LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 19

LOOKING BACK.

NOTABLE EVENTS.

MAORI WAR INCIDENT. NEXT WEEK'S AUHIVKIf AR.TBB \ (By MAX WHATMAN.) Thirty British officers and men were killed and 33 wounded in the disastrous fight against the Maoris at PukeTakauere on June 27, 1860. The scene of the fight was a short distance south of the town of Waitara, and not far from the black ironsand beach of the North Taranaki Bight.

. The fight was a terrible day for the 40th Regiment, as its men met the heaviest storm of bullets of the 'lay.

An incident of this fight forms tho basis of a striking story told by James Cowan in his "Hero Stories of New Zealand." This is the record of a duel between two brave and determined fighters—the Maori chief, Haowhenua, wielding his favourite weapon, the taiaha, and a British officer, Lieutenant Brooke, who put his faith in his sword. Haowhenua was an expert with the taiaha, which is a two-handed sword made of wood and possessing the»added advantage that both ends can be used, the weapon combining the functions of sword, spear and club. The two men, knee deep in the rushes of the swamp, fought fiercely, to the admiration of a large gallery of the victorious Maoris. The swordsman was unable to get past Haowhenua's guard, and the Maori finished the battle by stunning his opponent with the blade of the taiaha and then reversing the weapon to thrust the spear point into the white man's throat.

It is typical of the Maori J attitude towards a courageous enemy that Haowhenua wept bitterly over the body of the pakeha he had slain, crying, "Haere kai te Po, e hoa!" ("Depart, O friend, to the Night!").

White Swan Wrecked. Ten cases of important State documents were lost when the steamer White Swan was wrecked near Castlepoint on June 29, 1862. There were 12 cases of documents on board. Two were washed up on the beach, and the others were lost when the wreck broke up. There was a distinguished company aboard the White Swan when she left Auckland on June 26 for Wellington, via Napier. The passengers included Chief Justice Arney, the Colonial Secretary, the Hon. W. Fox, three members of the Legislature, the Auckland members of Parliament, and a number of public servants. The White Swan Iteft Napier on the afternoon of June 28. Early on the following morning there was a violent shock, and it was found that one of the fore compartments was stove in and fast filling with water. Captain Harper ordered the vessel to be run ashore, and within a quarter of an hour after striking the vessel was beached about 100 yds from the shore. The boats were lowerei and the passengers, mail and much of the luggage successfully landed. The cases of documents, however, proved too heavy to be moved.

That night bad weather blew up, and by morning nothing but the bowsprit was visible, the hull of the steamer

being embedded in the sand, while her masts and funnel had gone by the board. Birth of New Zealand. While September 26 is celebrated in New Zealand as a national birthday, that being Dominion Day; New Zealand's actual birth as a nation goes back to June 30, 1852. On this day, the New Zealand Constitution Act, warmly supported by Mr. Gladstone, passed through the House of Commons. The Act divided New Zealand into the six provinces of Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago, each with a superintendent and a Provincial Council of not fewer than nine members elected by the people of the province. There was also a General Assembly, which was not restricted in its powers by the existence of the Provincial Councils. In case of conflict its legislation prevailed over theirs. The Assembly was to consist of the Governor, a Legislative Council nominated by the Crown, and a House of Representatives elected for five years. The Constitution Act was remarkable, not only for its structure, but also for its liberality of spirit. The colony was to receive the benefit of the remarkable advance made in the last few years in the conception of colonial self-govern-ment. The franchise was low enough, according to Sir George Grey, to include every well-conducted man who had been a r few years in the colony. The wide powers of amendment were further enlarged in 1867, 1862 and 1868; but even in 1852 the Constitution Act can truly be said to have given New Zealand a generous measure of selfgovernment. Two changes of fundamental importance have been made since then—the adoption of the principle of responsible government and the abolition of the provinces—but the Act remains to this day the basis of the constitutional system of New Zealand. Sound the World Flight. New York went wild on July 1, 1931. The city gave a tumultuous welcome to Wiley Post and Harold Gatty, the American flyers, who had established a number of records in their flight round the world. These two men left the Roosevelt Field, New York, at 3.56 a.m. on June 22, returning after travelling round the world, at 7.47 p.m. On' July 1. The flight took 8 days 15 hours. The first stage of the flight was from New York to Berlin, and while making this trip, they broke the Atlantic record. The subsequent stages were from Berlin to Moscow, .from Moscow to Kharbarovsk (Eastern Siberia), from Kharbarovsk to Fairbanks (Alaska), from Fairbanks to New York. So coolly did the airmen take the trip that on the third stage of the flight, being dissatisfied with the accommodation at Nome (Alaska), they flew on to Fairbanks. The flyers were given a wonderful reception on their return to New York. So excited was the crowd and so determined to press near to the heroes and shake them by the hands that men battled fiercely with the police, who had to draw thenbatons to defend themselves. Mr. Gatty has since become wellknown to New Zealand, and to Aucklanders in particular, through his frequent visits to the Dominion while making plans for the establishment of a terminal base at Auckland for PanPacific Airways. Mr. Post was killed when he crashed while making a holiday flight with Will Rogers, the famous comedian.