Step By Step: The Remarkable

Career Of "W.R.C."

establishment of the Carpenter

Line of freight-carrying ships between

Australia, New Guinea, and Europe—

which commenced running on a regular

schedule this month—directs attention to

the dynamic personality responsible for this

development—namely, Walter Randolph

Carpenter, known to his intimates as

“W.R.”

MR. W. R. CARPENTER’S achieve ments, in the last 20 years, are astonishing. During and after the war, he put his faith in the copra industry, and copra returned him a fortune. Thus, he established W. R. Carpenter and Co., Ltd., as buyers and shippers of copra; then he he extended his company’s operations to trading, and thence to the ownership and operation of coconut plantations, and the financing of planters: with the result that the company to-day owns stores and plan tations all over New Guinea and the Solo mons, and a number of small vessels with which inter-island communications are maintained. The turn-over of the organi sation is over £1,000,000 annually. The company has huge reserves, and has kept up an 8 per cent, dividend, even in the worst years.

Having done so much, “W.R.” might have rested, and given his leisure to the arts and the flesh-pots. But “W.R.” never rests. The depression came down in 1930,

and most men with big interests buttoned up their pockets, and sought a tall, safe tree in which to roost. But not W. R.

Carpenter. Since 1930 he has — Established a large desiccated coco nut factory in northern New Britain, which has produced an article of such excellent quality that it has captured a profitable market in Australia and New Zealand.

Built a slip-way for moderate-sized ships on the shores of Rabaul Harbour, so that the inter-island steamers need not now come all the way to Australia for repairs and overhaul.

Established a private transport ser vice, with small aeroplanes, for the car riage of his company’s goods between Salamaua and the rapidly-growing centres in the New Guinea goldfields.

Inaugurated a new freight service between New Guinea and Europe with two modern motor-ships.

In all these things, W. R. Carpenter de fied the quidnuncs and backed his own judgment—just as he did in the war years, when, in defiance of all “expert” advice, he bought every ton of copra he could find and shipped it to Europe in every kind of vessel that would float—and reaped an enormous profit.

He is backing his own judgment to-day, in establishing this line of freight-carriers.

Most people see only a sick copra industry, a condition of stagnation among planta tions, and a multitude of ships competing savagely for the available freights. But

“W.R.,” with that uncanny vision of his, discerns something more—probably, he sees this incredibly rich territory of New Guinea being rapidly developed under the stimulus of gold, and building up new in dustries and trade, and providing un limited cargoes. Possibly, too, he has seen something in the copra future that at present is hidden from us by the black clouds of over-supply and calamitous prices. At any rate, the New Guinea pessimists may take some comfort in the fact that one of the shrewdest heads in Pacific merchandising has confidence in the future of the territory, and has backed his opinion with hard cash.

Incidentally, it will be interesting to see how the more or less combined shipping lines react to the advent of the Carpenter Line. At present, all really nice shipping people do not cut the Australian-Europe freight rates. The new freighters presum ably will get the current rate if they can; but, if they cannot, or if the shipping czars try to wield the big stick, we may expect some pretty rate-cutting. A fight is as the breath of life to “W.R.” He may yet gather a laurel-wreath from the primary producers of Australia —with whom, politically, he is much in sympathy.

Although he most definitely is the head of the firm, W. R. Carpenter is by no means alone. At his right hand, at head quarters, is his almost equally well-known brother, J. A. Carpenter. They are an ideal combination. Both are shrewd, far seeing merchants, and tireless workers; and the fieriness and impulsiveness of “W.R.” are nicely balanced by the care fulness and organising ability of “J.A.”

“W.R.” will see the vision and outline the plan; the urbane “J.A.” will give the thing

shape, character, and stability. Each is a warm admirer of the other’s qualities.

In the immediate back-ground, and tak ing a steadily increasing share of control and responsibility, are W. R. Carpenter’s two sons, known to all Islanders as “Wick” and “Ranji”—cool and very com petent young men who can feel out the slightest tremor in the world markets with one hand, while extracting the last deci mal point of brokerage with the other.

The Carpenter link with the Pacific goes much further back than the Carpenter brothers’ pearling activities before the war, and their copra-buying operations since. They are the sons of Captain J.

B. Carpenter, and that famous skipper was responsible, some 40 years ago, for one of the dramatic incidents in Australian- Pacific history.

When Captain Carpenter Made

History.

Messrs. Burns, Philp and Co. owned a packet named the “Costa Rica” —known as “the last of the whalers”—which operated mostly in the Central Pacific and which was commanded by Captain Carpenter.

Every season, she used to go seeking whales, in and about the Molucca Islands (Dutch East Indies). On one trip, she

came upon the remains of a wreck—some apparently unclaimed and not very valu able flotsam, which the skipper took pos session of, and brought away. Next year, when the ship returned to the Moluccas, the Dutch seized the ship, arrested Cap tain Carpenter and threw him into gaol.

The “Costa Rica” was left without any one to take care of her, and she suffered much damage and missed the whaling season.

The incident caused a stir in Sydney, strong protests were made, and eventually Captain Carpenter was released and re turned to Australia. The “Costa Rica” had to be sold where she lay, at a sacri fice price. Messrs. Burns, Philp and Co. then took action against the Dutch au thorities, with a demand for compensation, and the firm was strongly supported by the New South Wales Government. Public feeling was so strong that a large meeting was held in the Sydney Town Hall, The matter was referred to the British Govern ment, and London supported the protests and demands of New South Wales. As a result, both Burns, Philp and Co. and Captain Carpenter were substantially compensated by the Dutch Government for the losses they had suffered.

Later, the Carpenter family settled down in Torres Straits, and established at Thursday Island the well-known pearling firm of J. B. Carpenter and Sons. “W.R.,” in 1908, went to Fiji, as manager of Robert Kadd and Co., Ltd.; and in 1914 he estab lished his present firm.

Step by step, commencing by buying copra, Mr. Carpenter has entered deeply into the whole copra industry. From being a buyer, he became a shipper; then he acquired stores and traded; then he estab lished plantations and produced; then he built a factory and manufactured; next, he entered the transport business —first with inter-island steamers, then with aeroplanes, and now with oversea motor ships.

What is the next step? Is there another world left for him to conquer? It would not surprise this writer a bit of he were next heard of establishing copra-crushing and margarine-making mills in England, and snapping defiant fingers under the nose of the immutable Unilever.