Ray provides us with another in the extraordinary series of Laurel and Laurie. Enjoy.
Ray has compiled a comprehensive index to the 179 articles on the website in case readers would find it useful. I have not attached it yet, so bear with me until next time.
Here is a photo of Laurel and Laurie at their wedding in 1957.
This article continues the story of the adventures of Laurie and Laurel Gray when they were missionaries in remote areas of Papua New Guinea for a remarkable 17 years in the 1950s and 1960s.
Connections with readers
Here is a photo which includes Laurel on the right and her mother on the left.
Laurel is my second cousin (our Jerrems grandfathers were brothers). However she is also related to another reader, Greg Acland, who explained his connection as follows:
“Although my immediate family and I have lived in the USA since 1976, and Helen and I are dual citizens, we were all born in Australia. As a child, some of my favourite relatives were my uncle Charles’ family, who lived in Brighton-le Sands, Sydney. You are of course familiar with them: Charles Albert Jerrems (1902-1989), his wife Jess Jerrems nee Hetherington (my mother’s 1st cousin), and their daughters Laurel & Dorothy.
I am a great fan of your journal — keep up the good work.”
Previous articles
Here is a photo of Laurie, Laurel and family from a previous Journal.
In previous articles in January and February 2017 I described their adventures in the 1950s at Saroa, east of Port Moresby. This article, after tying up a few loose ends, completes their adventures in that locality by describing Laurie’s adventurous experiences on patrols into the hills and mountains.
I have drawn heavily on a book titled “The Bright Morning Star” authored by L.R. Kalinin.
Loose Ends
I have selected two more items which I could not fit into the previous articles.
One concerns the Landrover eventually supplied to Laurie after he took up duty at Saroa. There were no mechanics in the area so Laurie had to do all the necessary work himself, obtaining parts by boat from Port Moresby.
The vehicle had survived an argument with a tree after its brakes had failed, requiring extensive panel beating by Laurie to its front, and there were definite signs of other altercations which had occurred on the challenging tracks. So Laurie decided that the vehicle needed a makeover from its sombre black and green with the only spare paint he could find, blue house paint. The paint was obviously not designed for use on metal because the brush marks were obvious.
No doubt Laurel and Laurie found the unique colour very helpful because they could be spotted from a distance and needed no introduction!
Patrol time
Returning to the main theme of this article, when Laurie and Laurel were at Saroa Laurie spent two thirds of the year walking and visiting throughout the district, usually about 180 kilometres a week.
For the most part the Laurie was greeted warmly by villagers, as shown in the above photo.
This involved walking up and down mountains, along ridges and crossing swift flowing rivers. In one instance it took one and a half days to climb the 7,000 feet (2135 metres) up Mount Brown.
In the higher country to the north of Saroa there were great ranges of rain forest including the foothills of the Owen Stanley Range, made famous by the Kokoda Track which was heavily defended by Australian troops in the Second World War.
Near the tops of the ranges moss was 3 to 4 metres deep. There were very few roads, which were in any case located in the valleys, so the way to go from place to place was walking. Before Laurel and Laurie were married Laurie spent a year there with the British missionaries being taught the way of life there and also learning the Motu and Hiri Motu languages.
Tracks used for patrols
Here is a photo of a councillor in his head dress.
The villagers carried out subsistence farming and living off the land. There were rough tracks linking the villages so that the villagers could trade their goods. These tracks were used by the missionaries and the District Patrol Officers. The armed District Officers carried out annual patrols for general law and order purposes and also when they were called out to investigate specific crimes.
The missionaries planned their route using the same tracks as the District Patrol Officers so that they could visit villages which were amenable to the teachings of the missionaries, and others which had not previously shown any interest.
Climbs of over 300 metres (1000 feet) at a time were common. The younger missionaries soon became fit, however Sue Rankin, who had been a missionary in the area since the mid 1920s with her husband Bob, was carried on a platform by four porters when she was approaching retirement. Sue was adored by the natives and no doubt they carried her very willingly.
Porters used for patrols
The basic idea was that porters, who carried essential items like food, clothing, teaching and medical supplies, would be recruited from a village and the next day they would carry the loads to the next village where the missionaries were staying that night. They would then be paid off with food or tobacco (the local currency) and return home.
