LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 205, 29 August 1936, Page 18

LOOKING BACK.

NOTABLE EVENTS.

WAIMANGU TRAGEDY.

NEXT WEEK'S ANNIVERSARIES. (By M.P.W.) Ignoring the warning of their guide not to go too close to the great Waimangu Geyser, which they were seeing with a party on August 30, 1903, two young women ventured well within the danger line to take photographs. As they turned for safety the . geyser exploded, deluging them with boiling water. The two young women, who,were sisters named Nicholls, and. two men, J. McNaughton and J. Warbrick, were Overwhelmed by the scalding torrent. The victims were carried in the . rush of water nearly. a mile in the direction of Lake Rotomahana,; and. it was sometime before the •bodies could be recovered.

The eruption- r was described.' as the greatest ever witnessed at Waimangu. There were three' explosions in quick succession, one straight up in the. air, and the others in a. spreading direction. Of the party two men clung to a rock, the others, all of whom were killed, were seized in the rush of boiling and seething mud and water and washed down the stream. Warbrick, it was said, might have escaped, but turned back to try to assist the' women. The fatality appears to have been the penalty of rashness, for the guide gave a serious warning to the party not to approach within the danger area. • °

As the geyser played, tons of mud and huge stones were flung into the air. A great cloud of steam gradually separated itself from the earth and took its place in the heavens like one of the ordinary fleecy clouds. It was an awe-inspiring spectacle. Johannesburg Jubilee.' These are gay times in Johannesburg for, on September 1, this prosperous city will celebrate its golden jubilee. . The boom in gold during recent years has made Johannesburg one of the richest cities in the world, and its extraordinary gTowth during the last few decades is almost unparalleled.

Johannesburg owes its existence to the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand Reefs. The town, named after Johannes Rissik, then surveyor-general of the Transvaal, was founded in 1886, the first building being erected on that part of the reef which became the Ferreria and Wemmer mines. These buildings were found to cover valuable ore, and, in the December following, the Boer Government marked out the site of the city proper, and possession of the plots was given to purchasers on January 1, 1887. The exploitation of the mimes led to a rapid development of the town during the next three years.

The next ten years saw a great boom in the shares of the mining companies. The linking of the town with the seaports by railways during 1892 and 1895 gave considerable impetus to the goldmining industry. Material prosperity was accompanied by political, educational and other disadvantages, and the desire of the Johannesburgers led, in January, 1896, to an abortive rising against the Boer Government. One result of this movement was a slight advance in municipal government, but in succeeding years, when great industrial development took place, the position grew still worse, and, in September, 1899, owing to the imminence of war between the Transvaal and Great Britain, the majority of the residents fled from the city. The city was taken by the British in May, 1900, and, in 1903. elected municipal council© were set up. The population to-day is well over 200,000 (white) and 178,000

Board of Trade's Birthday. Wednesday will be the 150 th birthday of the Board of Trade. It has a long and chequered history, and although in the course of its career it has lost duties enough to keep an active department busy, these have been more than replaced under that modern tendency towards State regulation of industry, which is constantly adding to its burdens.

The; board's functions may be classified roughly under the heads of collecting information, registration, inspection, and authorising acts or undertakings of a public nature. It collects and publishes statistics relating to domestic and foreign trade; it advises other departments of the Government on commercial matters; it functions as a labour bureau in preparing statistics about labour, wages and other matters touching the interests of working men.

The board has the pow r er to act as a 'rcouneil rof conciliation in labour disputes.'. It maintains the standards of weights and measures, registers companies, records patents and trade marks, and keeps a, .register of ships and seamen. One of-its most important functions is to see that merchant vessels are seaworthy, properly laden, officered, manned and equipped. It has a certain control ' over harbours, sees to the enforcement of the laws relating to railways, ' and inquires into the causes of j-ailway.-accidents and disasters at sea. The subject of bankruptcy has also been placed in this hands of the board. It is in charge of the administration of lighthouses, buoys ' and beacons, which are maintained by Trinity House, an ancient corporation composed of self-elected brethren, but financially under the control of the Board of Trade. First Steamer Arrives. In 6pite of the keen interest taken in all parts of the world in the construction, launching and maiden voyage of the giant liner Queen Mary, there is undeniably a tendency these days to take the marvels-.of science largely as a matter of course. The great liners plying between England and New Zealand, and America and Australia via New Zealand, attract very little attention. They are so much a part of everyday life that nobody gives a thought to the engineering and scientific marvels' incorporated in them.

Eighty years ago this was not so. On the morning of September 3, 1853, the excited residents of the young town of Wellington lined the waterfront waiting for an event which was to mark a new epoch in New Zealand's history. They were awaiting the arrival of a ship. It was only a little ship of 154 tons and it bore the humble name of Ann. Propelled by the paddle wheels of the day, It was a sluggish ship and to-day it would excite attention only as a quaint survival of the past. But to those early colonists in Wellington the Ann was something at which to marvel. It was the first steamer to cross the Tasman Sea. It represented the beginning of the end of New Zealand's remoteness and isolation. The Ann was the forerunner of those fine ships that eat up the distance between New Zealand and England in a matter of five weeks.

From- Wellington the Ann went on to Lyttelton, arriving in that port on September 15. Her cargo, according to the "Lyttelton Times," consisted of beef, brandy, rum, whisky (Old Islay), gin, English stout and porter in hogsheads, cigars, tobacco, pipes, mould candles, soap, lucifers, blankets and flannels. Th« Ann was commanded by Captain F. T. Gibbs.

Opening a Railway. It is probable that no Governor of New Zealand ever had a busier day than that experienced by his Excellency the Marquis of Normanby on September 5, IS7B. On that day the first through train travelled from Christchurch to Dunedin and the Governor went with it. He listened —or was present during—

nearly a hundred speeches before the day was done. He was plied with refreshments on a generous scale at frequent intervals during' the day and finished with a gigantic banquet at night.

The train left Christehurch at 6 a.m. Ashburtori bl'oke out into a rash" of flags and greenery for its welcome. More than- 300 eat down to breakfast and there were speeches. The next stop was Timaru, where there were refreshments and speeches. Then came Oamaru, where there was luncheon, followed by speeches. By this time certain members had fallen bv .the wayside and they continued to do so throughout the day. ' i .■ '•' ■

On arrival at Dunedin there was a salute of artillery and an uproarious welcome on the railway station. There were 32 speakers at the banquet, and, in the words of an account of this great day, "the marriage of Mr. Dunedin and Miss Ghristchurch is 'au fait accompli.'"

The four hundred guests at the banquet must have had a good time. The report is discreet on this point, but it rather lets the cat out of the bag by a statement that at least one of the speeches towards the close of the evening was "entirely inaudible to tlie reporters."