when Patrol Officer Michael Cockburn, summoned by a group which favoured arbitration, arrived to sort out the trouble. He dispersed the angry men and went home, But Thomas had vowed venge ance. He gathered more than 150

[“nt an emissary to the hide jiked in the flimsy door. r was more than ready for jssault, and had gathered 50 stalwarts of his own. Out riives, sticks and stones. One ras stabbed in the chest, were thumped with pieces of Jl Officer Cockburn hot *t back to the scene, and re fa thump of his own in the 5 a 1 confusion. Sub-inspector foung, of Rabaul Police, also and led away one group of i peace had returned, :ty took out its notebook and Hown the particulars to be cout in court. jcourt sent Thomas to gaol months for threatening be two others were gaoled for ing Patrol Officer Cockburn, Twere each fined £1 for riotous ;ur. > court also ruled that Mias r rightful husband of Karavas ill, he had paid the first down nt—even if he had sneaked •:om his responsibilities). [Thomas will have one con ji awaiting him on his release Eaol —he will get back the £l5 ihe paid for Karavas 1 , and it the responsibility of Mias to s the payment, act the only figures in the to come out on top are ;„s; Karavas because she had afternoon’s entertainment, 3© mother of Karavas because .11 has all the bride money.

Finances

But Costs "High"

[first few months of 1960 have financially excellent for New inia, with Customs receipts erably higher than expected. ; due mainly to the increased of ore and smelted nickel. :iwhile, however, the cost of i continues to mount, and in eggs reached a record price— .mcs a dozen, which is nearly Australian. Recently, too, breeders have asked for r increase in meat prices.

sry Explosion At Home

)litical Leader

mea’s police, in April, were [gating the mysterious ex n of dynamite in the garage loumea lawyer Georges :iay. Mr. Chatenay is leader UNR party, which is the local not of France’s ruling party among other things, in the unt of the anti-Viet move iin New Caledonia, explosion took place in the hours of the morning, but

tViprp was more noise than damage, l!H Cha ‘ enay not at h ° me A correspondent says that dynamite explosions “are much too frequent in New Caledonia”. There were several cases directed against Viet Namese a few months ago.

TUo rkannirm Farp Ihe LhdnQlhQ race Hf Fm'c famtai

UT Fiji 5 capital

New landmarks were taking shape in Suva in May, and an old one had disappeared Most prominent of the new landmarks was a 60-ft steel lattice tower carrying a very-highfrequency aerial system which has

been erected on top of the new The ”tower y is o^io* system between Suva and Nadi, Farther along Victoria Parade new three-storey block for the Grand Pacific Hotel will be ready for its first customers by June 1, though it will not be com pleted until the end of the year.

Exactly the same height as the old building, it adjoins it on the Suva point side. Already many bookings have been received f or c liri s trnas, which, in pre-air-conditioned days was a time when tourists carefully avoided Suva’s heat and humidity, The evidence of bookings now flow ing in is proof that if the right facilities are available, tourists can

j.cted to Fiji the year-round. jy old landmark which has ared is the Cottage Home eedy Europeans—there are eeople in Fiji—which since 2.s stood on the corner of and Butt Streets adjoining gsent Fiji Times building, old wooden building, which j.ched the end of its tether, £ady being replaced by a concrete-block structure of rooms on the same site —to ?ed the Pearce Home, fill be largely paid for by jonated by well known Suva o man A. E. Pearce and is : £13,000 to erect.

"ame Back On

ttimental Journey

tie night that Fred Harge • went out to the US sub- Gato which took him away New Britain to safety, he promise to a group of Aus -0 and natives who stayed in the shadows. day I will be back, I will ryou properly for what you xme,” he told them, was 16 years ago, but re- Hargesheimer showed that :omise was not idly made.

Hiving in White Bear, iota, and marketing manager 1 Remington Rand organisa >e wrote a letter to one of sn who stayed behind, and an he was on his way back, iman who received the letter [att Foley, of Rabaul, who in the Islands during the ,d who now operates a busi i Rabaul, ▼ said; “The letter was like a rut of the past. When I saw mg up in the rack at the ruinea Club I wondered who be writing to me from !*.a. ipened it up, and the first which fell out was a picture iself taken 16 years ago. It *en taken soon after a party came across Fred Harge ir hidden up in the village of :nbu.”

