MR. JORDAN HONOURED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 117, 19 May 1937, Page 11

MR. JORDAN HONOURED

ROUND TABLE CLUB)

HONORARY KNIGHT ' f

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, April 111. The Knights of the Round liable Club;' which was founded in 1720^ and is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the world, conferred upom Mr. W. J. Jordan (High Commissioner*) the high honour of admitting him t» the legendary Round Table and appointed him an Honorary Knight Vice-presi-dent when they gave a dinner for him • ,last evening. Membership of the club Is strictly limited to 150, and there are 1 71 many applications and so fewvacan- '' ' cies that' aistiriguisned: 'p"eDp'l'i"'--who . ' • v l-re proposed as Knights in 1934 have r=*en admitted to the club oijly this year. Eight dinners are held annually when it is the custom to elect line guest of the evening to the honorary rank .conferred upon Mr. Jordan, a /privilege • which is highly appreciated. It isiike- ; ly that the guest of honour at fthe club s ' next function will be Prince (Chichibu, •■■ of Japan. Lord Queenborough.was lnjthe Seat of King Arthur last evenings He welcomed Mr. Jordan "before ■ anything ' else as an Englishman," andf congratulated him upon the -honour he would have at the Coronation of icarrying the New Zealand Standard. "King Arthur's Champion," the. Knight Vice-President A. C. R. Carter, who has proposed the toast of "King Arthur" at every banque'i for the past 27 years without, it is said, repeating himself, said that the world would , never forget the mighty display of Anzac: chivalry duringj the war in Britain's hour of need. , That Mr. Jordan mifeht be elected an Honorary Knight Vice-President, the club's standing, or/tiers were suspended. The High Commissioner took the oath requested, off all new members, and signed the, golden book, which contains the laames of many famous men. Among :past members are 1 such eminent names ?ls Addison, Steele, David Garrick, arid' Charles Dickons. CHIVALRY OP (THE MAORI. The chivalry of the Maori was the • subject- chosen by Tiffr. Jordan for his address, "for," he s:aid, 'the records of the grand old days} in New Zealand show that chivalry i,' in its military aspect at. least, encojuraged the love of war for its own srjike, and fostered an extravagant regarid for a fantastic show of personal dkring. Just as prowess with the sweird was the test of a fair knight ..of! chivalry, for the Maori to be a successful warrior was the normal and natural career." No' better example of the valour and endurance of the Rjtaori under fire could be given than tlaeir heroic defence at the siege at Orefeau when men and women chose cteath rather than submission. "The Maori/of old had qualities which would ha.ye fitted him eminently to join in fthe chivalric deeds of Arthur and his Knighthood in the early days of (the sixth century. Not a Maori tribe <of old but had its Lancelot—'Noblest brother and truest man'; Tristan, the bfald and careless hunter; Bors, the blurtt and honest; and Belvedere, the warm-hearted. But the counterpart 'of pure 'and unearthly Galahad was,> not produced until after the introduction of Christianity in the 19th century., The Maori race throughout has prodjneed men of honour. That . characteristic exists today. Early compacts are stijU honoured. The Maori in his true sellj is a man of honour. He is a loyal, British subject living in harmony wftth usY The people can be relied upon jto play, their part in peace and war, Ijo advance the welfare of ■ the Empire,, of which they are a proud, although far distant part." Other ; New Zealanders who spoke during iha evening were the Knight Lieutenant-Colonel R. T. Harper, and Mr. Hartjy Valder, the Dominion's Chief Rotjarian. The guests included Mr. H. Tturner (London manager of the New Zealand Fruit Board), Mr. A. E. Porritt (Surgeon to the King's Householid, and Mr. Francis Deverell. j The tfeputed ashes of Christopher ', Columbifes were deposited recently in a new rock-crystal urn in Cludad Tru- ] jillo (r/ominica). The urn, replacing :the original lead casket, was presented', by President Rafael Trujillo, ! in obs prvance of his birthday. High i ciiplomjatic officials attended the cerei monies at the Columbus tomb. The . | president asserted that the transfer was the first step in a programme that ■will ctnd with completion of a lighthousei memorial in 1942, the 450 th anniversary of ..the discovery, of America.