COOK ISLANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 184, 3 August 1908, Page 9

COOK ISLANDS.

(From-Onr Specter Ci it itvuMriTfirtT. EABOTCHSS£, 2riry2l. TJSND TITLES COOKC Sttings of the I<aml Tifles Conrt W ere held this month before Lieut-Col. Gudgeon, Chief Judge, when the tities to some seventy blocks of land in the districts of Ngatangiia and Titikaveka ;vere investigated. In most of the cases theTe were no disputes, and the owners were ascertained. In several cases, however there was a dispute between the Ariki of the liind and the occupiers, ■who claimed to be owners, and not mere "tanu kai," or planters on the land. Tlie Court will resume its sittings next week -when these cases and others will be hrard. The whole of the main blocks in Rarotongn. have now been surveyed, but a good many of the lands have yet to he partitioned. The Court will sit at the island of Aitutaki about the month of October. SHIPMENT OF FRUIT. Much disappointment is felt by local shippers of fruit at the steamer Hauroto being retained in the trade between the Cook Islands and Auckland, a 5 it was understood that as soon as the Union Co.'c new steamer Tofua was runnin" in the Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Auckland trade, the. steamer Navua would be available for the Cook Islandstrade; in fact, shippers were led to believe that the Navua would be here this trip. The result was that many contracts were entered into for the supply of fruit, although on the arrival of the Hauroto from Auckland, shippers were informed that there would only be 600----tons of space available for shipments from Rarotonga, the other space being taken up by shipments from Tahiti and Kaiatea in the French group, and from Atiu, Aitutaki, and Mangaia in the Cook croup. There is now on the wharf nearly 800 tons of fruit for shipment, and it is yet doubtful whether the steamer will take it aIL Any fruit left means a big loss, as, owing to the demand for fruit for the Auckland market, to be available at the time of the visit of the American fleet, high prices have been given locally, especially for oranges. This state of affairs, that is want of cargo space for Rarotonga,, has been a cause of dissatisfaction for the past two years, and it seems a pity that the Union Co., which has the trade in its own hands, does not make arrangements by means of a larger steamer to take all fruit offered. If space is ent down, it is always Rarotonga that has to suffer. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. Di H. E. Gatley, who for the last six years has occupied the position of Government Medical Officer, has forwarded his resignation to the Resident Commissioner, and has requested to be relieved from his duty on the 31st March next. The Resident Commissioner is communicating with the Minister for the Islands as to tEe appointment of_a successor to Br Gatley. Mr J. W. Stevenson, of the New Zealand Customs Department, who has been acting as Collector of Customs. Postmaster, and Treasurer at Rarotonga for the last three years, has had his term of office extended by the New Zealand Government for another three years. Mr

■Steeensan. has been most efficient in the dladnLCge of ids many duties, and his fur•ther appanrfcment "will give satisfaction to £he general public, both Maori and, European, Pilfering of cargo by some of the native labour in discharging goods from the steamer still goes on in spite of efforts to detect the offenders, but a native named Tari was caught last week -with four tins of meat, which had been abstracted from the cargo. Tari was brought before the Court and sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard_ labonr, without the option of a fine.