LIFE IN NEW BRITAIN

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1935, Page 10

LIFE IN NEW BRITAIN

COPRA PLANTATIONS’ WORK. MR. ERIC WOOD’S EXPERIENCES. “Until I came to New Zealand I had not cleaned my boots for seven years,” said Mr. Eric Wood, manager of a coconut plantation near Rabaul, New Britain, who is on furlough in New Zealand. He has been staying with his step-father, Mi’. J. D. Hamilton, Hawera, and the trip is the first he has made for seven years from New Guinea. Mr.- Wood manages a plantation 45 miles from Rabaul, the chief town of New Britain. The trip from Rabaul has to be made by steamer. The plantation has 72 native labourers employed on 900 acres. The copra industry flourishes all over New Britain. Regarding the gold prospecting area on the mainland, Mr. Wood said that the only method of communication was by air. New Guinea Airways had a fleet of about 40 machines and all apparatus for the goldfields was carried by them. The town of Wau in the goldfields was about 20 minutes’ flight from the coast. There were no roads, because the country really consisted of a series of ridges, which made construction of roads. impossible. In any case, aeroplane freights had been reduced to 4d a lb and he doubted if a road would prove more economical. “Workmen are provided for the plantations by a system of recruiting,” said Mr. Wood. Men licensed by the Government recruited the native villages and plantation owners paid £7 a “boy” to these recruiters. For boys for work on the gold fields the recruiters were paid £l5. “The blacks are well protected in that the plantation owner has to return the native to his village at the conclusion of the contract,” Mr. Wood pointed out—that was if the boy did not want to renew the contract term, which on the plantation was for a term of three years. The license cost the recruiter £3 and the whole scheme was under the control of the administrator. A portion of the wages was held back by the employer as a form of compulsory- saving and the amount was handed to the native at the termination of his contract. Entertainment on the island was rather limited, said Mr. Wood. A radio set was out of the question, because for some reason he could not account for, static was ever present, and in such a degree that it made even the reception of morse signals an impossibility at times. There was a “talkie” theatre at Rabaul, and the programmes included the best of English ant" American productions. One night a week was set aside for the boys and the programme then consisted of news reels. The boys were not allowed in the theatre on other nights. The Europeans played a good deal of baseball, cricket, tennis and golf, but* the only organised game amongst the natives was a sort of football, played under “rafferty rules.” The language problem was one of the greatest difficulties, and even on his own plantation there were a dozen different dialects. OTAKEHO MEN’S HOCKEY CLUB. SUCCESSES OF JUNIOR TEAM. The annual meeting of the Otakeho Men’s Hockey Club was held on Friday of last week. The chairman, Mr. C. Cook, presided over a fair attendance. The chairman in his report congratulated the club on having a very satisfactory year financially and in the field of play. The junior team won the South Taranaki championship, but was beaten in the Taranaki final. The team won the junior seven-a-side cup on June 3, and was runner-up for the five-a-side Foun‘taine Cup at the Eltham tournament. The club had a credit balance of £l6. The club regretted losing the services of the chairman and secretary, Mr. C. Cook and Mr. M. McNeill-Adams, who had proved themselves very able organisers. x Officers elected were: Patron, Mr. E. Andrews; president, Mr. A. Freeman; vice-presidents, Messrs. C. Nicholls, L. Bell and J. Symes; secretary, Mr. J. Walker; management committee, Messrs. M. McNeill-Adams, C. Davies, H. Putt, J. Symes, C. Fergus, A. Freeman and J. Walker; club captain, Mr. W. Julian; selector, Mr. J. Symes. It was decided that a working bee be held immediately, followed by an opening day. SOUTH AUCKLAND BOWLERS. TARANAKI TOUR OPENS TO-DAY. A large contingent of South Auckland bowlers will arrive in Taranaki from Wanganui to-day. They will have morning tea at Patea, and all except three rinks which will play Patea in the afternoon will come to Hawera, where five rinks will play Hawera bowlers on the Hawera green and four rinks will play Park at Park this afternoon. Six of the women members of the party will try conclusions with Hawera croquet players on the Hawera lawns. In the evening the women in the party will attend the cinema and the bowlers will be entertained at a smoke concert in the Hawera club pavilion. Tomorrow afternoon the visitors will be the guests of the Taranaki Bowling Centre at Dawson Falls hostel. On Monday morning three rinks of bowlers will play at Manaia, two at Auroa, five at Eltham and two against Kaponga at Eltham. In the afternoon five rinks will play the coastal clubs at Opunake and seven will play Stratford and Avon at Avon. The party will reach New Plymouth on Monday night and will spend Tuesday and Wednesday playing the northern clubs at New Plymouth, Waitara and Inglewood. OFFENCES BY MOTORISTS. BY-LAW CASES AT HAWERA. For being in charge of a motor-car without a driver’s license, F. W. Horner was fined 10s, with costs 10s, by Mr. W. H. Woodward, SJK., in the Hawera Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Horner pleaded guilty through Mr. G. J. Bayley, who said the matter was purely an oversight, Horner having forgotten to renew the license until asked by the borough inspector to produce it. Saying that he had had no drink, but had gone to the hotel for liquor, Darcy Brock, who pleaded guilty by letter, was fined £2, costs 12s, for being, on the premises of the Normanby Hotel after hours on February 24. Annie Currie, for parking her car in such a manner as to cause obstruction, was convicted and ordered to pay 10s costs. PERSONAL ITEMS. Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Davies have returned to Auroa from a fishing excursion and motor tour to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty districts. Sister Davies, of the Hawera hospital staff, left Hawera yesterday to take up . position in the Whangarei hospital. COASTAL TALKIES. “DAMAGED LIVES.” “Damaged Lives,” the most courageous film ever presented, backed by the New South Wales Racial Hygiene Association, graphically depicts the tragedies that result through ignorance on this vital subject. And then having pointed the moral in a highly entertaining form, this frank and sincere screen epic proceeds to elaborate in a graphic form how such tragedies can be~ averted through knowledge.

