Harry Darby Suicides

Adventurous Life

Closes In India

How Victorian Orphan Made

£100,000 In N.G.

NEWS of the death at Bombay, by suicide, of Harry Darby, a well known New Guinea miner, was published on July 3.

Darby was a colourful, popular fig ure, and his death will be regretted by many friends on the New Guinea gold fields. He arrived on the field at the height of the boom, four or five years back, and was successful in pegging out a valuable sluicing lease at Edie Creek, which produced for him a fortune.

When he left the field, at the end of 1929, to go on a world tour, he was reputed to be worth £100,000.

Darby, who was an orphan, was a native of Victoria. After serving in the Great War he was appointed in terpreter at the Rabaul Courthouse, and from there he went to the gold fields.

Before setting out on his world tour he is said to have made generous gifts to many of his friends and to have paid for a new wing to be erected at the institution in Victoria in which he had been brought up.

Not much was heard of him again

until March of this year, when he became involved in court proceedings in India. He had engaged a rickshaw driver at Madras late one night and quarrelled with the man over the fare.

After a few heated words, Darby drew an automatic and shot the driver dead.

He claimed that the gun had gone off accidentally, but was sentenced to the rising of the court, fined 1,000 rupees, and an addition 50 rupees for being in possession of cartridges in excess of the prescribed limit, and his revolver license was suspended.

He told the police that he was the owner of the Eldorado goldmine in New Guinea, and that he had flown by ’plane from England, arriving in India on January 26.

Darby stayed in Madras for some time and then went on to Bombay. He took poison on the sands of the fashion able Juhu seaside resort there. He left two letters, one addressed to the Coroner who would hold the inquest, and the other to a police officer, but he gave ho indication of why he ended his life.

Darby is said to have been reckless, restless, venturesome, but very like able. He was 31 years of age.

New Guinea Radio Staff Changes Mr. J. Widdup, who has been at tached to the Rabaul office of Amal gamated Wireless (A/sia) Ltd., has been transferred to Kieta Radio.

Mr. C. W. Scriven, of Kieta Radio, has been transferred to Bitapaka, Ra baul. During his stay at Kieta, Mr.

Scriven compiled and published The Kieta News, which was very popular among Bougainville residents.

The number of pupils receiving in struction at Mission schools in New Guinea, at June 30, 1930, was 38,800.

The members of the teaching staff engaged by the various missions con sisted of 246 Europeans, 4 Asiatics and 1,452 natives.

A Two-berth Cabin on the M.V. Macdhui.