And From The Past: The Whittens Of Papua

IT would not be possible to write a biography of one Whitten. The two brothers were inseparable and were known to all as the Honorable Bill and Bob. They were a part of New Guinea, and they both had great influence in helping civilise those areas, and they did their share in many ways with a human touch.

They were Londoners; and Robert still, after years in the Territory, retained his slight “cockney” lisp.

But Bill was more careful in his speech. As he eventually became a member of the Legislative Council, he was always given the title of “Honorable” —the family name of Whitten being, by all who knew him, considered superfluous.

At one period of British New Guinea, the Whittens owned the only genuine trading-store estab lished; later, Burns Philp & Co.

Ltd., were their only opposition.

Whittens owned cutters, small

ketches and a small schooner.

Finally they went for steam, and cne of their small steamers, the ex- Sydney Harbour tug Kia Ora, is (or was) like Whittens, part of the history of the Territory. When the Lakekamu field was discovered, they added a further craft to their list.

This was a snub-nosed river boat called the Bulldog, and ran from the mouth of the Lakekamu to as near the field as was possible.

The Kia Ora ran on the coast for a great number of years, and was for some of the goldminers a real home. Without her, and the help they got from the Whittens, some of them would have had a very thin time. It is to the great credit of the brothers that they seldom, if ever, let one of the “fossickers” down, be it transport or merchandise.

Another good thing in their favour: It did not matter from whose store the miner made his purchase, WB would always find

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pace on one of their coasters to arry the goods. [T7HEREVER the miners found a \} new field, Whitten Brothers were right on their heels, and pened up a trading store. They nanaged to obtain the services of len who talked the same language s the miners; and seldom, if ever, iid any mining man—and they ,-ere real grousers—complain of the ervice they gave.

Whittens were the first to open store at Tamata; then Buna tay; and afterwards at Kulumadau, .akekamu; and, as it was easier to •ork this field from Port Moresby, riey arranged to open a branch in he capital, and have the launch ’ulldog carry some of the freight •om there to the mouth of the river.

Whittens were also interested in Dconut estates, and opened up rhat was perhaps the first real British plantation in New Guinea British). It was the very first to each the bearing stage, and was nown as Dedele. An ex-dentist was ne of its managers. Dedele was re uted to have the greatest bearing opacity of any plantation in the acific, and returned up to 1,680 lbs [ copra to the acre. At one time, ur old friend Alf Greenaway was i charge, but he did not take kindly ) planting.

Both Whittens were married and ;ob had one daughter, who later ecame Mrs. Robert Bunting. She as a very good-looking young idy, but was seldom seen in amarai—she spent most of her 3Uth at school in Australia. many years practically the , whole of the settled parts of British New Guinea depended a Whitten Brothers for their con ection with the outside world. The aly exception was Daru, in the /estern Division, and the trading :ations adjacent thereto. Year fter year the various vessels of WB ■avelled along the coast, up north 3 far as Hercules Bay, and west ) Kerema.

They also provided carriers for the lining claims, as well as assisting, ) some extent, the establishment I the Overland Mail from Moresby ) the north coast. It is almost im- Dssible to name any place, up to )14, which was either partially ittled or had a fixed population, hich did not almost entirely de end on the Brothers for their ;ores, their mail, newspapers, and ews of the outside world.

The Kia Ora usually left Samarai >r her westward trip and called at uau (famous for its fine workers), yfe Bay (the home of a very fine lissionary, the Rev. C. F. Rich), lullins Harbour (where the first

sawmill in New Guinae was to have been established) Orangere Bay (a Government plantation), Baibara, Millport Harbour, Port Glasgow (the safest anchorage on the coast), Mailu Island (another mission station where the Rev. Caleb Beharrel was stationed after leaving Hua), Dedele, Abau, Vilirupu, Hoods Lagoon, Rigo, Moresby, Yule Island to the mouth of the Lakekamu; and back to Samarai. She also ran regularly to the German Boundary and to Woodlark Island.

This itinerary, which was made possible by the foresight of the Whitten Brothers, helped develop the Territory, and give an excellent service to all, irrespective of what their calling was.

The names of the men responsible

for this and other developments should not be forgotten.

I might add that the captains of the Kia Ora were always told to do their utmost to see that each port was called at, because they knew that the planters and Gov ernment officers were entirely de pendent on them for their outside contacts. — J. Nixon-Westwood. t Rules for the Garvey Fishing Cup presented by Fiji’s Governor, Sir Ronald Garvey, have been drawn up. The Cup will be awarded to any local resident for the largest fish (excluding sharks) caught trolling with rod and reel, and using standard lines of nylon, dacron, or linen.