Rest houses
The District Patrol Officers required the villages to provide “rest houses” where those officers could stay. These were very rudimentary huts which at least provided shelter from the rain. The missionaries also used these rest houses.
Housing in the villages
Although the houses in the valleys were comfortable, as shown to the side, the houses in the remote hill villages were basic, mostly they were small with no windows and only a small door. The cooking fires were inside the huts, so they were very smoky.
Medical treatment
Laurie quickly learnt that the natives encountered on patrols in outlying areas suffered from a number of maladies and injuries, most of which were capable of being treated, the obvious exceptions being leprosy and tuberculosis. Goitres were also prevalent in areas where there was an iodine deficiency in the water supply.
Skin complaints
There was a particularly high incidence of skin problems like yaws, scabies and tropical ulcers which could be treated with penicillin, which in those days (the late 1950s) was still regarded as a “miracle drug”. These maladies could be treated by painful penicillin injections, however Laurie found a painless method involving penicillin powder mixed in Ungavita ointment which was also very effective if it was applied again after 24 hours.
In one instance the young daughter of a village chief had a tropical ulcer on her stomach which was four inches (100 millimetres) long and two inches (50mm) wide.
Scabies
Scabies were particularly nasty. Caused by tiny mites, the skin dried out and became scaly. When Laurie shook hands with a sufferer the condition was immediately obvious because, disconcertingly, he could feel the dry skin crunching in his grasp.
As soon as Laurie arrived at a village, after observing the social niceties of speaking to the tribal elders he would be presented with a long line of natives seeking treatment.
From a preventive viewpoint Laurie tried to teach villagers the principles of hygiene to cut down the high incidence of disease.
Crossing bridges
There were many bridges across mountain streams which were made rather precariously from ropes and vines. Laurie was a lot heavier than most of the porters, so they insisted that he should cross ä bridge last in case the bridge broke under his weight. Their very practical logic was that if a bridge broke while Laurie was in the middle the porters could still scramble up the remaining part of the bridge.
One day one of these simple bridges did break as Laurie was walking over it, but everything was OK, Laurie hung onto the ropes of the bridge and the porters pulled him up and over onto the ledge.
Baptisms
Baptisms were very popular, as shown in this photo, and they formed an important part of the role of missionaries. In Laurie’s first year, when he was learning the ropes with the British missionaries, everything did not exactly go according to plan. In a speech Laurie explained the situation:
“At that time I was privileged to conduct the first baptisms at Dorobisoro, at the top of the main range. I baptised 101 new Christians. At the end, I found that I had one name left over. Apparently I had missed one person from above number 45, but I could not tell which one, so I had to turn around and rename 56!”
Rafting
Rafting formed a less strenuous interlude on the patrols, when conditions permitted. Sometimes from the top of the range it was possible to build bamboo rafts and white water raft through the rapids down to the coast. The rafts would come apart several times on the way and had to be rebuilt. Laurie described this as
“Exciting living. It was in the inland Saroa area that I had the privilege of doing what was Paul’s great joy, to preach the gospel where Christ was not known”.
Laurel’s role at Saroa while Laurie was on patrol
Here is a picturesque photo including Laurel and Laurie taken at Saroa.
Laurie came back to Australia to be married to Laurel in April 1957. They returned to Saroa, where Laurel learned the Motu language, and (according to Laurie) learned it well. While Laurie was away on patrol she looked after the village head station, taught school, had children, did medical work as a trained nurse and administered the store.
Conclusion
This concludes my account of Laurel and Laurel’s missionary work in Saroa. Later I will tell you (amongst other things) about their next appointment to an area of swamp land notorious for its snakes and crocodiles!
Hot off the Presses: Hole in One by Warren Jerrems
Sun, Apr 26 at 8:31 AM
Pensacola Florida
Tiger Point Golf Course #4, 166 yards down wind, 6 iron.
The flag was hidden by a trap so we did not see it go in. I knew it was close and when we did not see the ball as we approached the green, we were pretty certain it was an ace.
I shot a 78 from the white trees. Only two 6’s, both 3 putts, 12 fairways, 9 greens so it was a solid round. Sister Susan’s husband Didier shot 94 and played really well, except for two holes.
