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Greymouth Evening Star, 18 February 1941, Page 5

Both camps of the NeW Zealand troops in Fiji are equipped with wet and dry canteens, beer being sold at !a shilling a bottle, as against two shillings and sixpence in local hotels. As a result of these cheap prices the difficulty which confronts guards at camp entrances is not to prevent beer being smuggled in, but to prevent it from being smuggled out. The cheapness in the price of bottled beer is due to the decision of the Fiji Government to allow beer for soldiers into the country duty free. One of the most obvious effects of this concession (says the “Herald”) is to keep the men in camp. Those who enjoy a glass or two of beer after a strenuous day in the open find it much more economical to stay in camp and patronise the canteen. In the dry canteen a wide rfinge of stock is available at slightly above cost prices. Cigarettes are very cheap, English brands being available at ten for 3d and tins of 50 for one shilling and threepence. Razor blades, soap, shaving soap and other articles of general use are also available at prices much lower than those obtaining in Suva.