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The Brussels Post, 1961-08-31, Page 6Now It happened that in 17114 a Navy captain, Samuel Wallia, hod discovered the island. of Tea hitt, the old home of the Maori, and. astronomers,. finding thiR would be a very good Ogee. anent which tp view the transit, per, suaded the British Government to send out an expedition. .Then it occurred to someone, why no4_ at the same time try to find cub something-about the great m* terious continent supposed to. 11,0 behind that lagged kit of coast line called New Zealand? ffaving resolved that it shout be so, the Government looke0. around 'to find a leader, an ficer. of the King's Navy who wag. Skilled in navigation, marine $nr.,. veying, astronomy. Such a inatt was found in, James Cook.,—Frond "The Story of New Zealand," hr A, H, Reed. LIFE LINE — Using what is ha. Iieved to. be the world's long. est personnel hoist, a Hiller 12-E helicopter demonstrates how it picks up a mare The line reels out to more than 150 feet, twice that of most hoista. Mexico will use four of the 'copiers •for lowering and re- trieving •geologipial engineers ie dense jungle areas, 'The hoist Is similar to the one which picked astronaut Gus Grissom out of the water after his space flight, Venus shows Way To New Zealand 10 p WELCOME CONTRAST '— Sweden's Sture Linner, U.N. Secretory General's special representa- time, gets ,hearty embrace from Congolese Premier Cyrille Adoula, right, It is a contrast to the harsh treatment which some U.N. officials Kaye undergone in the Congo. U. A. R, COMMEMORATIVE — Th ese two stamps have been issued by the United Arab Re- public in Cairo in honor of the ninth anniversary of the revolt which brought Nassar to power. The stamps feature Iwo facets of U.A.R. plannini9, "Land Ho!" A shrill Pry from the masthead of the Endeavour, on Saturday afternoon, 7th Oc- tober, 170.9 'brought the Watch below tumbling on deck, The lookout aloft was one of the youngest members of the crew, Nicholas Young, the surgeon's boy. That is about all, we know of him, but he must have felt a glow of honest pride when he was told that Captain Cook, evi- dently a bit of a wag, had written in, the ship's log, "Young Nick's Head," And there it is on our maps to-day, a lasting-reminder of the alertness of a ship's boy, the first Briton to catch a glimpse of New Zealand's shores, For a hundred and twenty- seven years — since the days of the Houndheads and Royalists — there had been nothing on the map to represent New Zealand except that crooked line drawn by Abel Tasman in 1642, What strange lands might lie beyond that beckoning line; no one knew, Though it was known to be un- connected with South America, many still thought it might be a fragment of the western shores of a great continent stretching far into the eastern Pacific. "It must be so," some wiseacre said, "Isn't it just plain common sense .that if 'nearly all, the, land were in the Northern Hemis- phere, the earth would lose its balance and topple over?" It is interesting to notice how one event often hangs ,upon an- other, both in large and stnall affairs. The real truth about New Zealand might not have been dis- covered by an Englishman but for something that had happened about a hundred.and thirty years before, A young Lancashire cur- ate of those days, Jeremiah Hors rocks by name, only twenty-two years of age, was an eager stu- dent of astronomy, One after- noon, by means of a half-crown telescope, trained on to a screen in a darkened room, he watch- ed a tiny speck crossing the sun, the first time by human eyes, It was a transit of Venus, seen Seventy-seven years later, a famous astronomer, Edmund. Hal- ley — the man who discovered Halley's comet — foretold that a transit of Venus 'would take place fifty-three years ahead — in 1769, Knowing that he would have been gathered to his 'fathers long before that, he left a message for 'those who should come after him, dharging them to see that; the for the first time by human eyes. -transit was properly observed. But why, it might ze asked, all this fuss about Venus crossing the sun? One reason was Chat it enabled. astronomers to calculate the distance from, the earth to the sun; but of course it is the business of scientists and explor- ers to discover all that can be learned about the wonders of the earth and skies, for a famous first run across the Atlantic. The second. Queen in her wartime role as a troopship often carried as many as 15,000 troops — in some contrast to the 115 passengers of the earlier Britannia, The Queens became and have remained the standard of luxury ocean travel, Their arrivals and departures are social events well covered by the press. The combination of luxury, comfort and ,prestige associatede with ocean travel on the big lin., ers is the main factor that has kept these ships running, Despite the remarkable