Nutshell

In A Nutshell

JOR change in the technical ning of native apprentices in 1G has been announced. The tern will be introduced during y for a 12 months’ trial. At apprentices attend classes for lay a week in the employer’s r four hours a week in their le at night. Under the new once each year apprentices nd a continuous course of 23 days at a technical school. * * * Mary Claudette, of the Mission at Tanagai, BSIP, head injuries when she fell motor bicycle. * * *

s have been disappearing

ndreds of coconut palms in

a of Fiji 'estigations lat people area have king them e brooms at the arket. An estimates the leaves to dis t the same

palms will be destroyed in ree months. * * * -NG Assistant Administrator ), Dr. J. T. Gunther, has re complaints made by private practitioners in Rabaul that ration Medical Officers were : competition against them, ther said this was “not true”, it was the Administration’s o encourage private prac- But the Administration pro general practice service, and d that members of the public ght to attend clinics if they * * * Fowler, a refrigeration en- Rabaul, NG, died instantly iry 12 when equipment on ‘ was working exploded in Fowler, who went to Rabaul 18 months ago was working his workshop when the blast != * * ican announcement in fan ned Father Michael Dar -44, Bishop of the Wallis and Islands. This is a newly post. Father Darmancier, n New Caledonia in 1952. holidaying in France when lis new appointment.

Mrs. Peter Sellars, of Lami, Fiji, in January, was the proud mother of triplets, a boy and two girls, born at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.

They are her first children and the first triplets to be born to a European in Fiji for many years. * * * In Port Moresby the Australian Tariff Board has ended its inquiry into the P-NG coffee industry. The first session was held in Sydney in October, the second in Melbourne in November. * * * A committee set up to consider tourist problems in Fiji is to ask the Government to consider th e pos

sibility of organising a State lottery

Government to consider the pos-

jects including the development of tourism. The committee agreed that the establish ment of a casino in the Colony was not, at present, “a practical proposi tion”. Members of the Committee were appointed at

a special tourist conference held in Suva recently. * * ♦ The P-NG Administration is trying to think of a diplomatic way to con vince some Papuans they should give up village dances that last up to three years. Missionaries complain that the dancing keeps children from school for long periods, enthnologists claim that the dancing is a vital part of village life, and the Administration claims it cannot think of an altern ative—yet. * ♦ ♦ A Sydney girl, Robyn Goddard, 22, died in Rabaul Hospital in January from poliomyelitis, despite the aid of an iron lung flown from Lae. * * ♦ A check with officials of the Medical Benefits Fund of Australia has confirmed that all residents of P-NG are eligible to contribute. This information may have special value to many Asian and Mixed Race people who prefer to be treated in the paying rather than non-paying sections of Administration hospitals. * * * A low cost housing scheme at Lautoka, Fiji’s second biggest town, is well under way and the Housing Authority has invited applications for

rent of 15 houses. The rent is £7 a month and after a two-year pro bationary period the tenants are given the opportunity of buying their homes, the rent already paid being credited to their account. The Hous ing Authority already has one large estate in Suva and it plans to build more homes in Suva and Lautoka. * * * Former Sydney typist Joyce Harri son, 19, has become the first woman in P-NG to win a yellow belt for judo. She is employed at Port Moresby by the Commonwealth Audit Office. * * * A Papuan native in January saved the life of his wife by battling bare handed with a 14 ft crocodile. Gunua Kaha, 24, twice fought off the croco dile. His wife’s arm was badly mauled, and Ganua’s leg was badly cut. * * ♦ A wild electric storm, accompanied by heavy rain, hit Tanna, NH, on the night of Thursday, January 11. It caused widespread damage to gardens. * * * The BSI Financial Secretary, Mr.

A. M. Wilkie, said in a recent debate that the Government felt that pro cessing of cocoa beans should, as far as possible, remain in the hands of growers and not pass to middlemen, and it was therefore proposed to register persons rather than fer mentaries as licensed buyers. * * ♦ The busiest road in Fiji is the section of the Kings Road between Suva and Nausori. The latest traffic census showed that at a point three miles from Suva the road carries 4,395 vehicles a day and 10 miles from Suva, 1,536 vehicles a day. On the main roads between Suva and Lautoka the flow was as low as 100 vehicles a day. * * ♦ Rt. Rev. J. C. Vockler, is to be come on March 21 the new Bishop in Polynesia. It is the largest Anglican diocese in the world. He will be en throned in Suva by the Archbishop and Primate of NZ, the Most Rev.

N. A. Lesser. * * * A rugged bush aircraft made its first appearance in Sydney in mid- January on its way to Mt. Hagen in the NG Highlands under charter to Ansett-MAL. The plane, an Ameri can Lockheed 60, was specially built for outback flying and needs very little runway.