Norfolk Islaund

Hokitika Guardian, 8 November 1921, Page 1

Norfolk Islaund

SYDNEY. October 95. Norfolk Island. Australia's most remote island dependency, is making satis factory progress, according to the annual report of 'the Administrator (Mr J. AY. Parnell) for Dm yar m"'-

eil June 30th.. which has List 1>"“H tabled in tile Federal Parliune-nt. 'lies tiny Commonwealth possession. »f 8598 acres was taken over from New South

Wales in 1914. and the April census gave its population as 717. Air Parnell’s report is mostly a chronicle of small beer. The Island’s export trade is ,-liio 11 v with the Commonwealth, hut lately, an experimental shipment ot fruit and produce lias been sent to New Zealand, which is only 400 miles di.stant iroim Norfolk Island, compared with 930 miles to Sydney. The inadeqmiev of the shipping service is the greatest- drawback to the progress of the island. The Alakambo calls only once in two months and is too small to accommodate the passengers and cargo. Fish abound lull the amount for export has had to be curtailed owing to lncu of freezing space. The Island is extraordinarily fertile, lemons and other fruits growing wild. Passion fruit nourishes prolifically and the exportof preserved fruits and jams offers “almost unlimited possibilities.” The Administrator directs attention to the potentialities of the whaling industry if developed with modern appliances, as hundreds of whales pass Norfolk during tile season. “AA’iDi improved shipping facilities.” remarks ATr Parnell, “the progress of the island would lie assured. If the service were betteland more frequent, quite apart from export considerations, the tourist trat--1 ii■ would increase rapidly, for as a health resort and beauty spot Norfolk Island is unsurpassed." Tile climate :r suh-tropieal and wonderfully mild, inj its saltihiions nature may be infe>''--0,1 from the fact that the average age of the 21 survivors of tile Pitcairn Islanders who arrived in |Bsti is 73.