FIJIAN AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 289, 7 December 1925, Page 10

FIJIAN AFFAIRS.

NOTES FROM THE GROUP. WRECK OF A CUTTER. THREE ARRESTS FOR MURDER. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SUVA, December 3. About a fortnight ago "portions of wreckage wore picked up in the vicinity of Draiba and Vuna, on the island of Ovalau. This raised some anxiety for the safety of the seven-ton cutter of Messrs. C. F. Barker and Adelbert. The vessel, the Tui Namuka, had left port for the island of Batiki on the 12th ult. Included in the items found were a lifebelt on which was the vessel's name, pieces of green timber, etc. 'Word had now been received that the Tui Namuka had been wrecked on the reef in the Batiki Passage, but that all the crew had got safely to the shore. The wind had blown strongly from the , east and south-east, hence the wreckage drifting to Ovalau. DEATH OF MISS BAKER. A death is announced from Tonga which will greatly interest people who have followed tne trend of Island history during the past two or three decades On November sth Miss Charlotte Baker, the sister of the late Rev. Waldemar Shirley Baker, the second Premier of Tonga and the founder of the Tongan Free Church, which has been so much in the public eye during the past couple of years, passed away. The deceased lady went to Europe about 1910, and was in England when war broke out. Having more than a little knowledge of nursing, she immediately joined up, and put in a number of strenuous years on various fronts. These strenuous days made a heavy toll on a body never too robust, and they undoubtedly tended to weaken it and hasten her end. She was greatly loved by her immediate friends. Geueral sympathy is expressed with her surviving sisters. DISEASE IN BANANAS. The planters, at their annual meeting, took some definite action about the shipment of Fiji bananas from the colony. The following motions were carried unanimously: " (1) This meeting desires to bring to the notice of the Government that in the opinion of experienced banana planters in Fiji, the disease reported in Queensland as leaf spot on bananas, and declared to/be detrimental to the Queensland banana industry shows symptoms identical with the so-called Singatoko disease in this colony. (2) Further, this association is in a position to demonstrate almost to a certainty, that the plants bringing the disease were originally imported from Queensland by a Chinaman, who is still in the Singatoka district. (3) It is recommended by this association, in the interests of the colony in general and the banana industry in particular, that experts be engaged* to study the origin of the disease as it exists in Fiji, and to send a qualified officer of the Fiji Agricultural Department to Queensland with the object of investigating the leaf spot disease on bananas as it exists in that State. (4) It is considered by this association that the foregoing resoluions be dealt with as matters of extreme urgency." These motions were only carried after considerable discussion, and by men who have been interested in the fruit industry all their livee, and know more about bananas than the average man elsewhere. There is a strong feeling that the barrage put up to keep Fiji fruit out of Australia has been brought about by some conspiracy, the truth of which will some day make interesting reading. There is a "nigger in the woodpile," and the planters here feel that their Government has not been nearly active enough in protecting their interests. The colony has grievously suffered by Australia's action, and if it has been due to misrepresentation the action is all ihe more dastardly. LONG ARM OF THE LAW. Yet another case of the long arm of the law finding a guilty person has come to light, when the acting subofficer of police at Lambasa, on the big island of Vanua Levu, discovered sufficient evidence to make three arrests in connection with a crime which the late officer in charge had despaired of elucidating. It appears, from ecanty news which has just been received by the Inspector-General, that on February 5 last come human bones were found in a sea drain on the Tavacola Estate, near Lambasa. Little notice appears to have been taken of the find, but later investigations by Mr. Chichester revealed another collection of human bones near by. These are held to be the remains of an Indian named Kishori, who disappeared prior to February. Now word comes that Mr. Chichester hp.s had arrested two Indian men and one Indian woman on a charge of murder. The Indians of this district are beginning to have a wholesale respect for this young police officer, to whom secrets are revealed with so much apparent ease. COTTON IN FIJI. The Government seems to be taking some interest in the furthering of the totton industry. When his Excellency was in England he caw the chairman of the British Cotton Growers' Association, and arranged with him to get the services of an expert cotton officer. The first available was a Mr. Roes Anson, who was then employed in Queensland. This officer is now available, and has arrived in the colony. He has gone to the ginning centre at Lautoka, and with the local expert, Mr. Field, will make a careful inspection of all cotton areas in both. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. He will then attend a conference of the agricultural heads'in Suva, with a view of . placing 'the industry upon a sound basis. INDIANS AND Y.M.C-4.. There has been quite a lot of feeling in Suva on the question as to whether the Indians should be allowed to become members of the V.M.C.A. branch founded for Europeans, and which was, at a general meeting, retained as such. It was then held that the Indiana wanted the privilege solely as a stepping-stone towards social equality, but some argued otherwise. The Indian view, however, was exposed at a meeting called by the Rev. McMillan, who is in charge of the Indian V.M.C.A. work, last Saturday. Out of 28 Indian Christians at "the meeting only six seemed to favour the ott™V otmill 8 ■» Indian Y-M.C.A., the onTchr- 61 ? 8 a S ainst the proposal. Only fiSSS 1 diaa 6p< * e ia favour °*

It is quite patent that the idea of forming an Indian V.M.C.A. is- much too early a mayement, as the Indians are not yet educated up to any European ideas of a moral character, and cannot understand the Western viewpoint, in spite of the optimism of some well-intentioned white workers. It is not yet time for such modern development. JAPANESE WARSHIP. A leading Japanese resident announces that the Japanese warship Yuwate will visit Auckland some time in early March, and from there sail to Suva. She will bring with her a member of the Japanese royal family. From Suva the Yuwate will sail to the Marshall Islands. FASHIONABLE WEDDING. At the Jubilee Church on Saturday night the wedding of Mr. Alex. Duncan, eldest son of Sir Maynard Hedstrom, was married to Miss Rose, elder daughter of Mr. R. Crompton, C.B.E. His Excellency was present at the wedding, and after at Tamavua House, where a dancing par*y kept high revel until the wee sma , oors. The pervading touch at the ceremony was cloth of gold, and the flowers were tinged with autumn leaves; so strong was the suggestion that the affair has been dubbed "The Golden Wedding." The title is doubly suggestive, as the two families are considered among the most wealthy in the colony. A SAD FIJI TRAGEDY. The townspeople were shocked on Tuesday to hear that the dead body of Mrs. Elizabeth Parker (widow of the late Mr. George Parker, who died suddenly of heart failure while en route to his office some three months ago), has been found floating in the harbour near the gaol. The deceased, who was but 46 years old, came to Fiji with her husband 10 years ago, from Blackburn, in Lancashire. She suffered a very great shock when her husband died, and it affected her reason so that lately she has hinted at suicide. Her friends thought that she had dismissed the was becoming reconciled to fortune, but on Monday forenoon she had a tempestuous passage with her only daughter, aged some 17 years, and after leaving a pencilled letter to her left the house at 1 p.m. and was seen making over towards the harbour. This morning, after many had been out searching for her, her body was seen floating near the shore, and the police took it up to the mortuary. Very great sympathy is felt for the girl, who has lost both parents under such sensational circumstances.