Show raba ul cleans up after most destructive quake capital capi al of new britain in zone used to shakes Wh washington ington D C residents of fafaul new britain island in the southwestern western pacific which was badly damaged by an earthquake aboff ov are returning to their homes slid nd resuming normal trade the jhoo inhabitants of which are li natives tives and the remainder whites chinese and japanese will be em cloyed for days repairing buildings clearing debris from the streets the largest town and capital of new britain is situated tt st the western end of the crescent shaped island and is in a zone accustomed cus tomed to earthquakes showers of j volcanic ash and devastating waves 11 says the national geographic society but unless the shocks and eruptions are extremely severe the natives merely shrug their shoulders and go about their usual tasks undisturbed caused neavy heavy damage the recent quake was so severe that residents fled to higher ground inland many buildings were demolished moli shed or their foundations were made unsafe by the quivering earth three thousand tons of pumice blown by frequent explosions from the crater of a nearby volcano covered S some ome portions of the town a foot deep and then came a great wave of sea water from the harbor whose bed had been raised by the seismic disturbance lack of water in the harbor temporarily left large cargo boats careened on mudd mud banks and an island formerly low rose to 60 feet above the water such disasters are not new to old residents recall that their town was somewhat similarly stricken in february 1878 when an earthquake of major proportions shook it like a leaf in the breeze a new island rose in the harbor and a great wave swept inland new britain which is the largest of the islands in the bismarck archipelago lies about 50 miles oft off the northeast coast of new guinea and like many of its neighbors in in the southwestern pacific is of volcanic origin throughout its miles of length a high mountain range with peaks rising to in more ore than feet forms a lofty backbone cannibalism once rampant the island is only a short d distance is below the equator and lush tropical vegetation blankets the mountains and valleys but trade winds so temper the atmosphere for many months of the year that the climate is not oppressive seldom does the thermometer touch one hundred degrees while the greater portion of the island has been explored civilization for the most part has penetrated only a narrow coastal zone the natives are papuans who wear little more than a loin cloth and metal arm bands most of them are employed in gathering coconuts and cocoa before white men established themselves at and other towns on new britain the natives were cannibals infamous among the early mariners marinero ma for their treachery and cunning tribes were constantly attempting to annihilate one another even now there is some danger in traveling through villages of isolated tribes although missionaries sion aries and agents of australia of which the island is a mandated territory have made great strides in in wiping out cannibalism the unexplored part of the island where cannibalism may linger is in the central part of new britain both ends of the island long have been dominated by australian officials printing of bank notes takes more money now washington paper money costs more these days to print a thousand sheets of federal reserve notes at the government printing office now involves an expense of about 97 in june 1935 the cost was 86 under section 16 of the federal reserve act the cost of issuing federal reserve notes must be met by the federal reserve banks |