IN SUNNY SAMOA

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1929, Page 13

IN SUNNY SAMOA

THE WINTER A DELIGHT SPORTS AND PASTIMES. HORSE RACING AND FOOTBALL.

Interesting glimpses of life in sunny Samoa were given to a Daily News representative by Mr. H. Hunger, who is on holiday with his parents at Manaia after an absence of two years at Apia, where he is a member of the staff of the Bank of New Zealand. Life runs more slowly and smoothly in these semi-tropical places, and there is not the bustle and excitement of large centres of civilisation, yet it has its advantages, and pleasures. One great benefit is the climate. “The winters there are lovely,” declared Mr. Hunger. “Very seldom is the temperature below 70, and the average is about 84 in the day and about 76 at night. There is not much variation at any time, the greatest being about 20 degrees. The maximum summer temperature is about 87 in the day, and at night it falls to 80. Naturally I am finding the recent weather in Taranaki somewhat cold. It is . the humidity which is a drawback to the summer climate.

“In summer the humidity reaches as high as 94 degrees, but in the dry season it comes down to 85. The atmosphere becomes driest about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. December to March form the’' wet season and are the worst months of the year. It often rains five inches in a day, and in January, 1928, there were about 24 inches in. 36 hours. The rain there seems to be thicker than here. The drops are bigger, and there are more of them. Sometimes, however, we go for six weeks without a drop of rain. This is iii the winter, or dry season. “January is the hurricane month, when there are occasional gales. The last real hurricane was in January 1926, on New Year’s Day, extensive damage being done among the plantations. Starting in May we have three months of steady trade winds. These commence about nine o’clock each morning, and die away at sunset. Yes; the winter in Samoa is lovely. It is, of course, much cooler in the high country, but there is no habitation away from the coastal regions. “Western Samoa consists of two islands, Savaii and Upolu. Both arc studded with volcanic cones, the high-

cst peak in Savaii being 6094 feet, and the highest in Upolu 3608 feet. The last eruption was about 20 years ago, when one village was wiped out by the lava flow. Two large beds of lava rock are still to be seen. The country is all very rough and broken, and there are few places that are ploughable. Stones are prolific, and around some of the plantations these are used to make walls. The land is all hand cultivated, most of the work on the plantations being done by coolies, and there is still a lot of country to be broken in. A BEAST TO THE ACRE LAND. “The land will grow anything and the growth is tremendous. On the coconut plantations a large number of cattle are raised,sometimes as many as a beast to the acre. On one of the largest plantations, Mulifanua, an area of 4000 acres, they run 4000 cattle, and 250 horses and donkeys as well. There is no daiiying of any extent. One -man has a few cows for the town milk supply, but we have mostly to live on tinned milk. One of the drawbacks to the life in Samoa is the tinned foods. They do kill cattle on the plantations, but the absence of freezing chambers makes it difficult to hang meat for any length of time. “Within the past 18 months an up-to-date ice plant lias been built at Apia, and from the freezing chambers ice is supplied for the town requirements. Ice is rather expensive, however, costing Is for a 101 b block. It will only last about 24 hours, even if kept in a chest. “A small hydro scheme supplies electricity to light the town for a radius of about a couple of miles. There is only one generator at present, but another can be added at any time necessary. . The water for the power comes from a dam down a pipe line over a mile long. Light costs 9d a unit and power 4Jd. “The plantations are worked by coolies. The latter serve for terms of three , or four years, and number about 1000. The Samoan natives are not fond of work, but a few work on the boats and as office boys. “Bananas and pine-apples are the principal fruits. Bananas are sold by the bunch, 2s buying one as big r.s you can carry away. But more often we get them ‘buchshee’ if we visit a plantation. Monster pine-apples can Be had for Is, and smaller ones for 6d. There are very few oranges or mandarins, but mangoes in season, mummy apples and avocada pears are fairly plentiful. “More of the mummy apple is eaten in Samoa than anything else. It is always used the first thing in the inornin<r once the taste has been acquired. Tim avocada pear is a nice fruit, and very popular. It is shaped like & pear, with a large round base, and is very rich. Eaten with salt, pepper and sauce or in sandwiches it is greatly relished. It ripens quickly and would not cany to New Zealand very well. Breadfruit and taro are other local foods, but one must first acquire the taste before these can be enjoyed. “Sport and amusement in Samoa is enjoyed in variety,” continued Mr. Hunger. “We have one picture show in A°pia, and another is going up. The natives are very fond of pictures, especially those of the Wild West variety. In the Samoan theatres we can eat peanuts and smoke to our hearts content. For a long time we had no music with our pictures, but of late there has been a stringed band. The Samoans are rather keen on mandolins and guitars, but not so much, perhaps, as one would think. The men have very fair voices, but the women can’t sing.” “I suppose you receive a good deal of entertainment from wireless?” interposed the interviewer. “No, there are comparatively few wireless sets. The static is so . bad owinc to the large amount of electricity in the air. But the short wave broadcasting is making it much better in this respect, and there is much less interference on the lower waves. We had good reception of the All Blacks’ match at Sydney last , season. It was just like being on the ground, A NATIVE RACE MEETING! “Tennis is one of the principal pasf —>'’-—'4 pl] f’-A

