Territories TALK-TALE

With Tolala

To make the “Personal Items” page in the Sydne\ “Bulletin” is usually indicative of a boost to anybody’s b, ( except, of course, in the bottom right-hand corner ) and the New Guinea identities had that uplift in April and May issue ; complete with appropriate sketches.

THEY were District Commissioner Tom Ellis, “Patrol Master” D. M.

Fienberg and Denys Faithful.

Their biographical notations made interesting reading and of such a variable mass of experiences in con nection with the Territory that it will be surprising if we do not hear more of these officers in the future years of P-NG expansion.

It Was

Good Timing

Careful timing for the launching of propaganda is perhaps one of the most important phases of modern diplomacy, and I’m not re ferring to the Spy Plane over Russia, but to a series of announce ments made by Dr. Helmi in P-NG during his recent visit and by his chief, Dr. Soekarno, in other parts of the world.

Both their utterances anent their claims to Dutch New Guinea co incided with the UN Trusteeship Council’s consideration of our NG report.

Dr. Helmi’s visit to the Territory was also well-timed. It gave him the appropriate locale for making statements which would have raised eyebrows had they been made in Australia.

His reference to “pressure of world opinion might force Australia to give premature independence to P-NG” only serves to emphasise the need for outside busy-bodies to mind their own back-yards and leave Australia to use i f s own discretion in such matters.

Topical subjects, such as apartheid and racial independence, have had such a global influence during the past few months that it puts logical reasoning for ultimate native betterment right into the discard.

Whether Australian politicians realise this, and have sufficient guts to disregard global opinion remains to be seen.

Paul Hasluck may have picked up a few pointers during his con tinental tour. Let’s hope the dinkum welfare of the New Guineans is not sacrificed for a few laudatory re marks from the Afro-Asian-Soviet bloc.

Whence the

Tolais?

An enquiry comes from a Ra reader: “Do you know whe| Tolais first came to New Br from New Ireland, as this miga in land matters?”

Without any stalling, I I answer: “I don’t know; I donl know that any “Tolai” native! from New Ireland.

The name “Tolai”, insofar am aware, has no particular i graphic significance. Since Wl it has been rather a loose ten all Gazelle Peninsula indigena they include a somewhat mixel both in appearance and dia varying skin pigmentations, pH qualities and dialectal differ between, say, the Matupi Isla and the North Coast dwelled As for variances between tha Ireland and Gazelle Peninsula are legion: culturally and lingi ally, one outstanding feature I “f” in the New Ireland lari (which suggests Polynesian d and quite unknown in New Bi Strangely enough, with the] ings and goings of anthropol to the Territory, which have; numerous since the 1920’5, fi them have made a study o: Rabaul or Gazelle Peninsula They have always gone fi afield: Sepik, Manus, Bougaiß For information dealing these neglected “Tolais” one I refer more or less to the wi of the German days, and the not always easily available.

Therein lies the value of: Barry’s translation of Parkii Thirty Years In the South when and if it is ever pub in the English language.

But, after all, perhaps reader has the answer to “ did the Tolais come to New Brii . . . If so, by all means con please.

A Few Comments Last month I received a we screed from Basil Challis, known to pre-War Territorial] wrote from Glen Osmond,

a, making a few comments paragraphs. ;uch comments I would say, )me years’ association with tors of PIM, are most wel rhey at least show that a ;rest exists in the statements ig in its pages, ring back to the February ). 147) where a Niue Island :ored 104 not out and then ed the hat trick, Basil writes; eminds me of a match we Rabaul pre-war when the at sportsman, Charlie Bates, for our Administration jainst Commerce, scored 104 and followed his fine innings ne afternoon with a hat ink has been spilled now ie Nakanai murderers and te since the Flynn outburst

OBERTS BOWS OUT. Allan Roberts, f Papua-New Guinea Native Affairs for eight years has "gone finish" to Mel [?]fter 35 years in the Territory. He [?]e Administration in 1925 as one of [?], and has always been a popular and officer. He won the Military Cross [?]ork as a Coastwatcher for Australia [?]ritain during the war. The top photo [?]ows him at the farewell party given [?]is staff at Port Moresby last month, with him the warm wishes of every is retirement. His wife died in Mel bourne recently.

i this issue) but Basil SS remarks are worthy B fl,r"Rp March issue, p. 26, I disagree wtth my old frieng Cyril Fidred who disagreed with our mutual friend, Ted Taylor, on the hanging of the Nakanai murderers of 1926 “T remember well on the eve of the dav staged for the hanging learning 7 from Dr. W. L. Calov (now of M?c g quarS Street, Sydney, but then amongst other duties the gaol medical officer) that the convicted murderers had been reprieved and consequently Cyril Eldred’s gallows were not used for their constructed job.”

He also has something to say about the Mortlock Islanders and

my doubts regarding their origin (March, p,, 87); He refers ,to E. W. P. Chmnery’s Anthropological Report, Vol, 1, p. 67. and quotes; “j n the eastern waters of the Territory are three widely separated groups of small islands, in atoll formations, inhabited by people who are related in culture, and who speak a language which appears to be a branch of the Polynesian family.”

Challis continues: “I understand Parkinson also classifies these people a s Polynesians and they certainly i oo k it in my opinion. Photos of Maty Island belles support your claim to beauty rating, but ‘Chin’ (as we affectionately knew him) published several photos which sup

port recent opinion that the lock Islanders are the pretties® in this part of the Pacific.”® Of course, the obvious solu i| r to whether the Maty or MoiJ belles rate the highest in the Bfe Stakes is to hold a Miss New G® Beauty Contest!

An afterthought: The Mor® being so isolated, might have I thing to do with my high-rati their female beauty. One must forget that the greater the dil from civilisation the more gll ous females appear to be in til of the male beholder!

