NORFOLK ISLAND.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 November 1924, Page 7

NORFOLK ISLAND.

. ’ AN ideal retreat. SYDNEY, Oct. 23. Yet another devotee to the charms of Norfolk Island, where “far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife’’-—in other words, where motor-care are not and peace and lavish beauty and human content are —'has been found in Mr.' James Moorhouse, an octogenarian who for many years was secretary of the Tattersall’s Racing Club in Adelaide. Mr. Moorhouse has already , -spent eighteen months on the island, and declares that for the man who has growntired of the frantic rush of mod--1 ern life there is no spot on the face, of the earth that can offer more delightful- sanctuary, and to it he intends to return the very moment that his medical advisers will permit him,; . Norfolk Island is an ideal place to live in;” Mr. Moorhouse says. “The climate. is salubrious, seldom enervating, and all the grass is always green. The island may really be described as a, gigantic mound, three by five miles in -area, with numerous gullies running from the crown to the sea, with the slopes covered in vegetation, and tiny rivulets trickling down to the ocean. There are no metal roads, and horses and sulkies can be hired very cheaply for a runabout. ‘ According to the weather, the boats can find anchorage on either of two sides of the and fishing provides entertaining sport for visitors and profitable occupation for others. The native inhabitants are mainly descendants of the Pitcairn Islanders; but, of course, there have been other additions. There are no blackfellows and no colour question. Inhabitants, among other things, grow ordinary and sweet potatoes, bananas, oranges, and other citrus fruits, , including lemons, the juice of which is exported. Peaches and pears thrive, but the rolessa. par-rot-is .too fond of them. _ There are no serious indigenous pests unless you count the caterpillar, which sometimes appears in marauding thousands. Only ia. few months ago I saw the caterpillars in great numbers; and they mowed down the grass almost as clean as if it had been cut with a spy the. The pest was so numerous that within a few minutes I filled a kerosene tin with them without moving from my seat. Then a horde of starlings appeared, and within two days the caterpillars were cleaned up. Whaling could be made lucrative, but lias not been followed with enterprise. Barrels of oil are still held in store awaiting, sale, and when I asked why the industry was hot pushed on an islander calmly remarked thht available barrels were filled with last year’s catch, and, with shrug of the .shoulders, there is plenty of time after that.

‘ ‘lntoxicating liquors are taboo .on the island as far as free con sumptiou is concerned. Supplies are. held in hand by the Customs officer, and to obtain, say, a bottle of whisky, an order must be procured from the resident medical officer. But in any case not more than one bottle can be secured in. a week. It is asserted, whether rightly ‘or wrongly I cannot , say, that quite a number of patients have a firm belief in the virtues of alcohol for the alleviation of bodily ailments. Anyhow; I saw no drunkenness on the island, and no abuses of that kind.’