LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 14

LOOKING BACK.

SOME ANNIVERSARIES. CAPTAIN HOBSON'S LANDING. NINETY-NINE YEARS AGO. (By MAX WHATMAN*.) It will be ninety-nine year' to-morrow 'Inco Captain Hobson, R.V., New Zealand's first Governor, landed at Korornrekn. His first big task was the selection of a site for his capital. His original choice was Russell, where lie purchased an area of land. It was enon evident that he had made a mistake and lie travelled down the west const, of North A tick In lid, finding no Miltable site oil that then mint tract'no •■horo. Hi" final selection \\ us Auckland, Where he took ii|> his residence a year after hi* arrival ii, the Colony,

The crowning act. of ( upturn Hubson's brief term—in fact flic outstanding lichlevement of his life—was the accomplishment of the Treaty of Waitangi. Captain Hobson summoned a confercnce '>f native chiefs at Waitangi early in February, 1841. There he placed before them the celebrated treaty. It contained three articles—the first ceding to the Queen all the rights and powers of sovereignty over the whole territory ot Xew Zealand: the second guaranteeing to the chief* and their I rilie s all territorial right*, subject to. the exclusive right of pre-emption on ths part of the Crown to such lands as tlioy tiiit'llt dispose of and alienate: the third binding Her .Majestv to extend to the natives of Xew Tlealaud her royal protection and to give them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. This treaty was signed by upwards of five hundred natives, and thenceforward Xew Zealand became itritish territory. A year later Captain Hobson, worn by ill-health and the strain of hi« arduous position, died. His work was done.

Man With a Vision. "The man whose pen splintered the swords of Prussia. The mail before whoso picture the pennants of Itnlv hurned candles. The man who ga\e form to the highest political ideal tlmt ever oaptured the consciencc of the world. . .

Such was one of the tributes paid to the life and work of President Woodrow Wilson, 'wartime President 61' the United States of America, who died on February 2, fW4. He was the twenty •eighth President of the United States. He died at the age of 69- » broken man, a prophet dishonoured by his own country. President Wilson's greatest work was his unflagging endeavour to promote the cauaa oft world paaee. From Ms famous "Fourte«n Points" was evolved the covenant of the Ln|M of Katloos.

He Inspirsd the Treaty of Versailles, nad was tha dominant figure at the Psaoa OsafOrense. Tha world rsvsrad hha aa a maa actuated by tha highest idnls, although the ovaiita of to-day sanest that tha world has little raspaot far those same idsals. Be was criticised, for he irap not without his faults, but hia selfless devotion U^^^grsaUstof in ills ova country? When ha returned to America the Senate refused to ratify his actions at the Pease Conference. The people endorsed the aetiaa of Senate, aad tfce weary ftaeidaai, torn by tha werry of the war years and the burdens so bravely shouldered after, was crushingly defeated la 1920. Four years later he was deadL fact Office Savings Bank. On February 1, the Post Office Sav-| ings Baak in New Zealand will bo 72 years old. From small begtaniaas tha bank has grown to ba a factor to the lives of the majority of *ew Zealandera, AO of avery 100 of the population, including Manrli, holding account* in it. To<3ay there are 912 post offices open for the transaction of post office pavings hank busiasss and the total number af open accounts at March SI last was MO,M7. In IM4, the fliwt year for whlcfe statistics are available, there were *>">.717 depositors, with a total of £1,400,1 It to their credit. Last year fh« number of depositor* was 880,857, with to their credit. There was a steady increase In the average amount etanding to the credit of each <lopo«itor up to 1021, hut a practically continuous fall was recorded to 1932, when tha overage open account was £40. Tho average account last year was £flij, ' Tho substantial Increase* shown In the lust four year* are in conformity with the improvement in trnde and industry and the "easy" monctaiv . situation.

Hawke's Bay earthquake. Right years ago on Friday \ C w Zealand was shocked by the first reports •—all too meagre and alarmingly Indefinite—of the worst disaster in the Dominions history, the Hawke's Bay earthquake, which, in shattering the towns of Napier and Hastings, claimed the lives of more than 2uo people and caused millions of pounds' worth of damage. With all telegraph communication immediately cut off by the main shock at 1040 a.m., news as to the magnitude of the disaster was slow to penetrate to the rest of the country, and it was not until some days had passed that the appalling Joss of life was fully realised- Fire raged through the shattered streets, snd Xapier and Hastings were towns of death and horror. The whole showed the terrible signs of this awful convulsion of aaturs.

Frightful crevices yawned where roads had run. Thousands of tons of earth and rock crashed down from hillsides. The waters of Napier harbour receded. The face of the whole countryside wns changcd. In the towns the bodies of those trapped in buildings lay buried in the ruins.

To-day Napier and Hastings are smiling towns once more. Bravely the people set to work to restore their shattered homes and build new towns on the ruins of the old. The nightmare of that awful day eight years ago is not forgotten, and the present splendid towns of Napier and Hastings stand as permanent memorials to the courage of their citizens. ' Author of "Rookwood." An author who had a lively talent for plot and whose books have many attractive qualities was William Harrison Ainsworth, who was born on February 4, 1805. He was intended for the law, but married the daughter of a publisher, which, as most aspiring novelists would agree, placed bim in a very favourable position to try his linnrl at writing.

In 1834 lie published "Rookwood," which had ail immediate success, and fi om then on he devoted his attention to historical novels. He published about 40 such stories, the best known of which are "Jack Sheppard" (1830). "The Tower of London" (18401. "Guy Fawkes" (1841), "Old St. Paul's' "(1841) and "Windsor Castle"' (1843).

Ainsworth died in 1882. The glorification of Dick Ttirpin in "Rookwood" and Jack Sheppard in the novel that bears his name caused considerable outcry among straightlaced critics, and in his later novels Ainsworth confined himaelf to heroes less open to criticism. His style was nut without archaic affectation and awkwardness, but when his energies were aroused by a striking situation he could be brisk, vigorous and impres<ii\e. He did a great deal to interest the less-educated classes in the historical romances of their own country. and his tales were invariably instructive, clcan and manly.