The Editors' Mailbag

he von Hagen

rial Once Looked

nation about von Hagen and iced memorial at Bogadjim, District of New Guinea, is ling in, but the photograph i page is from ex-Coast- W. J. Read (now of the Lands’ Commission, Rabaul, linea) and is an unexpected I. ead took the photograph of lorial 25 years ago when he atrol-officer in the Madang At that time, it was in much e state as when von Hagen’s trected it at the turn of the (It was defaced sometime the end. of the Pacific War ing to native rumour, by a ian, but in any event by an an, an Australian who, no ieprecates the Arab mob defaced the Light Horse l 1 in Egypt during the isis). ead writes: “The monument , on the beach front at n Plantation then being i by Geoff, of the famous lily. Some significance may d the fact that the memorial ,t the entrance to the access azed by several exploratory ms of the German days into in) unknown interior, ingly the bronze plaque of mt’s head (shown in the iph) has also gone by the s well as the bronze eagle, itograph clearly shows the :, “Curt von Hagen,” be vhich there is the sugges a date. But unfortunately thy inscription on the lower the pedestal cannot be read 3 photograph—it might have me authentic light on why lorial was sited there.” eed says that he can supply )f the photograph to any irested.

agen and

ipire

ive had further information the r von Hagen corre cts: Harry Jackman, of Rabaul r Editors’ Mailbag) who at he got his information von Hagen’s death mostly book recently published in l in a series something like oks, and called Die Regen >on Motumotu. from Mr. Jack West, also of who tells us a little more the days when Australians

were relieving the Germans of their possessions in NG: When I was at Bogadjim, in 1921 —then called Stephansort there were several bungalows, offices, a general store, and hospital. Herr Barnawitch (possibly my spelling is wrong), was still there running the store and watching the German in terests such as they then were, and many are the stories he told of the Count.

The Count lived in Bogadjim bungalow and ruled an empire that extended from Modilon, in Madang. to Cape Rigney, on the Rai Coast.

He ruled as only a German could and disciplined his staff like an army. Once a month they all met at Stephansort and paraded in full and perfect dress around that half circle in front of Bogadjim Bunga low.

The huge house near the beach was mostly single staff quarters, plus the Stephansort Club—claimed by the Germans to be the richest club south of the equator before 1914.

The wealth came from the Bird-of- Paradise trade, for which Stephan sort was the centre.

W. Hahn, owner of Dogumur, from whom I took over at Ex propriation, started at Stephansort when he first arrived in NG. Like other German planters of the day,

he had made the money to start his own place out of birds.

While at Stephansort, he was pre sident of the club one year, and at

(Continued on page 35)

This is how the von Hagen memorial looked 25 years ago. The eagle is now at Mt. Hagen.

See above.

i of it he was presented with of poker-dice and a shaker, dly gave that set to me when repatriated to Germany, and iur own people started a club lang, in 1923, I foolishly gave to the club. Within a fort t was stolen by an unknown r. Such are the odd B’s that ear to have always with us— bt it was the same type who le eagle off the von Hagen tent at the end of the last nk the rest of the memorial be taken from Bogadjim and lole thing re-erected there, y opinion, Bogadjim will illy revert to the jungle—it e of the first plantations ever i and was going back even War 11.

iasters —

Up to Date

ain R. Duddell, senior of the t contingent of BP captains ; Master of MV Braeside ), us right up to date with the ' of BP masters—a story that threatened to become a nent serial since it kicked th the publication of that 3 photograph of BP masters, led in our April issue.

Capt. Duddell: irved as a junior officer under [ of those early masters who •ed in the photograph and it be of interest to give a brief ; of those who followed on.

Vlaclean died about 1938; W. i was killed at Darwin, iry, 1942, when Neptuna was W. Mcßride left the company 1938 and settled on the land Raymond Terrace and has died; A. W. Blain retired 1950 and is now living near •d; A. (Sandy) Campbell re company about 1942 and 1953 was lost at sea in a e off the NSW Coast in a ship he was bringing back New Guinea; Keith Morris the Torres Strait Pilots 1936 and is now retired in y.

C. Vogelmann retired in 1942 ejoined about 1954 as Marine intendent and is still acting it capacity; L. Miller was lost ia when MV Tulagi was loed in 1942; K. Perry retired t 0 and died about 1953; J. C. same ashore to BP’s Stevedor- Department about 1935, and ibout 1953; K. A. Tschaun re in 1958 but is acting as mg master when required.

McLeod Davis, Basil Helm, impbell, J. Thompson, G. E. , W. Colquhoun, A. Aitken, E.

MacFadyen, G. L. Sadler, all transferred to Torres Strait Pilot Service. V. G. Hildebrand is Assistant Harbour Master, Bris bane.

“Present masters serving in the company are Duddell ( Braeside ); Wilding ( Bulolo ) each with 33 years’ service, followed by Bickle (Burnside ); Hilder ( Malaita);

MacDermid ( Malekula ); F. Sadler (Tulagi ) ; Lawson ( Montoro ) and Powell, relieving master.

“It will be noted that quite a number of our masters have gone into the Torres Strait Pilot Service, which is at present the chief means of promotion for junior officers as one of our early Marine Superin tendents, Captain S. G. Green, aptly said.

“ Captain Green was once asked by a certain party ‘What is the retiring age of your masters in this company?’ He replied: ‘A hundred or death, whichever comes first.’ ”