increase in trans- Atlantic air passenger travel, the liners continue to ply their routes and turn a profit. What the liners sell is relaxa- tion a capital R. While this is true of the trans-oceanic runs, it is even more true of the cruise ships, As a man's income increas- es, he looks for something new and exciting to spend his money on. He probably already has a second car. The more exotic rec- reations appeal to him — a 'win: ter vacation in the south, his own ;powerboat, a tour of Europe, or a cruise — very often a cruise, Cruises today come in all shapes, sizes, lengths and prices. Typical of the luxury liners which are serving in this popu- lar field is Cunard's Caronia, ad= vertised as the largest major ship Quilt especially for cruising, No ferry boat, the Caronia is 715 feet long and 91 feet in the beam. She is a "one-class" liner, and every stateroom, regardless of its cost, has air-conditioning, private bath or shOwer and telephone. This year she will cruise the Mediterranean in May and Sep- tember, Scandinavia and the North Sea in July, the Mediter- ranean and the Black 'Sea in Oc- tober and November, Of the lat- ter. cruise, the company asks: "Where else can you get this kind of bargain — visiting 19 countries far as little as $1100?" Liners today are for those who want to relax and escape, to get away from the desk telephone end the In and Out baskets. In Samuel Cunard's time, the ships were slower and the passengers were in a hurry, About the only item that has remained col-latent is the idea of regular schedulea, and that was Cunard's contribu- tion, He made the ships run on time, — By Charles R, Graham in "Imperial °always", to raise sufficient local capital to allow him to put in a bid. He failed in this but went to Eng- land to see what he could do there. In London he was insuc- cessful; in Liverpool he was un- successful; in Glasgow he found support and aid, Cunard was able to organize a company which undertook to build and operate four steam- ships which would. run regularly between Liverpool, Halifax and, Boston. They would sail each fortnight carrying mail. The Brit- ish Government signed a seven year contract with Cunard's firm, and the first 'properly scheduled service across the wide Atlantic was thus begun. In July of 1840, Cunard's first ship, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool. Despite adverse winds, she arrived in Halifax after 13 days. A day later she docked. in Boston, where her captain was presented with what is probab- ly still the largest giver cup In the world — a gigantic trophy for the buying of which some 2,300 Bos tonians, subscribed money, Boston was excited over the advent of a regular steamer service — Samuel Curiara (who travelled on the Britannia's first trip) got some 1.800 invitations to dinner after the maiden arrival of his ship, They lionized him in. London, too, but Samuel Ctinard contin- ued to live in Halifax until 1848, when 'he took up residence in England, Not too long afterward, like many other Canadians of the period, he became a baronet — Sir Samuel. Cunard, The same creative spirit that led Cunard to think of ocean transport as something that ought to be put on a firm schedule has' kept the steamship line he found- ed hi the forefront of world ship- ping through the yeara. The Britannia which sailed from Liverpool in 1840 was a lit- tle over 200 feet long; she could carry 115 passengers acid 225 tons of cargo, and she moved al- ong at something over eight knots. Her hull was wooden and though she was a steamship •ahe looks quaint to modern eyes for she had paddle wheels, By the 1850's the Cunarders were being built with iron hulls, and by the 1880's they were being built of steel arid had lest the auxiliary sails that were a feature of all the earlier vessels, Paddle Wheels gave way to propeller;, arid snoods went up to A dentriencia101.0 14 knots of so; Through war and, peace the Cunard linens of each ere served Well. Perhaps the grandeef .day came in 1934 when the great new' Queen Mary waS launched at Clydebank, She is aurpasted day wily by Weis elates' Main, the Cateeesa Elizabeth, 11. feet longer, VAleli slid dome the launching *Oa trasetimeaseeteOse in 1940 Those Teen- gers /Are Still At It Bobby-soxers by the squealing thousands flocked to a dance casino in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., to a tourist compound at Weeki Wachee Spring, Fle e and to New York City's normally sophistitat, ecl Lewisohn Stadium. The re- spective attractions; Canadian= born singer Paul Anka, who ob- served his 20th birthday by of- or a handshake to some 10,000 Buffalo gals, most of whom exercised both options; hip- flipping Elvis Presley, who held 2,000 Weekl-whacky admir- ers in thrall. and bestowed four kisses on 17-year-old St, Peters= burg Times reporter tyrin Chalto (her awed appraisal of Elvisi "The sincerest