Out Of The Past From Hans Mannsfeld, noi Germany but who was at one! manager of Arawa plantation Bougainville for Hernsheim & comes a welcome addition to New Guineana. He writes: “In the March issue of PIM l' read with interest your article!

Mystic Mortlock Islanders”. M contribute something to it? “When I was in Bougainvilj 1920, old Peter Hansen told md Mrs. Calder had been married] times. One of her husbands v German by nationality and a t layer by trade. He was the! who built that substantial houl the Mortlocks out of coral si Peter did not mention the nai me but I should think it mu the Emil Altmann, whose tomb is shown in the photo.

“On the other hand one woul pect that the inscription or tombstone would indicate hi the second husband of Mrs. Cali That reminds me, when the proboard later on sent oversei the Mortlocks one after the died on the island, so the m went, and all sorts of surmises spread around then that the was haunted, that the natives poisoned the whites and so o: The remarks about the fre deaths on Mortlocks are very Deaths on the Tasmans wen fairly regular, and well do member the difficulty the : had in obtaining white oversee both these groups. So far as i: the ghosts have never been ] Identified Mr. Mannsfeld also ref err; the photo of the Uechtritz-P 1 son wedding (Nov. PIM, p. 2g writes: “The ‘unknown’ man centre of the back row is TI von Hein, at that time manas Hernsheim’s Kavieng branch man next to him is his clerk, I Richter, not Kaufmann.

“Richter and Kaufmann bob alike on account of their shaven heads. . . Mrs. Macco alive, staying with one oc daughters in Bavaria. She PIM with keen interest.

“One of Uechtritz’ two soni

Dver as an engineer and is to a cousin of Theod. von . . The oldest of the Ger i-timers [who were in New is Fritz Guyot, formerly of plantation, Weberhafen, 70.” iod to hear about these old th NG.

bout

always encouraging to read tfG’s primary products are on ease and, naturally, govern iepartments preen them ccordingly. . figures, released by Act ister of Territories Osborne, 253 tons of cocoa exported 59, an increase of over 3,000 compared with the previ r. ;here is every indication of increases as native growers continued encouragement to p this commodity. But. . . . tide which appeared in the sue of New Commonwealth, le London publication which finger on the pulse of world and markets, says that production in 1959-60 has embarrassingly large,” and ;s foresee a surplus of some tons. tfier any of this surplus will n up by chocolate manu s as increased stocks is dubious. If the manufac are not prepared to carry ocks, the producing countries r e to. In these circumstances and Nigeria may yet be ;o accepting some restrictive ng sch e m e.” Overtures

made to them for such a plan have so far not met with any interested response.

Cocoa development in the Terri tory may need watching to avoid over-production. And we should know what that might lead to even in this age of market controls.

Catch That

Fly

An American professor of zoology is out after the vinegar fly in New Guinea, according to newspaper re ports to aid his studies in heredity.

Doubtless, flies are amongst the most common companions humans have all over the earth; they are pests in many instances but I sup pose they have their uses; otherwise

they wouldn’t be here. I have no idea what a vinegar fly is like, 01 wh£it it is supposed to do other than “breed rapidly and have a short life,” to quote the professor, i remember one species that always intrigued me when I was in the Islands. Whenever I had occasion to use Antinea (a patent medicine for the eradication of tinea) these flies would immediately make their appearance and hover about the bottle or the particular part of my anatomy requiring its application. They were the size of small blow-flies, but striped like wasps. Only when Antinea was be ing used did I ever see them, Whenc# and why? . . . Any en tomologists want to come in? (Over)

HONOUR. Mrs. Heather Johns looks [?]en though she is goest-of-honour at many parties given in Port Moresby, [?]efore she left for a holiday abroad and, Bill, and daughter, Heather Joan, worried, she said, not only because t really like air-travel but because she s not photogenic. "PIM" editor Judy took the photograph, said she would the latter only so far as that this doesn't do justice to Mrs. Johns' bright and charming personality.

Wot!

No Name?

Browsing through the May issue of South Pacific Post, I notir two large advertisements: one; nouncing that the “First Territ Loan” had reached £100,000: other a reminder to Territ residents that an election for Legislative Council would be h on August 27,1960. Neither advert ment indicated by whose audio; it was inserted, though presums they both come from some resp sible government department. Kdi to the publishers.

Anonymous advertisements cai embarrassing at times. Readers entitled to know the identity of vertisers and government dep ments should surely set a good ample. Or should they?

High Living Costs

In P-Ng

One hears quite a lot about high cost of living in P-NG am doubt, many of the reports are when comparing prices of I commodities there and in Aus| However. . , .

I notice in a P-NG newa advertisement for a Port Mo; store that AI Rump Steak wa a lb which made me rathej vious. Calling at my local (fl butcher this morning I notq price for choice Rump Steals 6/8 a lb, while fillet was up ai the 8/- mark.

Any connection between I tralia’s high prices for beel the decision handed down b; Land Board at Lae recent: favour of the local company?

As my Fair Lady would sayl bloody likely”.

That Rabaul

Airport

Once again the Matupi Isis are proving difficult in regai aerodrome extensions.

Latest advices state they ha, fused to give up land for tli alignment of the airstrip at R so that planes would not hs fly over the volcano, adjace Rabaul (Tavuvur), At least the Matupi Islande consistent in their attitude r» ing the enlargement of the ai Back in the ’Thirties and ag; the ’Fifties they had an arg; with the government regardii linquishing land rights, and how I seem to think they will out the winners in this latest; they have taken.

They are great lovers of the; land, and refuse to be shifted have other land in exchange.; will tell, no doubt.