SPORTS BABY CONCERT. CHILDREN PERFORM WELL. A very enjoyable children s concert in aid of the Sports baby in the Hawera Plunket carnival was held in the assembly hall at the Hawera Main school yesterday. Those who sponsored the programme were Misses V. Ings and W. Huggins. There was a large attendance of children and parents. The items were all cleverly performed. The first part of the programme consisted of items by pupils of Miss Ings’ kindergarten as follows: Duet, T. Vivian and B. Rowe; recitations, Ken North, B. Rowe, D. Stevenson and B. Bardsley; songs, D. Milne, K. North, P. Maythcr, T. Vivian (in costume) and B. Rowe; nursery rhyme in costume, M. Haseltine and A. Mcßae-Fittall; eurythmics, T. Vivian, A. Mcßae-Fittall, D. Besley, S. Kingston. B. Rowe, V. Fyson, J. Bardsley, D. Tregoweth, M. Haseltine and D. Mayther. The second half was presented by pupils of Miss W. Huggins as follows: Piano duet, C. and D. Barrow; piano solo, Relvyn Collins; chorus and dance, Averil Pope; vocal duet, F. Fyfe and J. Trotter; song, lan Baker. Several choruses were sung,by the children. Accompaniments were played by Misses Ings and Huggins. WAITOTARA NEWS. WOMEN’S TENNIS MATCH. A number of Rapanui women visited the Waitotara Tennis Club on Thursday to play a friendly match. Waitotara proved superior on the day’s play, winning 7 sets to 1. Following are the scores, Waitotara players being mentioned first: Singles: Mrs. ’ Dobie beat Mrs. Winks 6—2; Miss Train beat Mrs. Handley 6—3; Miss Graham beat Mrs. Alexander 6—5; Miss McConachy beat Miss Mather 6—2; Mrs. Handley beat Miss Russell 6—3. Doubles: Mesdames Blackie and Dobie beat Mrs. Winks and Miss Russell 6—3; Misses Train and Graham lost to Mrs. Handley and Mrs. Alexander 5—6; Mrs. Handley and Miss McConachy beat Mrs. Winks and Miss Mather 6—l. Misses N. and G. Lee have returned home. Mrs. Carter, Bulls, is the guest of her sister, Mrs. G. McConachy. Miss Eva Parkinson flew to Nelson on Friday to take part in the New Zealand aero pageant. Ethne • Clifton received a deep cut above the ankle on the left foot when an axe slipped while she was chopping wood and she was admitted to the Wanganui public hospital. HAWERA PLUNKET CARNIVAL. VOTING TO CLOSE TO-NIGHT. This evening at 8 o’clock there will be a gathering in the Winter Show Buildings, Hawera, to conclude the Hawera Plunket baby carnival. There will be tugs-of-war and plenty of other forms of entertainment, including dancing. The final count of votes in the carnival will take place at 10 p.m., after which the result will be announced. Committees are permitted to make their final efforts to-night. The position of the candidates at noon yesterday was: Sports 14,558, Country 14,400, Everybody’s 8400. ADVERTISERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS. An end-of-season dance and flag five hundred will be held in the Tokaora hall on Wednesday. Details are advertised. The second annual ball of the Meremere Cricket Club will be held in the Ohangai hall on Friday, April 5. Particulars are advertised. A dance will be' held in the Otakeho hall on Tuesday, April 9. A series of euchre parties will be held in the Okaiawa hall, commencing on Monday. Good prizes are. offered, including points prizes for the season. The proceeds will be for a new floof for the hall. Smith and Trim Ltd., Hawera, advertise particulars of then’ mart sales for to-day, when they will sell at the rear of the Para Company’s premises 60 sheets of 7ft. roofing iron, and at the mart bOU cases of fruit etc. at 10.30 a.m. and purebred poultry in the bankrupt estate of A. R. Watson, also a motor-cycle and sidecar, and on account of other vendors poultry, including 10 White Leghorn pullets, good range of furniture, glafs showcase etc. at 1.30 p.m., followed by balance of fruit. The annual meeting of the Okaiawa Basketball Club will be held in the Okaiawa hall on March 27 at 2 p.m. The annual meeting of the South Taranaki Rugby Referees’ Association will be held in the fire station, Hawera, on Tuesday next, March 26, at 8 p.m. PROFESSIONAL BOXING. JARVIS AND HAWES RETURN BOUT. A return bout between Jack Jarvis (Eltham) and Percy Hawes (Christchurch), New Zealand featherweight champion, will take place at Hawera on April 3. The Hawera Boxing Association last night decided to match the fighters, who recently fought a draw at New Plymouth, in a bout at the Opera House. A programme of subsidiary bouts will be drawn up.