Dr Hargesheimer had been a •my Air Corp pilot attached photo squadron in New n when one day in June, 1943, de a lone patrol in his P3B Japanese occupied Simpson ir, Rabaul. With his film lines exposed he was follow ie New Britain coast back to vhen a Japanese aircraft got [Hargesheimer, sick with head :s probably caused by nel, bailed out at 2,000 feet tie incredibly rough country. 31 days he was on his own, off two chocolate bars and of snails, before natives of mbu village took the sick man ,heir care and hid him for lonths from Japanese patrols.

On occasions when Japanese were known to be in the area the villagers would place picaninnies at strategic points, equipped with conch shells which they would blow in warning.

Given up for dead at his base (they named a New Britain lake in his memory) Hargesheimer lived native, eating taro and shark meat with the rest, until the end of the year, when a group of Australian Coastwatchers found him.

That group, landed by submarine for work behind the lines, was led by Captain lan Skinner, who these days is a P-NG District Com missioner, and included Lieut. John Stokie, who left New Guinea only

Old Ng Hands

There were 16 years between these handshakes. The photograph at top was taken in Japanese occupied territory on New Britain in 1943 when Fred Hargesheimer was a major with the US Army Air Corps and Bill Townsend was a Wing-Commander with the Royal Aus tralian Air Force. Both had been shot down. Both, after many adventures, fell in with a party of Australian Coastwatchers. Above, as Hargesheimer (on the left of the picture in both cases) and Townsend looked when they met in Sydney in early May. The RAAF took this picture, and Fred Harges heimer supplied the top one to "PIM".

recently, and Sgt. Matt Fo together with native troops. J For three months was with the CoastwatchersJ by now had been joined by Ri pilot Wing-Commander W.l Townsend and his observer,! had been shot down on the sc coast and looked after by a fan native friend of the Coastwatcj the late Paramount Lul

Golpaik. ( PIM, March, ’59). 1

In February, 1944, Hargeshei Townsend and some others! taken off by submarine —Ha sheimer having spent eight mq in enemy territory.

When Hargesheimer arrived Sydney in May on his sentimj journey to New Guinea he was] at the airport by a grid Townsend, now Group-Captain] in command of the RAAF’sJ base at Williamtown, NSW incidentally, chairman of the j tralian branch of the Royalj Forces Escaping Society).

Also there in force were the F TV and radio, who for an 1 kept Hargesheimer so busy finally he exclaimed. “But, g My home town paper doesn’t know I’ve gone!”

Within a day or two Hargeshe had left Sydney on his last to Rabaul, where there was a welcome being arranged for Director of Native Affairs Roberts, another ex-Coastwat« organised a special patrol to him back to his village where hoped, on May 7 he would be to spend his 44th birthday an old friends.

A New Look For

Hollandia Soon

Hollandia, capital of Netherll New Guinea, is to get a new Among developments planned A new two-storey police h quarters: a new building for' future Legislative Council (prob built overlooking the new offio the Netherlands Trading Compaq a new hotel, probably to be on Humboldt Bay, near the Yi Club, and primarily intended* transient civil servants and 1 nessmen; and the erection ofi new homes beyond Noordwijk.

They 7 !! Make A Present

Of An Airplane

The youth of Germany enn in the Society for the Propag;; of the Faith will donate a t engine, DO 28 Dornier aircraj Bishop Bernard Schilling, SVDI year-old Divine Word Missio who in March was consecrated) first Bishop of the newly fout Vicariate Apostolic of Goroks the New Guinea Highlands.

The Vicariate covers 7,700 so miles, and has 28,000 Catholics 290,000 non-Catholics. There ■ already six airfields in the areas

will soon be built by the naries. )op Schilling began studying s priesthood when he was 15, jas not ordained until 1947. •'ears later he was missioned w Guinea, where he became priest of Minj, and later was ited District Superior.

(Native Protestants

[Autonomy

special service was held in sa’s Protestant Church on 24 to mark the decision to Lhe native Protestant Church m Caledonia autonomy. (The ;ean section of the Protestant ih in New Caledonia will see lange). announcement of the re lation of the native church [rought from Paris by Pastor rud, Delegate of the Societe Missions Evangeliques. The nad been prepared for this [pment over the last few ■:estantism is very strong in ;oyalty Islands and in certain ns in the east coast of New onia, although mostly New Dnia is Catholic.

tonohugh Starts

moan Uproar

gest news in American Samoa ■ril was the Donohugh Case.

