MENACED BY JAPAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 January 1942, Page 6

MENACED BY JAPAN

TERRITORY Of"NEW GUINEA. With their altack on New Britain .1 i;| iRe mandated territory of New Guinea, the Japanese arc (hreatemng to gum possession ot one ot tire Binp ire’s most- important sources of gold, in addition to airfields v.Tiicß would prov i d e fa vour ab 1 e j limp Ing- o 11 places for attacks against the mainland of Australia. Undeveloped, apart from the gold mining and copra industries, New Britain and New Guinea have small white populations but have an interesting recent history, dating from the last war, when they passed Worn the possession of Germany to the Commonwealth ot Australia under mandate of the League of Nations. Interesting facts concerning places in to-day’s cable news were given to a “Star" representative by a Greymouth resident, who has resided in New Guinea for about four years, in connection with the gold mining and prospecting. Rabaul, which has borne the full force of the Japanese air attacks on the territory, was established as the capital by the German administration prior to the last war. It is situated, on the north-east coast of New Britain, about 200 miles by sea from the east coast of the mainland of New Guinea. Severe volcanic action in recent years has been responsible for the decision of the Commonwealth Government, which administers the mandate, to shift the capital of the territory to Lae, on the mainland. Lae, which is the airport lor the Bulolo and Edie Creek goldfields, is situated on me north shore of J-hion Gulf. 'l’he extensive establishments of Guinea Airways, Ltd., occupy a prominent place at Lae, as the company owns and controls all oi l.iit' air services tor freight to and from the inland goldfields. It is estimated that the company operates shout 30 ’planes of various capacities, mclud ing three- engined J linkers with a carrying capacity of six tons. About 50 miles inland from Lae is the dredging centre of Bulolo, on the Bulolo River. Here, Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd. operates a number of modern gold dredges, their combined output of gold being about 30,000 ounces a month. Between Bulolo and Wau, on the Bulolo River, a rich gold claim is owned and operated by Mrs Doris Booth, 0.8. E., who was the first white woman to enter the gold-min-ing area, in the difficult days which followed the discovery at Edie Creek. She is referred to by various writers, as performing wonderful service in nursing the original prospectors who were stricken with malarial fever, f BULOLO SETTLEMENT.

Despite the difficulties of transport, almost entirely by air, over mountain ranges, the dredging company have established a modern self-contained settlement at Bulolo, with all the amenities of life in developed countries. Further inland from Bulolo, and nearing the centre of the island are Edie Creek and Wau, smaller settlements established in connection with the exploitation of the rich alluvial gold deposits, which extend through the country from Bulolo. The last-mentioned town is about 1000 feet above sea level, and there is a rise to 6000 feet at Edie Creek. It has already been reported that the Japanese have bombed Bulolo, but they would probably have greater difficulty in reaching Edie Creek and Wau, as the flying time available each day is only one or two hours, owing to almost constant mist and fog. Gold was not discovered in New Guinea in large quantities until the administration passed out of the hands of the Germans and the Bulolo field was not opened up until about 1928. The trek over the mountains did not daunt the early prospectors, mostly Australian men, returned soldiers from the Great War, but they faced an almost impossible task in the transport of equipment to work the finds, until air transport was successfully developed. Bulolo Gold Dredging Company is registered in Vancouver, but is Australian-con-trolled and worked. Indentured native labour is largely employed on the mining fields, there being comparatively few whites in the whole territory. Another town on the mainland of New Guinea is Madang, the old German capital, before the transfer to Rabaul. Madang is situated on a beautiful dep-sea harbour, on the east coast of the island, and must be regarded as the potential springboard for a Japanese land attack on the coastal belt. j. Rabaul owes importance to being a

copra trading station, prominent lea-, tures being the establishments of the big inter-island shipping and, merchandising firms of Burns, Philp and Co., Ltd., W. R. Carpenter and Co., Ltd. These firms are engaged in j the management .of many outlying plantations and operate large fleets of ; vessels to bring the copra to Rabaul! for overseas shipment. The white; population of Rabaul has been! dwindling for years, on account of! the dangers of ’the volcanoes, in tne vicinity. Steamers make the journey from Sydney to Rabaul in four or five days, after calling at various places en route. Rabaul is noted for a long avenue of beautiful Jackaranda trees, planted by the Germans in the early days of the settlement. Incidentally, many of the German settlers were still living in New Guinea when the! war broke out, but a large number of them were interned, some shiploads being transported to the mainland of Australia. The majority of the mission stations in the territory are also German, chiefly under the Lutheran doctrine. Some of these mission stations, especirjjiy those .at Finchaven and Alexisnaven, are imnortant trading centres, where the manufacture of dessicated coconut is earned on and from where large shipments of copra are made. The Japanese had a hold on Rabaul by

“PEACEFUL PENETRATION” in the days before the war threatened. The west side of the town was then known as “Jap town” and contained about 300 Japanese, whose chief occupation was shell-fishing, and boat repairing. Some of the Japanese also established businesses by importing cheap cotton cloth for trading with the natives. Most of the

Japanese owned small craft, and since the outbreak of hostilities in the area have probably been a source of worry and annoyance to the Commonweaitn authorities, as potential Fifth Columnists. Apart from a few small stretches of road near Rabaul, the territory is lacking in land communications, and transport is conducted chiefly by sea and air. Airports are few. but that at Lae, developed ' by Guinea Airways! Ltd., is probably one of the largest civil airfields in the Empire, .capable of accommodating the bigz

gest aeroplanes. Its proximity to the north of the mainland of Australia would probably not be overlooked by the Japanese, and will no doubt be one of the orime objectives in an attack on the Territory. Papua, also portion of the island of New Guinea and closer to Australia, is a much older settlement than the Mandated Territory, with a large airport at Port Moresby, the capital. The western half of the Island is Dutch New Guinea, but it is in a very primitive state, and has few settlements of any importance.