Nutshell

In A Nutshell

ANEW museum is to be built in Noumea on land facing the Baie de la Moselle, next to the police sta tion in the centre of the town. The foundations of the building were due to be laid in August. When plans were drawn up in 1960, the building was estimated to cost about 30 mil lion francs (£150,000 Australian), but this estimate will probably be greatly exceeded.

The ne\fr museum will be divided into four main sections—exhibition hall, work rooms, native art section and conference hall. It will fill a need and should prove an important tourist attraction.

The present museum, in a building given to New Caledonia by a 19th century nickel magnate, is unsuited to its purpose and the ground floor is now occupied by the town library.

Few hardy souls climb the stairs to see the interesting collection of New Caledonian birds, animals, minerals, native weapons, etc., on display. * sis * More than 1,000 Cook Islanders will work in a new clothing factory now being built in Rarotonga. The factory will be the largest single-span building in the island. Two hundred and sixty islanders—all but 29 from the outer islands—work at the pres ent clothing factory established several years ago. Last year, they produced 250,000 garments for the Cook Islands and New Zealand. ❖ % % Because of a drought in the Southern Gilberts, the fourth Colony Conference in October, which was to have been held at Nikunau, will be held at Tarawa. ❖ sj« Export of copra, economic main stay of Niue Island before the hurricanes of 1959 and 1960, re sumed recently when MV Tofua loaded 16 bags at Alofi. Copra formerly earned between two-thirds and three-quarters of Niue’s export revenue, seven or eight times as much as any other export.

An airstrip at Ba in the north-west of the main Fiji island of Viti Levu was officially opened in August. It will be used by aircraft operating a charter service, but a regular scheduled service may be started later. ❖ ❖ ❖ Seventeen District Officers from all Districts in P-NG will meet in Port Moresby from September 18 to Sep tember 22. The Director of Native Affairs, Mr. J. K. McCarthy, will be in charge of the meetings. * * * An airstrip, capable of taking Cessna planes, has been opened at Efogi in the Owen Stanley Ranges, three days walk from Sogeri. Natives from Efogi and nearby villages helped to clear the strip. The villagers wanted an airstrip so they could send food and cash crops to Port Moresby for sale.

A seminar, under the auspices of the South Pacific Commission, will be held in Vila in September to consider whether a post-primary education course would be desirable in the New Hebrides instead of secondary academic education. The course would consist of general education beyond primary level and the teach ing of practical skills such as car pentry, building and simple mech anical engineering. Among those who will attend the seminar are Mr. K.

L. Lamacraft, Chief of the Division of Technical Training in P-NG, Mr.

G. Solomon, Chief of the Technical Division, Department of Education, Fiji, and Mr. D. E. Proctor, technical training instructor at the British Solomons Training College.

Hs ❖ ❖ A “secret” weapon against Nou mea’s stray dogs has recently been obtained from the United States. It is a gun firing a dart which drugs the dog aimed at {if hit ) for about five minutes —long enough for a dog catcher to pick him up and pop him in the pound. * * ❖ Two senior officers of the Com monwealth Savings Bank of Australia arrived in Vila early in August to investigate the possibility of opening a branch of the bank at Vila. The officers are Mr. G. G. Eastaugh, chief manager for Queensland, and Mr. K.

Snelling, assistant manager of the

foreign division in Sydney. At 5 ent, the bank has only an agenc: Vila, plus agencies at Santo, Ts and Aoba. ❖ * * Copra production in the BSIF the first six months of 1962 12,746 tons—76o tons more tham the same period last year and 2 tons more than in January-June, II * * * An influenza epidemic started Honiara, BSIP, at the end of .

The Central Hospital was soon and beds had to be made up; verandahs and balconies. • seriously ill patients were admi There were several cases with « plications, mainly pneumonia, epidemic apparently arrived 1 Sydney. The GEIC also had s epidemic in July—but this on r believed to have arrived from F- Hs H* Two old Paris buses are H used at Forari, New Hebrides, foe transport of workmen. They are old open rear-platform type w has been popular with Parisians, a long time, and they have promt rubber bulb motor horns, in frot * * * An American firm, represej the Ventures Group, has applieo a permit to search for oil in Caledonia.

The shore end of the new S Auckland cable, part of the Comi wealth round-the-world cable scH was laid on July 28 by the Cable: Wireless ship Retriever. The link between New Zealand and) will be completed this year by' cable ship Monarch. s-s s£ Nearly 500 tons of shippings lost in New Hebrides waters db the first six months of this This includes Mr. Roy GuH MV Lira, a 222-ton trading w which was gutted by fire on Juki at Epi. * ❖ ❖ The Suva City Council has do to ask the College of Heralol London to design a coat of arrrr the city. The Mayor, Councilld A. Stinson, has asked the publil suggestions for the design. Thai gestions will be passed on to] college.