THE FIJIAN HURRICANE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 3

THE FIJIAN HURRICANE.

"A TERRIBLE SET BACK." (Feom Our Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, April 29. The recent gales in Fiji have seriously affected the banana trade. A settler on the island of Ovulau, in a letter to Mr A. Toomat, of Auckland, states that bananas from his part of the district will be a thing of the past for at least six or eight months. There is not a tree left standing with the exception of a few suckers, which will not be in fruit for about four months. The bunches obtained from them will be of inferior quality. Plantei's of cane (says the writer, who had a large stand-over crop last year) have suffered badly, and will lose at least 75 per cent, of their produce, while in one case the settlers' losses are estimated at nearly £6OOO in bananas and cane.. In the Rew.a district he estimates the damage done at between £50,000 and £60,000. Writing from Suva, another correspondent says it will take Fiji years of prosperity to make good the damage done. The planters got a terrible set back, and their plantations are as fiat now as when they were first started. It is wonderful to see how the people are tackling the situation, and keep cheerful all the time.