guy I ever met of kissed") and Classical' pianist Van Clibtirii, whose ear-piercing tOt ieohn reception set New York Times critic Alan Rich to coring, Rich Wrote testily: Iy musical considerations make it difficult to fathom why (Cli, appearance') should out- draw other notable 'events by 3 to 1," the only We !tine* whO /mild( -striate in it Mate insuitiete to theaati the top Was the intaelatthe of the lie-Yes Canadian founded World-Famous Steamship Line Had' you been a passenger on the North Cape Cruise of Cunard's RMS Caronia last Aug-. ust,' you would have been, pre- sented at dinner-time one even- ing with an imaginative dinner menu featuring sketches of some of the great mariners of history— John Cabot, Christopher Colum- bus, Amerigo Vespucci, Sir Wal- ter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Henry Hudson and others, Doubt- less in modesty, the publishers had failed to include a vignette of Samuel Cunard, the founder of the Cunard Line, Cunard was no adventurer or explorer, but he tamed the North Atlantic because he was the first man to implement the idea that given adequate navigational aids — steamships could run as regularly as railway trains. There seems to be a certain amount of confusion about the origin of the founder of the Cun- ard Line. The fact that the two biggest ships are named after British queens probably gives a lot of Britons the notion that such an enterprise could only have been started by a Briton. ,And since the big Queens spend most of their time sailing in and out of the port of New 'York, a lot of" Americans are convinced that Cunard. is an American line, and a fine example of Yankee ingen- uity. Part of the mystery might be cleared up by considering the sign of a Halifax firm dealing in coal and fuel oil: S. Cunard and Company, The firm now has no connection with the huge Cunard Steam-Ship Company Ltd. But it was founded by Samuel Cunard, the same man whose dream is fulfilled today in the biggest and. fastest passenger liners crossing the Atlantic. He was a Canadian, born, and raised in this country, Samuel Cunard's father, how- ever, was originally an inhabitant of the southern part of North America, Like many other early citizens of Canada, he was a United Empire Loyalist who came to Halifax at the time of the Colonial Insurrection later known as the American Revolu- tion. YOung Samuel was demonstrat- ing his sharp business sense when he was barely into his teem. He grew up in Halifax and soon be- came one of the most important citizens of the town. These were the days when Halifax was a city of merchant princes, fishermen and shipbuild- ers, and one of the great ports of the world. It was early in the 1800's, when the wooden ships of Nova Scotia sailed to all parts of the world. The enterprise for which Sam- uel Cunard is today most famous was not even initiated until he was past fifty, Before that he had lived in Halifax and prospered not only as a merchant but also as an officer in the militia, a fig- ure in society, and even served as Administrator of Bounty fot Destitute Emigrants. He was a meniber of the local legislature, arid a man of influence. But 'even the Most influential man in Hata. fax, in these days, could do both- big about the irregularity in the shipping of mail and merchandise across the ocean. To improve that 'Situation, Samuel Canard had to go to England. It came about this way. Urged liy several eminent Nova Scotiaris of the time — including Joseph Howe and Thomas Halibuiton — the British Orrtreeninciit advertis- ed for tenders for somebody to provide a regular passenger and • service bete-men Britain and. Nova Scotia, Samuel Ctinard, readiest the advertisement, tried to them, while the lady of the house sneaks the garbage out the front door, because it is most handy for the garbage non, and the patio is not used at all, be- cause you cannot get to it With- out going manned the house. Once privacy is given its proper place — that is, first place — iu our thinking, we can tackle other more specific problems like the one of getting people to the front door without confusion. The us- ual handling of this is familiar: we drive in from the street on a driveway the width of the garage, dismount, and walk up a (slight- ly curved) path cut in the lawn to a front door, flanked by bushes, and a couple of feet higher than the garage floor. But suppose that instead of dealing with four or five elements separately — the drive, walk, lawn, planting, etc, — this were thought of as one thing — en- trance? This can be done by making the ground between 'the garage and the front door all one level and one surface. If the front door were higher than the garage level, we could have a series of impressively broad steps up to it. There would then be no mistake about where guests were expected to approach the house. We would have an area, perhaps large