YACHT PILLAGED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 309, 30 December 1940, Page 5

YACHT PILLAGED.

RAID BY NATIVES. AUCKLANOER ON BOARD. (0.C.) APIA, Dec. 7. A recent shortage of food, especiallv taro and breadfruit, is causing an epidemic of thefts and burglaries, in par-1 ticular from European banana planta-i tions in the Apia district. ! A distressing occurrence was reported' from the island of Savaii, where a small Dutch yawl-rigged yacht, the Marie, of 94 tons, owned and captained by Mr.' Frank Dona, a Dutchman, with Mr. Cyril Bowen. of Auckland, as companion, was' wrecked on the reef at Avao, Fagamalo. After striking the reef it was found that she had sustained serious damage, including a large hole in the bottom, and had to be beached. While Messrs. Dona and Bowen were on shore as guests of Mr. J. Menzies, manager of the Burns Philp Co. at Fagamalo, a gang of natives! boarded the little craft and pillaged it thoroughly, stealing ropes, provisions and everything movable, smashing the lockers and doing a lot of damage. Later some of the culprits were caught by a Samoan policeman and are now on their way to Apia to be tried in the Apia High Court.