yesterday

Japanese resistance on Iwo lima had just collapsed, bringing the US Air Force within effective range of Japan; the German western front was falling apart ; American troops had occupied Okinawa; the British 14 th Army had smashed the Japanese Armies in central Burma; and Russia had formally denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact of 1941 when PIM went to press in April, 1945.

AS a result, the South Seas were beginning to prepare for the return of peace—as some of the following items from PIM of 20 years ago show: In the belief that the end of the war would bring increased air and sea travel to the South Pacific and that New Caledonians would have much more to spend, three Noumea businessmen, Edouard Trubert, Clement Brunelet and de Rouvray, were promoting a New Caledonian tourist and hotel company. * $ Because of ill-health, Mr. J. W.

Liston, owner of the Western Samoa Mail printing and pub lishing works in Apia had sold his holdings to a new company, the Samoa Printing and Publish ing Company Ltd., formed by Mr. E. F. Paul, of Apia. The Western Samoa Mail, the only weekly newspaper in Apia, had ceased publication a few years earlier. * * * The air service between Port Moresby and Sydney, which was suspended when Japan came into the war, was resumed on April 2, 1945. The service was run by Qantas. It had formerly been run by W. R. Carpenter Ltd., who had sold it to Qantas.

For censorship reasons, Le Neo- Hebridais, a French weekly newspaper which had circulated in the New Hebrides for 35 years, had been temporarily sus pended. [As it turned out, the suspension proved to be per manent]. * * Tonga was experiencing a crime wave. Within a few months it had had robberies, man slaughter, rape, indecent assault and gaol breaking. The most recent crime was a brutal attack on two Europeans, Mr. and Mrs.

O. Brahne, at their plantation home a few miles from Nukua lofa. •fc Mr. E. A. James, owner and editor before the Japanese war of the Papuan Courier, had been appointed by the Australian Government to the War Damage Commission to investigate claims in Papua-New Guinea. * * ♦ Fiji’s Governor, Mr. A. W. G.

H. Grantham had returned to Fiji from a comprehensive visit to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. * * An American scientist had invented a “love lure” for mos

quitoes, which consisted of records of the female mosquito’s love call to her mate. “When Mr.

Mosquito hears same,” a PIM writer said, “he heads for it promptly and falls into a trap.” * * * Tortoiseshell for use in jewel lery and other oddments was fetching nearly £7 a lb compared with the top pre-war price of 35/- a lb. ❖ sf: ❖ The Presbyterian Overseas Mission had decided to allow unmarried women to be appointed for service as missionaries in the New Hebrides. Previously, the only single women allowed to work on the mission field were nurses. * * * The death had occurred in Suva of Mr. A. E. Cornish, who spent 23 years on Rotuma, six of them as District Officer. * * * The first two Western Samoan teachers to be brought to New Zealand under a scheme to raise the standard of education in Western Samoa had arrived in Auckland. They were Fiamanu Taeao and Lisi Leota.

When the Japanese invaded some of the South Pacific Islands dur ing the war, they brought with them big stocks of worthless occupation currency, such as this half-shilling note. The idea was to seize all the silver in circula tion and issue the notes in its place. This photograph first ap peared in PIM in November, 1942.