enough to park cars off the street, instead of a single driving strip, And if the planting were part of the pri- vacy-baffle sequence I spoke of as spaced throughout the proper- ty, we would end up with an en- closed entrance court, and in- stead of the garbage cans, or the electric meter, or a maze of walks, grass strips, drives and shubbery each demanding at- tention, we would be aware of one large space-- the entrance. It might even have dignity. And suppose we carry gale same type of thinking into the back yard. Instead of that side- walk-concrete slab (9' by 12' or 12' by 20') which the contractor called a patio, suppose we have a space for family activity. The surface is not important. It can be brick, flagstone, pebbles, asphalt, or concrete — whatever suits the activity, But, most im- portant, suppose this space were also part of the privacy-baffle so that many activities — outdoor eating,- games, services, chil- dren's play, vegetable growing, etc. — are all together, yet prop- erly separate, accessible, and communicating, We then not only have a sequence of privacy-baf- fles, hut also a sequence of spaces — volumes of space — some larger, some smaller, bit part of each other, part of the dwel- hng, and part of the total land- scape. This could be the basis of an American landscape tradition; It is simple, and sensible . James C. Rose, in. Landscape (Santa. Fe, N.M.) "The hest way to keep from growing old is to work hard," says a physician, Thanke for the warning, dotter. "Sacred Cows" lto Our Landscaping lo the village nearest to the Pennsylvania country where I gTow.lan, the houses were white. and the lawns austere — Com- Ate right to the sidewalk, Am- erican to the core In the midst of this, there lived an Italian ianrily who didn't understand the necessity for stIch, landscape treatment They had closed off their property from the street by a tall hedge as a kind of pri- vacy-baffle. But now and then you could get glimpses through or over the grape arbor and the fruit trees that lined the hedge — The thing I remember best was the noises: the sound of chil- Oxen at play, of intimate laugh- ter, and music from a long since out-dated phonograph, Warmth and simplicity seemed to filter through the high enclosure, mak- ing the garden like a happy oasis, And although the prim white houses and lawns which sur- rounded the house of the Italians had neither enclosure nor pri- vacy, they had another kind of bawler looming high indeed — the barrier of conformity, that seemed to conceal the true rich- twee and vitality of the American scene, as if it were not quite proper, or safe, to use and enjoy the landscape. Nor is this American tendency to conform limited to certain regions or climates; the recalcit- rant lawn and the odious founda- tion planting are forever with 'us from Florida to Oregon — a sacred cow; which we feel com- pelled to have and hold to any sacrifice. I use the word sacrifice advisedly because it is well known that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, and I feel that the 'lawn and shrubbery habit in landscaping is actually prevent- ing something exciting - and in- teresting from taking place. There is one consistent attitude of the average American home owner that seems to me to pre- vent good landscaping. This is the direct approach. The direct approacr. sounds like a virtue, and certainly typically American, but in landscaping it is naive, For instance, having permitted the electric meter to be placed on the front wall of the house, the owner attempts to cover it with a bush or a vine; having permitted an ugly; raised founda- tion (always for the most "prac- tical" reasons) the owner feels that the only answer is to hide it with a sea of shrubbery; having given no thought to how guests will arrive at the front door, how the garbage will be collected, how service will be directed to the kitchen, or how bath the liv- ing rooms and the kitchen will connect with the patio, he ends up in a state of confusion, It is quite common in recent develop- ment homes that all guests must arrive at the kitchen door, be- cause it is the only one accessible CAA'S NEW MONEY — These are the new pesos !Ala booed by Cuba's Fidel Castro. The one-peso bill, above pictures Cuban patriot Jose Marti on one. side, Castro's 1969 march into Havana on the reverse. The five-peso vote, below, show's Antonio Mageo, another Cuban patriots feverse side depicts Castro's invasion of Cuba in 1956, 111 ,11 1 ii STILI LOOlO, PRETTY $1-1 FYI/ kid< Root, $5, 'fbettibt light- weight chninpion of the word,. dentomiretet, the .m.etetc& he 'used to 1903 in Defealf to .beat kid McCoy to badorite- the first thetbpion of the world in his division., He held 'the title Untit 1907. ,Min ittifirtitav6tt in New York in the Curicirci . linen Queen .8liatibella en route to his hone hi tot, •Angelet .taterra trip .td. 15aelas-