"Dick" Reynolds

Old-Time- Memories Of A

Lovable Character

IT appears that several of the old timers are marching on,” writes Mr. J. Nixon Westwood (Wellington, NZ) “and Captain Dick Reynolds, of Papua, was one of the best-known Wes tern Division men. He was a very jocu lar individual and had quite a fund of interesting Bamu river stories.

“When I was a Collector of Customs in Daru, Dick, whose name was Harold, went over to Thursday Island and purchased a ketch called the ‘Myrtle’. The ‘Myrtle’ was an old Wyborn pearling lugger, and consequently, on Dick’s arrival in British New Guinea, it was necessary for him to register the vessel and get a permit for recruiting.

“In the office of the Collector a for mula was laid down, how to measure any vessel, and the results gave the number of ‘boys’ who could be carried on board.

As soon as Dick dropped anchor I went on board and gave him pratique. He then brought the papers to my office and I worked out the measurements, which gave the ‘Myrtle’ about 24 tons, or equal to 48 ‘boys’.

“I then asked him for his full name.

He said ‘Harold P. Reynolds’. I said, ‘What does the ‘P’ stand for?’ His reply was, ‘Oh, nothing. You see, I am an American, and most of the Americans have an initial as part of their given names’.

“I then said: ‘Oh, you are an Ameri can,’ and followed this up by telling him that no ‘foreigner’ was allowed to own a British ship.

“This gave Dick a lot of thought, and he spent an uncomfortable half-hour try ing to assure me that he had only been fooling. I, on my part, told him that men of his standing should not indulge in these tactics when there was a ques tion of a valuable boat at stake. He then decided to bring in Hughie Beach, Jack Summers and Wm. Henry Luff to prove that he was a good Tasmanian.

“As time was of no importance, I kept the matter up for at least a day, whilst the witnesses saw the humor of the posi tion and ragged Dick no end.

“Anyway he was cured of his idea of using an initial in his name, and satis fied to be called ‘Harold’ officially and ‘Dick’ to his innumerable friends.

“He made some really remarkable trips, not only up the Bamu, but also up the Fly, and was, I believe, sometimes in the vicinity of Purari.

“As a recruiter, he was most successful, and was always cheery and bright, irre spective of what happened, either , one way or the other.

“His visits to Daru, in between his trips, always gave the Island a little bit of something to talk about. I hope he left a diary, so that the experiences of a man who knew the Western Division so well may be put on record for the bene fit of those who are interested in that part of the world.”

Another Memory

PROM Mr. Walter A. Maidment, formerly a general merchant of Daru, Western Papua : — Captain Harrold Peter Reynolds, who died in a private hospital in Sydney on June 28. was born in Tasmania, 63 years

ago. He took to the sea early in life, following his father, Captain Michael Reynolds, one of the old-time Hobart whalers.

After a term in the New Zealand tim ber trade, in the barque “Kasa/’ he drifted to the inter-island trade, in the New Hebrides, and then to Thursday Island. He arrived there in 1904, and had a go around the pearling grounds. He then went to Daru, and began recruiting labour for the plantations in the Central Division. When things grew slack, he re cruited for the pearl-shelling industries at Thursday Island.

Always popular, he will be sadly missed by all his old friends. He was well-known in the racing fraternity—he was a mem ber of City Tattersall’s for the past 25 years.

In the west of Papua, the natives will miss their “Dickio,” when they want “Worko.” He was considered by them a sort of Father Xmas when they were hard up for a job. They will now say, “Nili magali tau,” means means “Very sorry finish.”