year round. Golf is just the same, but the cricket and football season is short. One of the most picturesque spots in Samoa is the Apia Park. Here there is a racecourse, golf links and general sports'ground. Six years ago the place was practically all in bush. The course is five furlongs, with room to enlarge. If you ever go to Samoa don’t miss a race meeting; it is very amusing. They hold eight race meetings a year, the stakes being of £l5 and downwards. There are also several cups for competition, the races being for both locally bred horses and all comers. The meetings are controlled by the Apia Turf Club, which runs a 4s tote. The jockeys are principally half-caste boys, no Europeans taking part now. They have one good horse on the island, whose stock is coining along. Their trotting horses cannot trot for nuts. There is one horse that can give any of the others 600 yards in two miles and win easily. It is not uncommon to see the competitors finishing at the gallop. “The native races are humorous. The riders sit back on their mounts and whack them with the flap of their reins, neither whip nor spur being allowed. In the schoolboys’ race, ridden by Samoan boys; the betting is done on numbers on the saddle-cloth and not on the horses’ names. At the finish the judge goes out and hands out the prizes. The Samoans occasionally take it into their heads to hold meetings all round the island, and they run races everywhere. The proceeds of these for about a year went towards the building of village churches. On one of the tracks the straight was only a track through the bush, only one horse beingable to get along at a time. The first one to reach the straight won the raev. as the others could only follow behind. One of the races ended in a dead heat, but the judge picked one out as the winner, because this horse, he said, had the longer neck. The whole of a native meeting is rim by natives, who also run the tote. In one race there were only two tickets on the first horse, but those who held the tickets received only their money back, The question was, where did the dividends go ? . • • | “All native race meetings are practically unlicensed, and periodically the police have the village heads up for runnino- an unregistered meeting, but they srill carry them on.”

I GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYERS.. > Mr. Hunger acts as coach to one of the native football teams, the Vdiala, and last year this team won the Richardson Cup, a trophy presented by the former Administrator, and the Charity Cup, a trophy presented by two

local residents. “Last season we took a rep. team to play at American Samoa, 80 miles away. They have just started playing in the United States territory. The football season is from February to May. 'Though the temperature is then hottest the ground is most suitable. In the cooler weather the ground becomes too dry. All players are locally born, no whites participating. Some of the boys learned the game in New Zealand, where they were educated. They have adapted themselves to the game quickly, and play much after the Maori style. Play is controlled by the Apia Rugby Union, a body affiliated to the N.ZJLU. They firmly sat upon the rough encounters at the outset and the game is now very elean, some excellent games being played. There are first and second grades, with a weight limit on the latter. A Samoan will sweat hie weight down 51b in three days if necessary, but by Sunday, after a good feed on Saturday night, it is up again. “While weighing-m some players one night it was discovered that the scales had been ‘jinked’ to weigh light. A small piece of lead had been inserted in the mechanism. The majority of ■plavers play with bare feet, but they can place-kick and drop-kick without any trouble. - i •+ “Samoan cricketers are oi tne nit and miss type. They have eorne tremendously good bowlers, but the batsmen don’t like slow bowling. They are quick in the eye, and slow balls tangle them up. In village cricket the sides comprise anything from 20 to 100 aside. The whole village takes a hand, and the batsmen have runners to do the running for them. There is only one wicket, and the bat is something like a baseball bat. They usually run the players out or catch them out. The Samoan is a sure catcher and a deadly thrower; it is no trouble at all for him to throw high up into the air, and you should see the way little kids knock down coconuts when they are too tired to climb the trees! “It is sport that makes the place and , relieves the monotony of living all'one s time in one town. It would be a bit of a break if only we had another town on the island to visit. Tennis is confined to Europeans, the natives not taking to the game. In Apia there .is a nice bowling green, some of the ladies plaving the game as there is no croquet club.

“As one would expect in a warm climate, swimming looms largely in the life of the people. The water is always warm, and it is: nothing for Samoans to spend four hours at a time in the water out of theii’ depth. Often they get tipped out of their canoes, but they always manage to get ashore. They are past masters in "the water, and it is wonderful the way they disappear down into the depths. There is a good surfing beach about 11 miles out of Apia, and it is well patronised. People have very little fear of sharks, and they are seldom known to attack man. “Living at Samoa is Mr. N. Hursthouse MacDonald, a surveyor, who once was resident in. Ta.ranaki, and took part in the Parihaka' siege. He has lived in Samoa for nearly I .' 40 years, and is a great authority bn Samoan life. & “In flowers the'hibiscus is the prettiest that grows oh •the island, but the frangi-pani is the most sweet, smelling. This is used principally for decorations at native weddrhgb. Yards and yards of flowers are plaited and used to decorate the houses. The Samoans are very fond of show' and on the occasion of a wedding they decorate their cars and drive around the ■ town.”