Islands

From The

Press

From the Norfolk Islander: 18-CHARLIE recently had its second birthday, having achieved 3 518 trouble-free flying hours on scheduled service during that time and travelling one million miles! We are, of course, talking about Norfolk Island Airlines Super King Air Beechcraft aircraft. A congratulatory cable was received from Rollo Kingsford-Smith of Hawker de

Havilland, Sydney, conveying “Warmest congratulations to

Norfolk Island Airlines for this splendid record ...”

From the Arawa Bulletin, Bougainville: A Papua New Guinean, believed to be a former cannibal chief, has died in his home village in the Kokoda area of the Northern Province. He is Mr Roger Handu, believed to have turned 116 this year, who comes from Papaki village near Kokoda. A report received from Popondetta Office of Information recently, said that Mr Handu was one of the first cannibal chiefs to taste the flesh of the first Europeans when they patrolled the Kokoda area in the early British administration. Mr Handu was also one of the first group of Christians to be baptised when the Anglican Church brought Christianity into the Eiwo area in 1946. He had 27 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren . ..

From Hiri, published by the Papua New Guinea Government Office of Information: VIOLENCE GETS THE CHOP. Advertising gimmicks showing violence to promote consumer goods have come under attack from Media Minister, Tom Koraea. Mr Koraea commented on one particular advertisement which gave the impression that a man's Kung Fu ability was directly related to his intake of meat pies. He stressed to advertisers, publishers, producers and others involved in mass media that they have a responsibility towards the community.

From the New Hebrides News, published by the British Residency Information Office, Vila: A girl aged 16 who was taking her dog for a walk with a metal lead was seriously injured, and the dog died of electric shock, when it urinated on a faulty electric sign.

From the South Pacific News Service of the Provisional Government of West Papua New Guinea: The “West Irianese” sports team that visited Wewak, the provincial capital of the East Sepik Province, on (East) Papua New Guinea’s Independence Day, was accompanied by a large group of Indonesians. Many of these were military intelligence officers. Papua New Guinean friends of the people of West Papua New Guinea noted that while the games were in progress these men were not at the sports venue. They were alarmed and dismayed to see these spies, unsupervised and unchecked, taking large numbers of photographs of various “points of interest" in Wewak. .

From Hulahaina’s column in Micronesian

Independent:

I ran into my favorite man, I will call him Weires, in a local tavern the other day. He is a great advocate of Micronesian unity. We talked for quite a while. Our conversation went like this: “Micronesian unity is shattered. Marianas is out, and Palau and the Marshalls are trying to get out. What can we do to preserve the unity of Micronesia?” my friend Weires inquired ... “let them go politically. But they cannot ignore us, because we are located in the same part of the Pacific. A poet once said: ‘So we grow together, like to a double cherry, seeming parted, but yet a union in partition; two lovely berries moulded on one stem’,” my poetic instinct urged me to say. “Yes, we are separated but located in the same ocean.

The waves that wash the shores of Palau, the Marshalls, and the Marianas also wash the shores of other districts,” Weires said. “Amen,” said I. Right after our conversation ended in the local tavern, I asked the waitress for two more Schlitzes.

We finished our drinks, and each went his separate way.

“Everything leads to nothing,” I thought continually as I drove home that night.

From Cher’s Column, Lae Nius: Honestly, you have to have a sense of humour here in Lae these days friend of mine phoned up, half laughing, half crying. Seems that her husband warned her that the potholes could damage their near-new car, and to dodge them if possible. So away she drives, weaving from one side of the road to the other when traffic clear, dutifully dodging potholes, only to be noticed by our boys in blue, and charged with drunken driving. This happened at about 9 am one day last week. It took a time to clear up the matter, all charges

dropped . . .

From Solomon Islands News Drum: Bride price for Gela women will be raised from $5O to $l5O if the Church of Melanesia approves this proposal at its next provincial synod. The Gela people feel that the present bride price is too low and asked the Church of Melanesia to help set a price acceptable to everyone on the island. One Gela man at the meeting, Henry Raraka, said that the $5O bride price was a mistake made in the 1950 s by a few Anglican priests who lowered the amount by sums of as much as $3OO or $5OO in terms of shell money. “Because it was done without the people’s consent, it has resulted in variations of bride prices on different parts of the islands,” Mr Raraka said. This had created friction between the people. “Sandfly islanders for example, have been charging $6OO and attempts by the Church of Melanesia and the Central Islands Council to control this have failed,” he said.

What does it cost to marry girls from other islands in the Solomons? The answer ranges from nothing to $2OO or more depending on where the bride comes from and her cultural background. In the Western District the cost of a bride is a token $5 which the girl shares with her relatives. Nearly half the South Sea Evangelical Church members do not follow charging bride price because the church opposes it. But many still cling to tradition . . .

From Nabanga, New Hebrides: A dramatic event occurred at Matantas, where Chief Henry Albos, 36, hanged himself on the evening of the celebrations marking the inauguration of the Fanafo-Matantas road . .

First inquiries suggested however that his unexpected action sprang purely from reasons of Custom. Several months before, in the course of a meeting of Custom Chiefs in the Big Bay region, to the east of the Jordan River, responsibility for all land in the region was vested in Chief Henry. He, in return, was obliged to offer as a gift a nubile daughter, or. failing that, commit suicide by hanging, thus assuring to his descendants dominance over the region. Since he had no daughter the Chief had to kill himself.