Nutshell

In A Nutshell

Chantal Ziani, A 20-

ear-old member of Noumea’s atists’ Club, narrowly escaped ng when she jumped from a over Noumea’s seaside aero- Magenta, early in June.

Ziani made her jump from 4,000 ft and was more than ty to the ground when a strong arried her over the sea. She 1 in and sank in about 18 ft ix. other parachutists in the plane diich she had jumped saw her jumped to her aid, and fished m the bottom. * a launch took them ashore, ,1 respiration soon revived Miss md after 24 hours in hospital, nt home as keen about para ; as ever. Miss Ziani is a of 49 jumps. ♦ * * edical and dental team led by iington eye specialist, Dr. R. will make a survey of the us in July and will treat cases, team will spend about 10 days i of the three Tokelau atolls — o, Atafu and Nukunono— have a total population of 2,000. r will pay special attention to t —often affected on atolls by rom sea and sand—and to skin s and their treatment. The population will receive Sabin iccine. ♦ ♦ * passenger traffic pressure upon i Airways service between Fiji, lebrides and Solomon Islands, great that the Fiji Airways rs decided in May to negotiate extension in the service.

It is hoped that soon the frequency of the service will be stepped up from once each week to three return flights each fortnight from Nadi, via New Hebrides, to Honiara.

Fiji Airways is reported to have bought another Heron aircraft, thus increasing the fleet with which it maintains regular services, from Fiji, with Tonga, Samoa, New Hebrides and Solomons. * * * A photo-copying service at Fiji’s Central Archives in Government House grounds, Suva, is expected to begin in August. Equipment for the service, costing £4,000, is being paid for by four overseas libraries—the National Library, Canberra, the Pub lic Library of New South Wales, the Alexander Turnbull Library, Welling ton, and the Library of the University of Hawaii.

In return for this assistance, the four libraries will receive microfilm copies of the Cakobau Government records which are preserved in the Archives.

The new service will enable any one interested to obtain copies of documents preserved in the Archives quickly and cheaply. * * * The French High Commissioner in the Pacific, Mr. Marc Biros, visited the Wallis and Futuna Islands in June and was reported to have received an enthusiastic welcome at every village.

Mr. Biros impressed on the islanders that they must remain united and must devote themselves to work—an activity which, according to earlier reports, they are little inclined to in dulge in. ( PIM , June, p. 52.) * * * A bill was introduced into the House of Commons on May 30 to change the name of the Colonial De velopment Corporation to Common wealth Development Corporation and to extend the Corporation’s opera tions to development schemes in former territories which achieved in dependence. The Corporation grants loans for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, electrical and water under takings, transport, housing and en gineering, A report from the New Hebrides says that the Condominium is to be brought within the sphere of the Corporation under the new bill. * * * Both Rabaul, New Britain, and Kieta, Bougainville, held their annual choral festival in June. More than 4,000 singers from 81 choirs took part in the Rabaul festival, and 28 choirs took part at Kieta—with more than 4,000 people attending the Bougainville festivities. (Over)

airfield at Vila in June are the of New Hebrides Airways (fore and a Fiji Airways Heron just Nadi. Fiji Airways' service may be increased—see above.

The latest Papua-New Guinea statistics show the Territory now has a population of 2,021,835, of all races. Of these, 1,484,873 are in New Guinea and 536,962 are in Papua The white population of Port Moresby is 6,396; of Rabaul, 3,462' and of Lae, 2,396. Highest native population is in the Eastern High, lands, where there are 351,825 natives. * * * Niue has had its first triplets. They were born to Masilauina and Talaii tama, of Liku village, who already have three children. The triplets are all girls. * * * School children throughout Papua New Guinea will study the new decimal system of currency in 1965 The decimal system will be intro duced to Australia in 1966. * * * A native passenger was fatally in jured in June when a Cessna aircraft crashed on Efogi airport, 60 miles from Port Moresby. The pilot and two other people on board escaped injury. * * * Mr. D. I. Allan, the New Hebrides Condominium Agricultural Officer, re cently spent a fortnight in the BSIP investigating the chances of obtaining parasite for Axiagastus campbelli, a bug which has damaged many coco nut palms in the Condominium.

As a result of his visit, a consign ment of parasitised eggs is expected in the New Hebrides soon for a pre liminary trial against Axiagastus. If successful, further consignments will be liberated throughout the Group in areas infested by Axiagastus. * * « Au automatic telephone service be gan operating in Honiara, BSIP, on June 1. ❖ * * The Japanese manager of the British Solomons Forestry Company, Mr. Takashima, was in Australia in June investigating the possibility of marketing timber from Baga Island, BSIP, to Australia. He later went on to Japan to make arrangements for shipping logs to Japan.

The British Solomons Forestry Company was established following an agreement last November between the BSIP Government and Nanpo Ringyo Kaisha Ltd., of Tokyo, on timber-cutting rights at Baga Island ( PIM , Feb., p. 11).

jrs on the Rolland plantation te, New Hebrides, recently he skeleton of an American lan in thick bush less than die from a wartime American The remains have been i as those of Frank Hardge, larently wandered off and died ush during the war when US r ere stationed on the island. ♦ ♦ ♦ Jew Guinea Women’s Club of met at the Cenotaph in Place on June 27 in their pilgrimage of remembrance New Guinea civilians who ir lives in the sinking of the deo Maru in June, 1942. A was later held in the club 77 King Street, Sydney. innual general meeting of the 1 be held at 77 King Street, .m. on July 25, preceded by -tea. ♦ * * Island, which is connected by vay to Pago Pago, will be the American Samoa’s much f tourist hotel. According to work on the hotel, to be of ms, will begin immediately. 1 mean tearing down the Goat directors of the Samoan De nt Corporation (a local body dll bear the cost of the hotel) hosen George Wimberly, a u architect, to design the new dr. Wimberly is the designer awaii’s recently - completed i-Maui Hotel and Pago’s ’, the auditorium shaped like , which was opened in July j for the fifth South Pacific nee. He was in Pago in June. ♦ * * BSIP Agricultural Department y to obtain seed for tobacco ; experiments in the Protec- About 10 years ago, Mr. J. ne, an old Solomon Islands , experimented with tobacco his butcher shop (now the the Mendana Hotel) and the ;w in abundance. ♦ ♦ * well-known Klima book store wsagency in Papeete, Tahiti, ned down in June—an almost ;e loss. Mr. Klima has opened orary store in Rue Marechal nd is carrying on.