March, Dr. Donald Donohugh, vernment Medical Officer in Pago, had reported to the ican Press that the spread of y in American Samoa had ied "ominous proportions”, said from 42 cases in 1950, were now 212, and this state fairs, he alleged, was mainly

due to inaction and shortage of money. He also criticised the building used as a leprosarium in Pae-o which he said was in such a bad state of repair that the best thing to do with it would be to burn it rinwn Following Dr. Donohugh’s release to the Press, which did not go through channels, he was summarily dismissed by Governor Coleman.

De l Dartment SUlt o a f nt interior Officials Department of Interior omciais took an interest, and announced they would send a team of leprologists to Samoa to find out the truth At the same time, they had Dr. Donohugh re-instated pending an inquiry and the medical report.

The inquiry was held by .the American Samoa Legislature, which held a session of Special Com mittee.

Dr. Donohugh’s boss Dr. Lawrence Winter, Samoan Director of Medical Services, made it clear that he thought that Dr Donohughs

figures were exaggerated. (Diagnosis

and classihcation of leprosy is not always cut and dried). He said strlkeiT! a the?e C^ l a S s e mereTy° nee^for . rarpful evaluation more careiui evaluation, The Legislature finished its inquiry on April 18 after eight days of public hearings and two in prepara tion—the longest investigation in Fono history.

It announced it would not publish

[?]eshop Schilling, of New Guinea.

Its findings until after the medical team from the US had made its expert survey.

Meanwhile, in nearby Western Samoa, at present under New Zealand trusteeship but well on the way to self-government, the Donohugh case has aroused wide interest.

Explained the Samoa Bulletin : “It is felt that with regular air services in operation, there is greater intercourse between the two main islands of Tutuila and Upolu, and a disease that might affect the one could have very real con sequences for the other”.

Polynesian Land

Survey Completed

The field work of a survey of the land tenure systems of the Cook Islands, Western Samoa, and Tonga was completed in April by Mr. Ron Crocombe who has now returned to the Australian National University at Canberra to spend another year preparing his material for publica tion.

Financed by the university, the survey commenced in mid-1958 in the Cooks. Mr. Crocombe said in Suva in May that the work had con sisted first of a study of the in digenous systems and how they had developed up to date, a study of land legislation and the administra tion of lands, and finally a field survey in each of the three terri tories.

Mr. Crocombe said that the major problem in the Cook Islands was fragmentation of ownership, inheri tance being from both father and mother, resulting in the number of owners to a property at least doub ling each generation. There were many house sites in Rarotonga with over 100 owners.

In Samoa the major problem ap peared to be lack of definition of areas and rights, which were fixed “according to Samoan custom” — which in itself had never been legally defined. The security of ten ure also appeared to be much less secure there than in the Cooks or Tonga.

Mr. Crocombe cited for example the case of a widow with no children or very young children who, under Samoan custom, must upon the death of her husband, hand over the property to the Matai and return to her own people, though she may have greatly con tributed to building up what might now be a very valuable property.

She could retain no share in this.

Tonga had gone a long way further towards a solution of land problems than the other two terri tories, Mr. Crocombe said. There, tenure was much more secure. An owner cannot be evicted and the land passes to his Isons on his death, or if there are no children, to

his brothers. Thus the tenure until the line dies out.

Every male Tongan is entitll his 8-acre block when he com age, and there would appear no need to reduce this allov for many years yet. If an are* to be taken over for public 1 another area is allotted.

The blocks are allocated bi dividual nobles who are the t tional land holders, and the;; ceive 1/- per acre per annul rent.

Mr. Crocombe said that ther evidence that some nobles, whes proached for land, were inclined to keep the applican probation for some years H granting him a firm title.

Thus the probationer naturally more inclined t* generous in his contribution o:< and vegetables when customr the occasion demanded. Thes« peared to fall markedly once as had clear title and could no E be evicted! But, the lengthy tion was far from being the rv Tonga, Mr. Crocombe emphas One virtue of the Tongan s? was that it kept more land im ductive use. Mr. Crocombe saio some 3,000 8-acre sections hao recently been surveyed in es Tongatapu and these will be able for sharing out very soox

Veteran Retires

Sgt. Maigugu, of Sio village, Fins hafen. New Guinea, retired from Royal Papua-New Guinea Constabul in April after 47 years of service, of ing which he won three medals, incl[?] ing one for bravery. He was [?] captured by the Japanese during war, but escaped and helped the Co.[?] watchers.

congan land deeds are being mimed and duplicates stored vault for safe keep- Crocombe joined New Zea- Department of Island Terri i in 1950 and was sent to the [ Islands in 1954. In 1957-58, before starting his survey, he relieving Resident Agent at island. survey will provide the :Jial for a thesis for his Ph.D.

