WOMEN IN WAR

Waipa Post, Volume 81, Issue 3691, 29 November 1935, Page 2

WOMEN IN WAR

THEIR LIFE ON THE GOLDFIELDS. New Guinea lias always been regarded as a man's country, and yet at the present time the population of Wau, the centre of the Morobe gold-" fields, consists of a large percentage of women, to such an extent, in fact, that the appearance of domesticity gives to the township a suburban air, writes T.N.G. in the Melbourne Age. The miners—some of the older ones are not too pleased about it either, as now they have to dress and shave before coming into the Wau, and out of respect for the women they dare only get moderately drunk. "The place is getting too civilised. I'm going bush," they say, half in fun and half in earnest. Being a young man, and not a miner, I cannot appreciate their view, and on the other hand I am inclined to think that the lot of white women in New Guinea generally is not a very happy one. The few amazons who run their own claims or their husbands, come under a different heading, for they have a man's outlook, but the women with whose tedious lot I sympathise, are the wives of the business men of the community, the carpenters, the clerks and the store assistants. What does New Guinea contain for them after the novelty of new surroundings has; worn off?

Most women that I have talked with on the subject, are very discontented, and are always talking of "that trip south" or longing for the arrival of the incoming mail with letters from their friends. Why should this be? The root of the trouble lies in the fact that they have insufficient work to occupy their hands and mind, and that the devil finds mischief for idle hands is no exception here, and if the mischief is not apparent it takes the form of discontent.

Almost all house work is performed by native boys, and unless a woman is particular, the whole of the household duties are left to them, and as "hubby" is at work all day, what else is there left for her to do but sally forth, some merely to have a consoling moan with Mrs So-and-So over their pitful lot, and then later to return home wondering if the "boy" has successfully cooked her husband's dinner. Her husband may also have to listen to her tale of woe, now word perfect after the rehearsal with her neighbour. Others find the verandahs of the hotels attractive.

New Guinea is a man's country, an explorer's country, an adventurer's country, a gold seeker's country, but not a woman's country. Some weaker ones take life easily, the strong ones, the courageous ones, suffer, although not always in silence, and dream of their friends "down soutli." They have no shops with bright window displays to look at, no Monday morning bargain basement sales in which to lose some of their surplus energy. They have not even a home to keep. The writer is only a mere male, and an unmarried one at that, but as a remedy would suggest getting rid of the native house boys and so provide the womenfolk with plenty of house work, not forgetting a good big wash on Monday mornings.

More babies would bring happiness to many of the lonely women here, but they seem unwanted, and frequently women say that they are afraid to rear children for hygienic reasons, or that they fear that the child will refuse to speak its mother tongue and converse in pidgin English instead, as children if not watched will readily do.

If this is no place for rearing children, then it is no place for the 'whites at all, either man or woman, but I have seen some lusty youngsters who were born on the Wau.