LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 19

LOOKING BACK.

(By M.P.W.)

NOTABLE EVENTS.' «

SPEED KING'S ' DEATH. r , i NEXT WEEK'S ANNTVEBSABIES

Holder of -world's speed records on land and water, Sir Henry Segrave was killed on June 14, 1930. He was attempting with his.famous boat Miss England 11. to create a new record wlien disaster overtook Mm. It was 2 o'clock in tlie afternoon when Sir Henry took Miss England 11. out into the expanse of Lake Windermere. Within a few seconds the hoat was travelling at a terrific speed. After covering a measured mile up the lake she turned, and there was another great buret of speed as she covered the mile down the lake. For the tihrd time the boat turned and travelled at almost her maximum speed.. The. roar .of., the, grfkt engines echoed, from one shore to another.' •

Tfio boat seemed to accelerate suddenly. xho great mass of; machinery, enclosed in its slim, white shell, seemed to swerve violently and plunge beneath, the -'jwater. A great cloud of . spray went lip and it was some seconds before tha graceful craft was seen again. She reappeared, bottom up, showing a great rent'in the hull, but later sank in 19i3 feet of water. By travelling at an average speed of #8.70 miles an hour, Sir Henry created f new record. After he had been rescued from the water, Sir Henry, was conscious for two minutes before he died. Though 3n terrible pain he was so much master of himself that ho asked by how much he had beaten the record. Sir Henry held the double distinction of having created ..world's speed records on both land and water. A year i-bef ore

his death ho had established a new land speed record of 231.36'mi1es an hour at Daytona Beach, Florida, in his famous car the Golden Arrow. Magna Charta. John, tyrannical King of England, sat nervously gnawing his fingernails. Round him he .saw the stern features of tlio mighty lords of the kingdom. Before him lay the Magna Charta, a fateful document demanding redress of the nation's grievances. John wriggled and sought some means of escape, but the barons were implacable, and, on June 15, 1215, the King sealed the charter which has since that time been regarded as the basis of the English constitution.

The charter, which was sealed on that srreat day at Runnymede, provided against the abuse of the Royal Prerogative by protecting the rights and obli-gations-of the feudal proprietor; It redressoA a variety of grievances connected with feudal tenures. Minute provisions were made regarding the ward, relief, and marriage of heirs, and the rights of their widows. No scutfige or aid was to be imposed without the authority of the common council of the kingdom, except on three great feudal occasions.

The liberties-of "the City of London and other towns, burghs and ports were declared inviolable. Freedom of commerce was guaranteed to foreign merchants. Justice was no longer to be sold, denied, or delayed. The Court of Common Pleas, instead of as formerly following the King about the country, was permanently fixed at Westminster, and arrangements were made for the efficiency of the inferior Courts. Life, liberty and property were protected from arbitrary spoliation, and none was to be condemned to forfeit these but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. No one was to be condemned on rumours or suspicions, but only on the evidence of witnesses. Fines imposed were in all cases to be proportioned to the magnitude of the offence, and even the villain or rustic was not to be deprived of his necessary chattels. The testimentary power of the subject was recognised over part of his personal estate, and the rest was to be divided between his widow and ■children. The independence of the church was also provided for. A Great Salvationist. Tuesday next will be the sixth anniversary of the death of General Bramwell Booth, whose name will always be coupled with that of his father as the builder of the Salvation Army. He died at the age of 73 at his homo in England, Hadley Wood. General Booth was born in 1S.)0 at Halifax, Yorkshire, of which town he was subsequently made a freeman. lie became an officer in the Salvation Army at the age of 17, in 1874. In 1880 he was appointed second-in-command, and held that post until his father's death in 1912, when he became, by the founder's own decision, General of the Salvation Army. Before he took o\ ei the command, the Army had been working in nearly CO countries. Under his leadership, it spread still further, until, at the time of his death, its tag was planted in more than 80 lands, its lnesj sages spoken in well nigh 00 languages, land its corps and outposts numbered

more than 1400. He married in 1882, and all his seven children becamc officers of tlio Army. After an illness in 1928, a movement for tlio deposition of the general on the ground that ho was unfit, through illhealth, to command, led to litigation which caused strong feeling, and on February 13, 1929, the High Council of tlio Salvation Army, by 52 votes to 5, declared him unfit for office, and Commissioner Higgins was appointed to succeed him. Sailed with CookBank's Peninsula perpetuates in NewZealand the name of a great English naturalist who sailed with Captain Cook and brought back with him extensive records of tlie flora of tlie South Seas. Sir Joseph Banks was born in 1743. At Oxford he showed a decided taste for natural science, and was the means of introducing botanical lectures into the university. In 1700 he made his first ecicntific expedition, to Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing back a rich collection of plants and insects. Shortly after his return, Captain Cook was sent by the Government to observe the transit of Venus in the Pacific Ocean, and Banks obtained leave to join the expedition in tlie Endeavour, which was fitted out at hie expense. He made the most careful preparations for the voyage. He even engaged draughtsmen and painters to delineate such objects of interest as did not admit of being transported or observed. The voyage occupied three years, and many hardships had to be undergone; but the rich harvest of discovery was more ■ than adequate compensation.

Though anxious to join Cook's expedition, Banks was prevented by circumstances from doing so, but he employed his assistants instead on a voyage to Iceland in 1772. Banks became president of the Royal Society in 1778, and held that important office until his death on Jund 19, IS2O. He did much to raiso the state of science in Britain, and was at the same time assiduous and successful in cultivating friendly relations with scientific men of all nations.