The Editons' Mailbag

te Tom Manning's

ork in the Solomons

'\mong the Christmas mail was a ir m tribute to the late Tom .nning, of Honiara, whose obituary s published in PIM in September, s tribute came from Sir John itch, KCMG, QBE, formerly stern Pacific High Commissioner, li now living in London.

Sir John writes: Lhe article in September relates ticularly to Tom Manning’s earlier vice on Canton and Christmas ands, and does not, to my mind, full justice to the part played by i (and by his charming wife, Ella) the life of Honiara during the ;er part of his career. )uite apart from his capable ninistration of the Protectorate sts and Telecommunications De tment, Tom Manning made a at contribution to the social enities of the growing township Honiara.

Dn more than one occasion he s president of the Guadalcanal jb, an office which was never a ecure, but it was especially the niara Golf Club which was dear his heart and which, it is no iggeration to say, might never have vived and flourished without him. was one of the moving spirits in rting the golf course. During his >ence on leave in 1955 it nearly sed, but he revived it again on return. continued to strive for it and h he and his daughter, Joanne, nt many strenuous hours at week 1s driving the club’s ancient tractor, those who have enjoyed, and now oy, a round of golf at Honiara >uld pay tribute to Tom Manning’s ermination. [n addition to all these activities was chairman of the Boy Scouts mmittee during my time as High mmissioner. These and other ser es to the community played their t, with his efficient administration his Department, in prompting me recommend him in 1959 for the ard of the Imperial Service Order I it was a great personal pleasure me and, I know, to many others en Her Majesty saw fit to accept 5 recommendation.

Fhe Imperial Service Order is an ard particularly reserved for civil vants such as Tom Manning with g, loyal and devoted service. But,

apart from all this, the Mannings were never happier than when dis pensing kindness and hospitality in their home in Honiara and there must be many, like my wife and my self, who find it difficult to picture the place without them.

The Naming of

Missionaries

Occasional contributor Lew Friday was astray in some of his facts in his article on the Duke of Yorks ( PIM , Nov. p. 89). “Tolala” in his Decem ber column pointed out one error, and we’ve since had notes about another.

Friday said in his article that he had met at Port Hunter “Mr. and Mrs. Poole, the Methodist missionary and his wife . . . Mrs. Poole’s first husband [was] Mr. Mannering”, As the Rev. R. S. Brown, NSW Secretary of the Methodist Overseas Missions, now points out, Friday had it the wrong way round. Friday in fact met the Rev. C. W. J. and Mrs.

Mannering. It was the Rev. J. W.

Poole, Mrs. Mannering’s first hus band, who was lost during the Jap anese occupation. He was captured in the Bainings area of New Britain, PIM apologises for causing this embarrassment. Contributor Friday is somewhere in Europe, address un known, otherwise he would, we know, also tender his regrets.