The Australian National Tsity, through its School of c Studies, has sponsored a ser of research projects in ds areas outside the Austra- Ldministrative areas.

Crocombe was accompanied 0 wife, formerly Miss Marjorie mg of Rarotonga. A son was fto them in Samoa in March.

ti Hotel Is

iressing Well

number of bungalows of the ttotel Tahiti being erected mid ;between Papeete and the new rt, had been completed by May the hotel will be ready for nation at least by the time that airport becomes operational in the year.

“ French Polynesia regulations tning the establishment of new ;s now require them to be of ietached bungalow type. Sky ers or buildings which do not ji unobtrusively with the local ucape are not being approved, tel Tahiti is being erected by :cer Weaver, the well known r »lulu hotel operator. ;other bungalow-type hotel was Den in May in the Punaauia iLct between the airport and the 1 established Hotel Rivnac in {.ant coastal surroundings, med by Mr. Ripley Gooding, apeete, it is being managed by p. Frame, wife of chief pilot ue of RAI, the local airline.

üble Looming In

Tolai Cocoa Scheme?

me members of the Tolai Cacao set of New Britain are “threat % the stability of the scheme” ittempting to sell cocoa on the market instead of through the me, a Rabaul correspondent re ;;d in April. e scheme was set up several is ago by the P-NG Adminis :on to encourage Tolai natives :ie Gazelle Peninsular to grow, ient and market cocoa. Financi it has been an outstanding suc (PlM, April, p. 47). taking their cocoa out of the me to sell it, natives are avoid a levy which covers the re gion rate on loans of £220,000

which the Bank of New South Wales has made on Administration security; and the working costs of admintsterine the scheme.

Cocoa buyers who purchase cocoa knowing that it comes from an individual member of the scheme are breaking the law, but the native realises this and is covering up. In some cases he sends the cocoa to a buyer in the care of a “front” man who claims the cocoa is privately grown.

But the most contentious matter in the situation is the reason which prompts the native to take the cocoa out of the scheme. There are two points of view: • An Administration officer con-

nected with the scheme said: “The native cannot understand the reason for the levy, because he doesn’t re alise that things like loans and man agement have to be paid for. He thinks we are robbing him, and turns to the open market for a better price.” • BUT, a Rabaul cocoa buyer said: “The native understands per fectly well that he has to pay back a loan and pay for management. All he wants to do is slide out of his obligation and get the extra money in his hand. He just pretends ignor ance so that he can sidestep the issue. The whole thing will become uncontrollable if the Administration does not take a firm stand.” (Over)

there the matter rests at pre cocoa marketing authorities ■ that a real danger exists, and the Administration would be )0 take the harshest possible )o ensure that the native cocoa • meets 1 his obligations.

Tragedy: Woman

id From Canoe

Iton Amess, the New Zealand tile shooter who last year de a ruling that he had entered -New Guinea illegally, is back news again. my intentions this time are sal —not political,” Amess said jhe turned up in Port Moresby Jly after a crocodile shooting Ition on the inland waters of !ss said he was considering a sale attack on crocodiles in the ;all Lagoon area of Papua one native woman was killed lly in a crocodile attack and :o the rs were saved after :iles had dragged them into sater. ‘ss returned only recently :he same area, but would have citation in returning. “I would ;k there for my own good and se good of the people who live ” he said. three attacks which occurred lly are the first recorded in is in which crocodiles have any person travelling across Igoon by canoe, the first incident a young i was dragged into the water crocodile which surfaced near :oe in which she was sitting, ace of her body was found, the second incident, the ■y of a native man saved his from death after a crocodile iragged her from a canoe into later. The man jumped over

board and thrust his spear into the crocodile’s mouth, forcing it to re lease its hold on his wife’s leg.

The woman recovered from her injuries in hospital at Port Moresby, The third incident was when a native mother of five children was seized by a crocodile as she gathered mangrove berries on the bank. The crocodile took one of her legs be tween its jaws and tried to pull her into the river but she hit it on the snout and escaped. She also was flown to Port Moresby hospital.

Soviet Critical

Of Nauru Progress

Unless the United Nations took some action “Australia would turn

the island of Nauru into a desert” a Soviet representative on the UN Trusteeship Council told the Coun cil in April during a debate on Nauru.

