Thursday 3rd October 2013
At the first meeting of the season held at the Expanse hotel, the chairman Jim Hornsby welcomed members and gave information about joint ventures with Filey, Beverley and Burlington Probus clubs taking place in October and November.
Members had re-gathered after the summer break and renewed conversations over an excellent lunch. This was followed by an illustrated talk about Papua New Guinea by Gordon Gresham, who had spent ten years in that country working in the timber trade. He painted a picture of a rugged, mountainous and impenetrable country where rainfall is measured in metres not millimetres. It is still a very tribal land of more than 700 languages and where conflict is common over boundary incursions. It was first settled in coastal areas by the Germans but they were removed after World War I and custodianship was delegated to Australia. In 1926 gold was discovered and this led to a gold rush led by the Leahy brothers. Mr Gresham had dramatic film of the brothers prospecting in the interior with “interesting” comment by local tribesmen. A million people were discovered living in the interior and had never seen a white man. The country is thought to be still rich in gold, copper, nickel, coffee, gas and oil but 80% of the population live by subsistence farming. The speaker was thanked for an interesting talk by the chairman himself.
At the first meeting of the season held at the Expanse hotel, the chairman Jim Hornsby welcomed members and gave information about joint ventures with Filey, Beverley and Burlington Probus clubs taking place in October and November.
Members had re-gathered after the summer break and renewed conversations over an excellent lunch. This was followed by an illustrated talk about Papua New Guinea by Gordon Gresham, who had spent ten years in that country working in the timber trade. He painted a picture of a rugged, mountainous and impenetrable country where rainfall is measured in metres not millimetres. It is still a very tribal land of more than 700 languages and where conflict is common over boundary incursions. It was first settled in coastal areas by the Germans but they were removed after World War I and custodianship was delegated to Australia. In 1926 gold was discovered and this led to a gold rush led by the Leahy brothers. Mr Gresham had dramatic film of the brothers prospecting in the interior with “interesting” comment by local tribesmen. A million people were discovered living in the interior and had never seen a white man. The country is thought to be still rich in gold, copper, nickel, coffee, gas and oil but 80% of the population live by subsistence farming. The speaker was thanked for an interesting talk by the chairman himself.