The Union County journal. [volume] (Marysville, Ohio) 1875-1951, 1947-07-07
CHARLES
WRITES LETTER
CONTINUED from page ID

four persons, electric llghtS ana g
refrigerator in the big plantation
house.
I'm sure most of you are anx-
ious to hear about New Guinea
and her natives. First l will give
you a disruption of the Island
AS you look about, you can see
thousands of coconut trees, ban
ana trees, papaya trees ano
many other too numerous tc
mention The land is nothing but
underground with the exception
of where the Army has built
roads and the natives have cut
paths. The flowers of New Guinea
are very colorful and blend ex-
|cellently with the greenry about
them.
Now for the fowls of the air
and creatures that crawl on the
ground. The birds are numerous
and vary in color and size. l have
Mt seen any snakes yet but /
guess they are around. have
seen several lizards and the first
time / saw one / got quite o scare.
l was writing letters in my bar
racks when Mr.. KoontZ called
my attention to one crawling un-
der my chair. They range from 2
in. to II in, and vary in color.
The natives are next in my
note. They are Polynesians and
their color varies from a light
brown almost to a black. They
wear wrap-arounds. These wrap
arounds are made in many differ
ent colors. They live in huts
made of bamboo with roofs made
of Palm leaves.
The climate of New Guinea is
quite talked about. Why all the
commotion l can't see as yet. Yes,
it does get hot but l haven't
noticed the heat as yet. We have
had rain every night so far and
sometimes during the day. The
sun comes out and within a few
minutes the grass, etc, have dried
off.
In one of my letters / was re-
quested to answer this question:
Gould you see any of the af-
fects of the War;" Yes, I can and
now / would like to tell you about
the appearance of the Island due
to the War. AS one looks about
him he sees discarded army equip
ment. In Lac there are many
cannons, parts of jeeps, trucks,
planes, etc. As we landed we saw
several ships partly submerged in
the water. A plantation owner told
the missionaries how his boys
had plowed up hand grenades.
The missionaries who were there
during the war had many inter
esting stories to tell the new mis-
Sionaries. / won't burden you
with second hand stories though.
think that's all l have to say
about this subject for now.
The missionaries soon began to-
leave for their stations. We realiZ-
ed that we would be the next to
leave. 1t was luck that we were
able to stay over to see the first
postwar marriage in New Guenia.
In the next paragraph | would
like to relate it to you as | saw it
with my own eyes.
The happy couple is Miss Gar
bish and Alfred Walch, a gradu-
ate from Capital University, Col
umbus. The native school child
rem decorated the church for the
accession and did a very fine job.
They made a bridal path to and
through the church made of Palm
leaves. On this path laid beauti-
full flowers of all types. The coup
lie had to pass under several curt
aims made of grass. The altar was
decorated with white flowers,
The bride wore a dress made in
New Guinea. Her bridel gown
was lost during the trip so the
ladies who were handy with need
les whipped up a neat white
gown. Her veil was made of
mosquito netting through no one
would even have know it. She
carried a bouquet made of yellow
orchids. The groom wore a
light tan tropical suit. The at
tendants were Rev. and Mrs.
Heist. All the natives were pre-
sent and they contributed to the
occasion by singing several hymns
N their native tongue. The nat
We preacher has his part in the !
also. After the wedd- |
ng we went to the Plantation
house and had an extra nice sup
Der.
The next morning the group |
going to Madang was up early. |
We left from the aerdrome at 7 |
md reached Madany about 8:30 |
)n reaching Madany we were TAX
N to Nagado about z miles from |
Here our house and
plant will be built. / am
taying in one of the rooms in the
plantation house.
/ suppose you are wondering
What ! will do until the plant
an be built. During my short
tay in Lac I was a carpenter,
gardner, and bookkeeper. Mr..