Islands Press

From The

I I T HE Administrator is to be ® thanked for his statement to the council about the possible bad effects of a fryer rabbit in dustry on Norfolk Island.

It wants just one of these rabbits to get loose on this island No amount of talk of benefit to the island takes me in, for one. It would be nothing less than a disaster to have such an industry which, if successful, would mean others following.

With an island full of rabbits, inside or outside hutches, I for one, would leave them to it, and would not be here to see the sons and daughters of the councillors who are voting for the industry m a queue to get a job dis embowelling fryers.

I am reminded of a certain English Labour Minister of Educa tion who, while trying to have all public schools in England abolished, sent his son to Eton Letter from S. Visick in “The Norfolk Islander”. \ MAN carrying a suitcase walk ed into a local airline office and requested a ticket to a rl, J n Southern Highlands.

A traffic officer requested he open the suitcase; the man replied that it contained a pig.

When opened, the suitcase revealed the partly-decomposed body of the man’s brother, who had died several months pre viously.

The man was taking the body back to his place for burial.— Item in the “Times Courier”, Lae.

'V'O wonder tourists in Fiji complain. As I, a local, was boarding the Oronsay, the porters who carried aboard four small suitcases and three packages to my cabin demanded a tip of £1 telling me that the 10/- proffered was not sufficient.

On pointing out to them that the pamphlet issued by P and O stated one shilling per case or package, I was told that there was a minimum charge of 5/per porter.

I believe that had I travelled really light with only one suitcase they would have taken a corner each! I am not a millionaire but now I can honestly say that just once in my life I have tipped like one.

On my return to Fiji I intend to apply for a porter’s licence as it must certainly be Fiji’s most lucrative profession.— Letter from Gray Hansen in “The Fiji Times”.

A SIGNPOST pointing the way to Mt. Hagen has been placed at the new Mawan Bridge, cross ing the Gogol River.

Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, Town Advisory Council and other interested bodies, drove from Madang to the end of the 17-mile stretch of road for the occasion.

The signpost was placed in position by Mr. Jason Garrett, the Member for Madang Regional.

The sign reads: “187, Mt.

Hagen via Simbai, 363 via Kassam”.

But at present the road crosses the bridge and then finishes in a 40 ft drop. The route of the next section has not yet been decided and no information can be obtained regarding the missing link.-— ltem in the “South Pacific Post”, Port Moresby.

the current activity towards establishing new air routes across the Pacific, it is surprising that there appears to be no interest in re-opening an old route —the one between Fiji and Norfolk Island.

Established during World War II as a vital link between Aus tralia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, the route was con tinued commercially with DC3’s until 1954, when it was discon tinued, probably because Pacific tourist travel had not attained its present high level of development.

The flight was NZ-Norfolk Island-Fiji-Tonga-W. Samoa and return, a very pleasant journey which provided easy access to Norfolk Island, without the back tracking which exists today.

Norfolk airstrip cannot take the big jet planes. However, the planes of Fiji Airways’ regional services could easily re-establish the link with this beautiful and historic island, to the benefit of all concerned.— Letter from L.

Low in “The Fiji Times”.

/"|NE admires the service of the V' P°. st Office Savings Bank staff in filling out withdrawal and deposit slips for its customers, the majority of whom are ap parently illiterate. But when one sees a Teachers’ Training College student having to avail herself of this assistance, one wonders what sort of education our children might be about to get. —Columist in the Apia “Advertiser”, Western Samoa.

“JVVIDE and rule” used to be the watchword of colon ialism, but metropolitan France seems to be trying a policy of “unite and rule” in its South Pacific territories. A report from Noumea says that France is plan ning to unite the territories of Tahiti, New Caledonia and Wallis Island as a single Pacific region to be known as French Australe.

At present the territories have separate local assemblies, in which a growing spirit of individualism has been noticed. This is ap parently repugnant to paternal France, and the proposed united territory would have only one as sembly. This would act purely in an advisory capacity to the central government in Paris, and would have no taxing power.

To political observers, it would seem that such a federation would best be formed after the territories had achieved responsible self-gov ernment, or even independence.

To rob them of their individual voices while they are still un ashamedly colonies would seem to be deliberately preventing this fundamental step of self-deter mination.—Letter from “Pomare for President" in “The Samoa Times”, Apia. /"\NE of the most important ” iterr »s of property in the average Rarotonga woman’s pos session is the simple back-comb— peru Tamou. The island traders have run out of these precious items before; now they’ve run out of them again. There’s not a single one available anywhere on the “beach”. Reports have it that the combs come from Hong Kong.

Quality varies—the best ones usually being obtainable from Tahiti. The cheap ones break mm on the first try.— News item in H H the “Cook Islands News”, Rarotonga. M M