Australia (which administers the phosphate island on behalf of itself, Britain and NZ) had done nothing to advance the people, and had tried to make out that the only im portant question was the resettle ment of the population after the phosphate deposits were used up in about 40 years.

The representative suggested it was time to call for the rehabilita tion of the worked-out phosphate land for agriculture.

The Indians, as usual, were also critical In reply, Mr. J. H. Jones, Aus

tralia’s special representative, said the phosphate areas could never be restored for agriculture. He said Australia was sacrificing a lot for Nauru but the development of the Nauruans could be achieved only if the Nauruans played their part.

Its local council lacked initiative and, despite aid and advice from Australia, did not take advantage of all its opportunities.

They May Kill The

Beetle With Electricity

Western Samoa is experimenting with an electric machine, which the Director of Agriculture, Mr. B.

Parham, hopes may be effective as a means of killing rhinoceros beetles and other crop pests. The machine consists of a grid fitted with a

“black” light in the ultra violet range. The light attracts insects from as far off as five miles and an electric current kills them when they contact the grid.

The machine has been developed by the Gardner West Coast Dis tributors, of Sacramento, Cali fornia, and Mr. L. G. Marcus, pre sident of the company, was recently in Apia with the machine. Results so far are reported to be “en couraging”.

Plans For Pacific

Cable Go Ahead

The Australian Government, as expected, has agreed to take part in the scheme to lay a large capacity submarine telephone cable, with submerged repeaters, between Aus tralia and Vancouver. It will go via New Zealand, Fiji, Fanning Island and Hawaii (subject to American agreement).

The cable —estimated to cost more than £Stg.26 million —will be con nected by land line across Canada to a new trans-Atlantic cable to be laid between Canada and the UK in 1961.

The Sydney-Auckland section of the cable will be laid immediately following completion of the trans- Atlantic cable and should be avail able by 1962. The remaining Pacific section is expected to be finished during 1964.

Fishing Was A

Serious Business

An unusual professional fisher men’s strike began and ended in Noumea in April. It began when the fishermen refused to fish because

they said week-end fishermen eluding some high administn officials had been selling catches to restaurants at low p They also complained that Viet Namese were operating * trary to the law”. It was calle when the New Caledonian Go’ ment promised to try to rc their complaints.

The strike caused Noumean per cent, of whom are Cathol great deal of unhappiness ove: Lenten period. They were d to do their own fishing, and was a run on canned fish ir shops.

They 7 !! Compromise On /

Rabaul Swimming Pool

A compromise expedient has reached in Rabaul to solve town’s public swimming pre ( PIM, April, p. 42). Rabaul’s pool is controlled by a club, v restricts its use to Europeans The Rabaul Town Adv i s Council has now asked the I Administration to draw up and specifications for a swim enclosure to be put down ir waters of Simpson Harbour.

The estimated cost of a pre constructed pool in the (£60,000 at least) turned out too frightening for considerate even the most optimistic ol people who are asking for a n pool.

Irrespective of whether swim in the town want the present) opened to the public or left is, it is generally agreed th would be far too small for 5 use. A sub-committee of RJ Town Advisory Council made point when it presented a 11 on the matter recently.

The council has also beenr that the Administration might) sider donating land for a e but only if the pool could bej by natives as well as every one The decision to ask for am mate of costs for an enclosun the harbour came from the; Wesley Lutton, who is Chairmr the Methodist Mission in Britain.

He quoted records going

nan 40 years which described n enclosure of bamboo had t*t down in the harbour as a nng pool for the Australian i.n then occupying Rabaul.

jury" Work Starts

inton Island

US naval ship Frank J. ya, a small coastal vessel, was bd from the “mothball” re flect in California in April to Done trip. She loaded bull draglines and other equip tif a navy Seabee Battalion — obile Construction Battalion —to go to Canton Island. zy tradesmen of the Seabees iianwhile fly to Canton, where vill build a tracking station .unerica’s project Mercury , Jan., Mar.). This 1 is one of ations in the Pacific which ack the Western world’s first ;d space flight. Two other =s will be in Australia. l Petrarca was brought out of alls because a world-wide failed to locate a suitable v craft vessel for the job. She in use for about two to three c 5.

JSeabees will build four radar five buildings to house people icnerators, several miles of iiround cable and extensive new

'Dental Treatment

dG Schoolchildren

ft on the heels of a dental n’s vigorous plea for better health among non-native n has come the announce :in Papua-New Guinea that [ministration will provide free attention for school children. announcement, was made Port Moresby by the Acting :Dr of Health, Dr. White. He

said that the scheme would initially provide free dental services to children up to Grade Three.

