THIS WEEK YEARS AGO

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 124, 28 May 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

THIS WEEK YEARS AGO

THE greatest fleet the world had seen was assembled at the mouth of the River Tagus. It consisted of 92 galleons, or large ships of the line, four galliasses, 30 frigates, 30 transports for horse, and four galleys. On board were 8350 mariners, 2080 galley-slaves, and 19,200 soldiers. This f»reat force was commanded by the t Duke of Medina Sidonia. These, how- 0 ever, were not all the preparations made t by Spain for the conquest of England. c The Duke of Parma was ordered to provide transports and flat-bottomed a boats to carry an army of horse and i foot from the Netherlands to England. At the same time, Pope Sixtus V. h declared Queen Elizabeth dethroned, and her subjects dissolved from their a allegiance. 0 It will be 350 years to-morrow since a the great armada set sail, for England. I The rest is well known. The armada ] entered the English Channel in July. T There, waiting, was the English fleet. ? under Lord Howard of Effingham. The \ English admiral had 36 Royal vessels in his command, and 100 private craft. ■ He also had the assistance of Drake, \' Hawkins, Frobisher and other skilled captains, who, relying on rapid firing and refusing to come to close quarters, followed tactics which proved completely successful. The unwieldy Spanish vessels were completely helpless against the better armed and more easily managed English .ships. On August 6, the armada, much battered, reached Calais. There Drake attacked it with fire ships.- In the ensuing panic it hastily put to sea, and, thoroughly disorganised, fled to the north, seeking a way home by a circuit of the British Isles. Only 53 vessels returned to Spain. The Maid of (Means One of the most romantic figures in history is Joan of Arc, the Maid of ; Orleans, who after inspiring the French to victories against the invading English, suffered an ignominious death, being burnt as a witch. The Maid, who was born at Domremy, believed that she had a divine mission to expel the English, who, under the Earl of Salisbury, were besieging Orleans. Charles VII. entrusted her with the command of some French troops, and she raised the siege, entering Orleans with supplies in April, 1429. The English, who were before the town from the preceding October, abandoned the enterprise a week after the Maid's entry into the town.

By .'.. Max Whatman

i I Under Tier leadership, the French cap- ! ! turecl several towns in the possession of the English whom she defeated in a battle near Patay in June, 1429. In consequence, Charles entered Rheims in f triumph and was crowned in July of 1 the following year, Joan of Arc, in full ' armour, holding the sword of state dur- ] ing the ceremony. ' The Maid was wounded several times ' herself but never shed any blood with ! her own hand. She was taken prisoner at the siege of Compiegne and, after < a trial, burnt as a witch at Rouen j on May 30, 1431. Statues to her memory i are to be seen at Orleans, Beaurevoir, ' Domremy, Chinon, Rheims and St. ' Picrre-le-Moutier. Her beatification ■ was approved by the Pope in 1894 and she was canonised at St. Peter's, Rome, i in January, 1904. Tragedy at Madrid The streets of Madrid, bathed in brilliant sunshine, were crowded with spectators as, through dense lines of cheering people, a carriage containing the newlyI married King and Queen of Spain passed I from the church to the palace. At the ' I Salle Mayor, one of the centres of the II city, the gorgeous procession halted i 1 while bouquets showered from the bal- » conies of the houses. ! One of these fragrant posies con- ' coaled- a bomb. In a second, the scene 5 changed from gaiety to tragedy. The t bomb exploded between the horses and 3 the front wheels of the Royal carriage, killing a groom and two horses and damaging the carriage. Spectators and members of the military escort were n killed, the death roll being 24. f Neither King Alfonso nor Queen 3na h was injured, but the Queen's wedding ;- gown and shoes were spattered with the I, blood of the dead and injured. At the moment of the explosion the i- King, recovering himself immediately, e spoke through the broken window of the V carriage and inquired what damage had g been done. He then ordered the pro;r cession to proceed. Queen Ena, deathly h pale, smiled courageously, but broke g down on reaching the palace. The courie tiers pressed forward, but the King n waved them back and tenderly supd ported his weeping wife. To reassure 's the people, the young couple later drove again through the streets of Madrid.

St. Parts Cathedral Better known even than Westminster Abbey is St. Paul's Cathedral, known affectionately as the Empire Church. Throughout the ages it has been the centre of Empire thanksgiving, or Empire mourning. The place that the fine old church holds in the hearts of Englishmen the world over was shown by the universal concern when it was announced a few years ago that it was doomed if restoration were not undertaken immediately. The foundation stone of St. Paul's was laid on June 1, 1675, the entire structure being completed in 1710. It ■3 the third cathedral church built on bis site. The present building was lesigned by Sir Christopher Wren, who ived to see the completion of his maseipiece. It cost £748,000. Until 1877 the cathedral was without 1 proper peal of bells. In that year he city companies subscribed to proride a peal of 12, but these, inscribed vith mottoes of the donors, are hung n the north-west tower. A new bell, weighing 17 tons, was placed in the south-west tower in 1882. In 1925 the foundation* of the athedral were discovered to be in flanker, and the pillars supporting the dome, nstead of being built of solid stone, vcre found to have been originally filled vith rubble, thus producing further risk )f instability. About £200,000 was subscribed publicly to carry out the •epairs. The work was completed in L 930. The exterior length of the cathedral s 515 ft; its west front, with two towers >ach 221 ft high, is, 180 ft wide. Internally, it is 479 ft long, 250 ft wide across the transepts. The nave is 102 ft across, including the aisles. The dome is 102 ft in diameter, and the total height, from the pavement of the church to the top of the cross above the dome, is 365 ft. The Sailor's Friend There have been, from time to time, remarkable scenes in the House of Commons, but few more startling than one day in July, 1875, when an enraged member charged certain shipowners with sending sailors to their death in "coffin ships." As he declared his intention tc unmask the villains pandemonium broke loose. The member was wtmuel Plimsoll, and his name is remembered to-day witl gratitude by every seaman. He has made the overloading of ships illegal and ships are required to have certi ficatee, of seaworthiness. Plimsoll wai born at Bristol in 1824. In his seven teenth year he became clerk in a Shef field brewery and rose to a position o: trust with the firm. In 1854 he startec business on his own account in the coa trade in London, and it was soon after wards that he began to interest him self in the sailors of the mercantil' marine and the dangers to which the; •were exposed. Failing to induce Parliament to tak legislative steps to put an end to th evils caused by overloading and unsua worthiness, Plimsoll himself anterc Parliament. He was returned for DerD; in 1868, but it took him eight years 1. get the Merchant Shipping Act passec By this Act the Board of Trade wa empowered to detain, either for surve or permanently, any vessel deem-; unsafe, either on account of defectiv hull, machinery, or equipment, or b improper loading, or overloading; penalty not exceeding £300 was incurre by any owner who should ship a carg of grain in bulk exceeding two-thin! of the entire cargo, grain in bulk bein especially liable to shift on the voyage the amount of timber that might be ca ried as deck cargo was defined ar enforced by penalties; finally aver owner was ordered to mark upon tl sides of his ships, amidships, a circuit disc, 12in in diameter, with a horizonti line 18inlong drawn through its centr to mark the maximum load-line—that . the line down to which the vessel migi be loaded in salt water. This was not enough for Plimsoll ar his efforts to improve the lot of ti sailor continued until his death on Jui 4, 181)8.