The Editor's Maillag

Old Friends In The

New Hebrides

Sir, —Enclosed is my cheque for renewal of my subscription to PIM.

I would like to compliment you on the magazine, its coverage and presentation. I would like to read more about the Southern New Hebrides, particularly Aneityum, Futuna, Tanna and Aniwa.

Although it is over 20 years since I lived on Aneityum, I still cherish many happy memories of the island and its people and would like to know what, if anything, is going on there now.

Is Harry Freeman still alive, Don Wilkinson still on Tanna, big Jimmy from Futuna (what a great big time wrestler he would have made), an enormous man with a heart of gold, I will never forget the evening spent on Futuna, when I recruited Jimmy and his pals. Then there was Oily Jones, whom I last heard of in New Caledonia and many others, too many to name. Then there was the dry Christmas of 1943 and the Morinda unexpectedly arriving on New Year’s Eve with six cases of beer, three of wine, one of gin and no groceries, and a good time was had by all six of us.

And New Year’s Day, when Commie’s girls and a lot of children brought me baskets of fruit and bunches of beautiful orchids, just for the love of it.

The Aneityumese were truly splendid people, and I guess they will always be, in my memories anyway.

So if you have any news of those islands and their people, you will have at least one interested reader.

Jack Thompson

Box 384 Loxton South Australia • Reader Thompson will be in terested to know we are preparing a magazine article about those days and some of those names for an early issue.

New Guinea Hotels

Sir, —I have just read the article by James Anderson on his views of Papua-New Guinea’s hotels (Feb., p. 50). The gentleman does not seem to have a very good impression of territory hotels. Well, he should come up to the Highlands for a visit.

We don’t mind if he is a journalist, millionaire, or just one of the “mob”.

I don’t believe anyone could honestly say that the people of the

Western Highlands—private, Admini

stration or hotel proprietors—go out of their way to be rude or inconsider ate to visitors. Rather we make it our

business to make them welcome.

Possibly the reason is there are no coconut palms to sleep under.

So, if you please, just drop him a line to tell him to come up here and enjoy Territory friendship.

Michael A. Emery

Minj, New Guinea

Viwa's Solar Still

Sir, —In PIM February (p. 65), a story on a solar still in Viwa, Fiji, does not give any credit to the Uni versity of California and the South Pacific Commission, who sponsored the project first in Lautoka and then in Nadi. Professor E. D. Howe worked on it from 1964 to 1967 and I joined him in 1965.

G. L. Chan

Public Health Engineer South Pacific Commission, Noumea • Our apologies to Mr. Chan.

Full details of the valuable Pacific wide solar still experiments of Pro fessor Howe and Mr. Chan are already scheduled for an early issue of PI M’s Practical Planter section.

Sir, —I observe in an article, p. 65 of your February issue, a statement to the effect that the topography of Viwa shows the highest point at six feet above sea level.

Are you sure, or are you just quot ing from The Fiji Islands (Derrick) page 220? Because I think a walk on the island would show this to be in correct. It is indeed a lovely little island.

J. Hodgen.

Rockdale, N.S.W.

Our report, from our Lautoka correspondent, said the island was “about six feet” above sea level.

Volume 3 of the invaluable Geo graphical Handbook series on the Pacific Islands produced by the British Naval Intelligence Division in World War II says: “Viwa Island (lat. 17 deg. 09 min. S. long. 176 deg. 54 min.

E.) lies about 13 miles north-west of Way a, on the Great Sea reef; it is roughly circular, about two miles across and only 7 ft above sea level.

Is has its own fringing reef, which ex tends in an unbroken area for two or three miles to the south' ’. Perhaps Viwa-ites can solve the reader’s prob lem.

Fijmndians For Australia

Sir, —I think Australia could very well assist Fiji with our embarrassing population problems, by taking or ad mitting on a regular quota, Fiji-born Indians who are generally good citizens, with sound financial back ground and who have a real desire to settle in Australia as bona fide citizens and not try to drain out its resources, as some have done in parts of the world.

I feel the idea of admitting to Australia, on a regular quota, selected types of good Fiji-born Indians whose parents came to Fiji under the in denture system will serve a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it will serve Fiji in helping her population problem, and secondly it will help Australia in overcoming her problem of labour shortage.

Satyendra Pratap Sharma

General President.

Transport Workers’ Union of Fiji, Nadi, Fiji.

Pacific Aviation Society

Sir,—As you know, Australia has an Aviation Historical Society, as has New Zealand, but neither of these societies is very interested in South Pacific or even Papua-New Guinea aviation history. Several interested people—including myself as the stirrer —are trying to form a South Pacific Aviation Historical Society, to gather and record early aviation history in the South Pacific Commission’s area, so that this history is not lost for all time. As this society becomes estab lished I shall keep PIM informed.

PIM will be made an honorary mem ber, for you will never realise the help and information obtained through back issues of PIM and the Yearbooks. Though in many cases the information was sparse, the lead was there.

Allan Bovelt.

Cf- Engineering, NZ National Airways Corps, Rongotai Airport, Wellington, New Zealand.