Evening star., 1942-05-01
Australia PLANNING
To Merge Islands
Al End Of War
RobouI Designated os
Future CopitoI Of New
United Territory
By JOHN LARDNER.

BY JOHN LARDNER,
fofetsn Correspondent of The Star snc
N. A. N. A.
AN ADVANCED ALLIED BASE
IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, May
Even while the Allies and Japs
are trading bombs and machine
gun slugs over these islands, the
Australian government is working
out q political and geographical
merger which will combine Papua
with Northern New Guinea and
the surrounding islands now used
by the Japs for their bases.
Tho fact that the Japs are in
Lac and Salamaua in Northern
New Guinea and Rabaul in New
Britain, makes no difference in the
Australian plans and Rabaul has
been designated as the future cap
ital Of the new united territory.
The off1cer commanding the Allied
forces here Is also at the moment
filing the functions OF governor of
the whole shooting match.
Until recently Papaua was a sep
arate state and a kind of poor re-
lataon to the inundated territory
OF New Guinea" to the north. The
znandated territory, with Rabaul for
. capital, coined its own money and
had its own separate administra-
ton Of customs, public health, etc.
Papua was run directly by Australia
under the slogan "Papua for the
Papuans" with the land exploited
and the natives permitted to fol-
low their own customs.
10000 Pounds Yearly Profit.
The inundated territory, on the
other hand, sometimes showed a
profit Of 10000 or $4,000 pounds
yearly. It's money was silver coins
with holes in them, 50 that the
natives, having no pockets, might
carry them on strings around their
necks.
The public health administrator
OF the inundated territory was DR..
Edward Thomas Brennan, now Col.
Brennan, chief medical officer of
the Allied forces in Port MoreSby
Col. Brennan, who, incidentally, is
married to an American girl, Ruth
Todd Of Tarrytown, N. Y, took
your correspondent on his first trip
to the back country of Papua and
proved a convival and enlightening
guide to every phase OF local life
from medicine to rubber tires.
The journey was held up by the
morning visitation of Jap planes.
The first effort. largely by Zero
fighters, was repulsed and we had
started down the dusty road to the
interior in a car when a flight of
Tojo's bombers came over. We holed
up and watched from q ditch as one
big bomb landed 100 yards away.
There were also anti personnel
bombs or daisy cutters" and de-
layed action bombs which exploded
minutes after dropping to the
ground.
Ground Casualties Small.
En- route again, your correspond
ent learned that ground casualties
OF the Japanese campaign against
Port Moresby since February can be
counted on the fingers of either
hand. The malarial rate in the
Army is startlingly low for this lati-
tude, never going as high as l per
cent. This is partly due to a Wis
itor from the West Indies named
gambuzia. Gambuzia is a small
fish who passes up ham and eggs
for breakfast in favor Of mosquito
larvae. Imported here in quantity,
gambusia is popular citizen in
Papua and his only fault is that he
sometimes encounters crayfish be-
fore breakfast and the crayfish i'm.
mediately eats gambuzia.
The road inland from Port Mores-
by climbs steeply upward into a
mountain jungle lush with bougain-
villaea, hibiscus and cool springs.
Here the Laloki River, through its
clear brown water, falls more than
500 feet into a gorge at sea level.
Below in Port Moresby the air is
hot and fetid but in the mountains
1t Is cooler and freshened by
breeze. The dry coastal belt ends
Is miles inland and the country is
rich and green. Some mountains,
such as the Victoria and Albert Ed
ward, are 10000 to $4,000 feet high.