LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1939, Page 19

LOOKING BACK.

MEMORABLE DATES.

ROYAL PRINCESS' BIRTHDAY.

CHARM, DIGNITY AND; POISE

(By MAX WHATMAN.)

Princess Elizabeth, elder daughter of Their Majesties the King send Queen and first in the line of succession to the Throne of England, will be 13 years old on Friday next. The young Princess is the darling of the Empire, and her birthday is a celebration of wide interest. Princess Elizabeth was born in the London house of Lord and Lady Strathmore, Bruton Street, on April 21, 1926.

It is interesting to recall that the Duke and Duchess of York, as her parents then were, had intended to rent a house so that the Duchess might live in London at this critical time, "but his late Majesty King George V. expressed disapproval that one who might be heir to the Throne should be born in a hired house. Immediately, Lord Strathmore put his town house at the disposal of the Duke and Duchess.

England has been delighted with the charm and dignity of the little girl who became the immediate heir to the Throne on the abdication in 1030 of

her uncle. King Edward VIII., now the Duke of Windsor. Even in this remote corner of the Empire, pictures have made the people familiar with the appearance of the Princess Elizabeth. Her poise is remarkable in one so young, but is an indication of the training she receives so that she may fittingly fill the high position which may some day be hers.

A Maori Rebel. Nearly 75 years ago, the wives of New Zealand settlers threatened unruly children with the name of Te Kooti, Haiihau leader, and the most bloodthirsty of all Maori rebels. Te Kooti died at Ohiwa, near Hokianga, on April 17, 1893. His memory will always be associated with the terrible massacre of unarmed men, women and children committed at Poverty Bay in November, 1868, by his band of escaped prisoners. These savages, led by Te Kooti, broke away from their detention in the Chatham Islands, and crossed to New Zealand by the schooner Rifleman. After the massacre Te Kooti and his men carried on a vigorous guerilla warfare against the colonial troops and friendly Maoris.

The rebels were successful for a time and gave the Government a great deal of trouble. Te Kooti was eventually defeated by Colonel Whitmore at Ngatapa and driven to take refuge in the Urewera country. His life was forfeit to the State, but in deference to his influence and to avoid trouble with the natives he was pardoned. This greatly incensed the friends and relatives of those who had fallen by his hand, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that bloodshed was avoided when Te Kooti, with a large band of armed followers, made a visit ot Poverty Bay some years later. With the exception of this pilgrimage, Te Kooti's later life was peaceable, and his last actiwas to advise some disgruntled natives not to'use force in an attempt to obtain redress for their grievances, but to have recourse to the law. San Francisco Earthquake.

Nature in her most awful mood struck a. devastating blow in California on April 18, 1906. At 5 a.m. on that grim day a terrible earthquake shook San Francisco. An appalling fire completed the work of destruction. The damage to property was estimated at £60,000,000, while—which was far more serious and lamentable —several thousand lives were lost. The true number, of the dead was never exactly known. Bodies continued to be found amongst the wreck-, age three months after the date of the earthquake. The disturbance was accompanied by a loud roaring or rumbling sound, which quite drowned the noise of falling buildings and the piteous cries of the wounded. The rumbling .and violent shaking of the earth continued for eight or nine seconds. Houses cracked and fell. Many entirely collapsed, especially in the poor quarter of the town, where the greatest loss of life occurred. The streets were torn up, and two storeys of the Valentia Hotel disappeared into a.gaping fissure, which then closed over the wreckage. Fire soon broke out in the ruined town and completed the work of destruction. Fourteen other towns in California shared the calamitous effects of the earthquake, and Los Angeles, nearly 500 miles distant, was visited by two shocks.