Deaths

of Islands People

High Chief Soliai High Chief Pinemua Muliufi Soliai, of Nu’uuli, American Samoa, has died, aged 93. He joined the Fita Fita Guard in 1906 and retired in 1926 when he became a matai. He is sur vived by five of his eight chil

dren, 50 grand-children, 46

great grand-children, and one

great-great-grandchild. One of

his surviving sons is

Suaavamuli Po’u Pine Soliai, a member of the Fono.

K. Weqas

Keith Weqas, an assistant ;uperintendent in the British iivision of the New Hebrides

constabulary, has died, aged

!9. He became a policeman in 1958 and reached com nissioned rank 10 years later, n 1977 he received the Col

mial Police Long Service

vledal. He attended a number >f overseas courses for police.

VSP Weqas is survived by his

vife and four children.

Mrs H. S. Aidney Mrs Helen Smith Aidney,

lother of Fiji businessmen

)on and Basil Aidney, has ied, aged 87. She went to Fiji om New Zealand in 1912 and larried the late Mr Cyril

/illiam Aidney. In her

ounger days she played

ockey, golf and tennis.

Mr J. Loughry The death has occurred in ort Moresby of Mr John oughry, Auditor-General of apua New Guinea. Mr oughry, 58, was an Australian ho earlier had represented ic Australian Auditor eneral in PNG. When PNG

scame self-governing it

Dpointed him as its first uditor-General.

Dr G. Mukherji Dr Girin Mukherji, a sur on at Nadi, Fiji, has died at elbourne. He was in his 70s. r Mukherji was born in Cal itta and went to Fiji to prac

tise medicine after graduating from a German university.

Outside his profession he was a member of the Ramakrishna Mission and Rotary and was an amateur photographer. He leaves a widow and a daugh ter.

Mary Young

Mary Young, of the

American Samoa Office of In formation, has died. She was in her 30s. She was 18 years in the Fono as administrative assist ant in the Legislative Refer ence Bureau.

Mr R. Farquhar Mr Robert (Bob) Farquhar, the man who finally convinced the Governor of Fiji that the Southern Cross had left Honolulu for Fiji on the first trans-Pacific and that it would be necessary to quickly cut down a row of trees in Albert Park, Suva, so the aircraft could land there, has died, aged 97. He was born in the UK.and went to Fiji as a radio operator before World War I.

After the war he returned to Fiji to continue his radio ca reer, and served in several centres. Soon after World War II broke out he went to Nauru and Ocean islands to advise on radio communications. On his retirement from the radio ser vice he worked for the Car penter organisation in Fiji for some years.

In 1928 he was the radio op erator who guided Charles

Kingsford Smith, captain of

the Southern Cross, to a land ing on Albert Park.

Mr E. Thomsen Mr Edward Thomsen, a pub lic accountant and tax consult ant in American Samoa, has died, aged 61. For 20 years he was assistant manager for the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation. He left Western Samoa in 1958 to take a pos ition with B. F. Kneubuhl in American Samoa and in 1963 set up his own practice. He leaves a widow, three sons and

two daughters.

Dr Ram Lakhan Dr Ram Lakhan, a Suva dental surgeon and a promi nent figure in sporting and civic affairs in Suva, has died, aged 63. He was the first Fiji born Indian to go into private practice as a dentist.