SERVICE TO NORFOLK IS TOO IRREGULAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 445, 29 August 1928, Page 13

SERVICE TO NORFOLK IS TOO IRREGULAR

late city

ISLAND’S NEEDS N.Z. TRADE WANTED Passengers who returned by the Maui Pomare from Norfolk Island this morning commented on the irregularity of the service to Auckland. This, they said, will seriously interfere with the cultivation of perishable goods on the island. Mr. J. Preston Stevenson, of Whittome Stevenson, who has been on a holiday to Norfolk, remarked that there was no reason why practically all the trade with the island could not be done with New Zealand, as it was much nearer than Australia. “It is only the want of better communication to make it a really great tourist resort.” he said. “A regular passenger service is needed,” he went on. "The Maui Pomare is a suitable ship, but the uncertainty of the service prevents people from visiting Norfolk. Some people who went down there had to stay for three months before they could get back again. “The islanders want to trade with us. Even if the vessel ran once a month it would be sufficient. “The greatest necessity on the island is the want of good milk and meat. They never have mutton, and the beef is not good. Neither is the milk supply a good one.” Mr. Stevenson said that the fruit is excellent, the people hospitable, and rbe climate ideal. The accommodation is not first class, but with encouragement it would improve. The present administrator is very popular, and is giving great satisfaction. Mr. Stevenson thinks that when he is tHoroughly acquainted with the island he will do something toward improving its great possibilities. There are now half a dozen motorcars on Norfolk, and the former prejudice of the inhabitants has gone with this march of petrol progress. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED Mr. Thomas Todd, a retired farmer from Gisborne, thinks tha,t many problems will have to be solved before ' prosperity comes to Norfolk Island. He, too, remarked on the urgent need for a regular service. “New Zealanders who have gone down there with the object of growing perishable goods for the New Zealand, markets will find that they cannot get their produce shipped to the mainland before it perishes,” he said. Mr. Todd also thinks that the land may not be as good as it looks. Several other passengers spoke in similar vein. •