Later it would be extended to cover all students up to the age of 14 years.

Dr White said that written permission would be obtained from parents before providing services to any child.

Only a few weeks before Dr.

White made his announcement a Rabaul dentist in private practice had made a scathing indictment of the average dental health of nonnative children.

The dentist is Mr. K. Baldwin,

who appealed for greater govern ment assistance to overcome the problem . , Many families were unable to pro vide treatment for their children because of limited finances, Mr.

Baldwin said. This applied par ticularly to mixed race and some Chinese families, Mr. Baldwin said that the Admin istration had only one European dental officer stationed at Rabaul, and there was work for four or more. . .

Dr. White’s statement about the proposed free services has not given any indication of how the staff

problem will be overcome, but] increased number of dentists! expected to be engaged to card the work throughout the Terri

Japanese Will Move

Guadalcanal Wrecks

The five Japanese wrecks e the Guadalcanal coast, withu miles of Honiara, may finals removed by the Japanese sal company of Nanyo Boeki Ki Ltd., which has been given a tract to lift about 20,000 tor scrap within 12 months.

Fifty Japanese are at pr working from headquarter!

Doma, and more are expected, are using a floating crane, am first shipment of scrap is exp to be sent to Japan by the ei May.

Last Minute Save

Of French Prestige!

The French Minister for the has told New Caledonian p£ that any of their children s ing in France would be ab serve their national army si in New Caledonia if a writte quest were made. Thus end, fears 1 of many parents tha' children might be sent to A to fight ( PIM, April, pp. 18, This in turn had resulted inps threatening to send their ch. to Australia for higher educa, regarded apparently as a hi prospect, and a serious blc French prestige in the Pacific

New Guinea Hams Plan

To Get Together

A move is being made ii Territory of New Guinea to f radio amateurs’ club which then act as a QSL bureau fl amateur operators living in Territory.

A QSL bureau is used by an operators in any one particulaj to act as a postal address f* ceiving mail matter from ami in other parts of the world mail matter consists of tec: reports and cards confirming; contacts.

New Guinea operators re shared a QSL bureau with through the VK9 division oft tralian amateurs.

However, the VK9 division now closed down, and operatt both Territories have noc bureau.

The move for a bureau to: New Guinea is expected toe from the re-forming of the I Amateur Radio Club.

First steps for the re-forrm the club were taken at a m in Rabaul recently at the ho Mr. I. Fisher, an active New <>

t. Other meetings will be xortly, after which it Is ex jthat the club will invite all juinea operators to register sas a QSL bureau. ? are eight licensed amateurs aul at present and an esti :lo in other parts of New There are six potential [holders in Rabaul.

sed History of

irston Coming

unorthodox marital relation ]f one William Marsters who :ed, and populated, the atoll msrston in the Cooks last have always captured the ation of writers looking for in the Pacific, and for season the little island is ;y better known to the world than dozens of other of far greater importance, .lie facts on the history of -ston have also been greatly id in many popular articles, jorrect all this, and at the ime to make a genuine con m to Cook Islands history, Ihn Burland, of Wellington, en accumulating a mass of locumented and. extremely ;,ing material from all over •Id during the past two years.

X all should come a most 1 history of the island, in m g its shipwrecks, its ines, and the adventures of pie at home and elsewhere, vho have seen Mr. Burland’s can affirm that he is ious as to facts.

Burland went to Rarotonga .1 to await first opportunity to the atoll. He plans to nere for about six months, 111 probably then be uplifted INew Zealand naval vessel, at Palmerston he will be :g out certain oceanographic i work and will make some :i collections at the request :ple in New Zealand. This •ill be quite apart from his f the history of Palmerston.

I also be recording samples nerston’s old-English hymns •ngs and of the islanders’ laccent with a tape recorder.

Malaria Out of P-NG

"By 1974"

The Papua and New Guinea Ad ministration plans to eradicate malaria from the Territory by 1974 at a cost of 2.3 million.

The Acting Director of Public Health, H. N. White, said in April that eradication of the dissase would free the Territory from one of its greatest handicaps to progress.

The cost of the 14-year-programme would be far outweighed by the ultimate gain.

Malaria is the world’s most costly disease. It is the major health problem of P-NG.

Control field teams are at present working in the Maprik area of New Guinea’s Sepik district, the D’Entra casteaux islands of Eastern Papua, and in New Ireland and Bougain ville.