WESTERN SAMOA

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 54, 5 March 1923, Page 8

WESTERN SAMOA

A UNIQUE EXHIBITION

AGRICULTURE, SPORTS,,AND

BAND CONTEST.

Western Samoa, in common with other tropical territories, as well as European countries, has recently passed through a period of trade depression, but according to advices received by the mail on Friday these tropic islands are now showing signs of steady improvement. The Administration, in conjunction with the Samoan Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, has decided to hold a Samoan agricultural show and fair this season with a view to the restoration and fostering of industries which will be for the benefit principally of the Samoan people themselves. The idea has been enthusiastically taken up by all seciions in the mandated territory, and as a result of many conferences it has been decided to hold this exhibition on the historical Mulinuu Point, near Apia, on Saturday and Monday, 2nd and 4th June next.

While naturally prominence will be gitfen'^to agricultural exhibits, considerable attention will aIBO be extended to industrial classes, particularly those dealing with native handicrafts. New Zealanders who were able to visit'the.recent Christctiurch industrial exhibition will remember the intorest that the Samoan exhibits of this kind created.

It is intended that there shall also be a band contest, as well as a sports meeting, under the auspices of the Exhibition Committee. It may not be generally known that there are eight or nine bonds in Western Samoa, and it is hoped that this contest will be the forerunner of an annual contest of musical skill in the future in order.to revive and maintain Samoan interest in these different bands. People in New Zealand wttl proib,ably know that the industrial competitive exhibits will include sinnet (the universal Polynesian cordage manufacture from coconut fibre), mats (floor), and mats (table) of all descriptions, siapo (tapa cloth, manufactured from the beaten bark of the wild mulberry), kava bowls and cups, tortoiseshell work, baskets and canoes.. The agricultural exhibits will include displays of taxos, yards, bananas, copra, cocoa, sugarcane, tobacco, kava, and Samoan grown fruits. There will also be stock exhibits, limited to Samoan-born animals.

Reports received from Samoa indicate that the whole project is being taken up with the greatest enthusiasm, particularly by the Samoan people, and there is every reason to believe that it will prove a unique and successful function. It will certainly afford an opportunity to New Zealanders who are looking for a means to escape the New Zealand winter to combine a very entertaining and attractive Island tour with an interesting and instructive event. One of the drawbacks to the Island tourist traffic during past seasons has been the very limited capacity of the usual steamer to accommodate the number of tourists who have been willing to make the trip. This year, howevei, the Union Company is placing the very fine steamer Tofua on the run, and passengers, therefore, will find themselves catered for both in the matter of berthing and deck accommodation. Thi» run, of course, gives New Zealanders an opportunity of visiting the three main groups of islands in the Eastern Pacific, namely, Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa. To those who desire to stay for a month at Apia, there is now available a limited amount of accommodation at the Administrations Central hotel. Samoa has historical, scenic, and industrial interests, which will well repay a month's stop-over in "The Pearl of the Pacific," in addition to which the Island climate during the winter season from May until October is an ideal,one. .'.