NEW GUINEA GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 25 February 1933, Page 6

NEW GUINEA GOLD

T FIELDS OF ROMANCE,

RELIANCE ON; AEROPLANES.

SYDNEY, February 16

An interesting picture of life on the Bulolo goldfields in New Guinea, where air travel ha, A become universal, was drawn on her arrival,, in Australia by Mrs Leslie V. AVatpriiouse, wife of a director of Bulolo, Gold Dredging, Ltd. She said there were, few. .women on...the goldfields, because men were not encouraged to bring their wives unless they, were able to provide comfortable accommodation. .O.wiPß'. to. the isolation of the fields-, th-at- wore extremely difficult, but • houses’ were ' gradually being erected for' married employees, and social, life' was developing with the advent of wireless, a phonograph, and' a library, '•i'fti food supplies were taken from Australia in refrigerators . a'nd transported by a i*' from the coast to three huge cool storage rooms owned by the; company. In one was placed .all the meat for the settlement, in another the butter, eggs, and cheese, and in the third the fresh fruit ami vegetables. Airs AVaterhouse said that in most parts of tlu\ world the aerodromes were situated right outside the cities, but in New Guinea the aerodromes were the centre of all life for those engaged in the goldfields- Daily they stepped in and out of the aeroplanes without a thought. Sometimes the aeroplanes were giant >1 linkers, capable of carrying many passengers or a section of a huge dredge weighing perhaps SfiOOlb: sometimes they were little Mollis. But never once did the people have any sensation of fear. They were just as accustomed to travelling to and fro by aeroplane as the people of a city, were accustomed to using trams. It. wax amazing to see how little interest the natives showed in aeroplanes. They regarded the machines as just another of the white man’s creations. “Big pigeons” was the name they game them, and the unconcerned manner in which a Kanaka stopped into an aeroplane for the first time in his life was astounding. They had infinite faith' in the pilot, in the machine, and in the white man’s powers over sea, air, and land. Men work incredibly hard on the Bulolo goldfields,, according to Airs Waterhouse. The dredges operated throughout seven days in each week, and were silent on. two days of the year only—Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, which were indeed rod letter days on the) fields. The climate was quite bearable, but malaria was a menace to all white settlers. Frequent doses of quinine were necessary. Many was never seen at Bulolo and all payments were made by cheque.