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129-741: Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its history—36 cents in 1928. He disappeared at sea while attempting to sail the Chinese junk Sea Dragon across the Pacific Ocean from Hong Kong to the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, California. Richard Halliburton

258-453: A Chinese province was signified by wearing a mandarin hat-pin made of ruby. Lower ranks were signified by hat-pins of coral , sapphire , lapis lazuli , white jade , gold , and silver . After becoming free of Chinese rule and setting up its own independent monarchy , Vietnam emulated the Chinese system of mandarins in its civil service . The last mandarins in history were in service of

387-498: A slow roll the moment he realized that Halliburton had not fastened his seat belt. Stephens later became chief test pilot of the Northrop Flying Wing , which evolved into today's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber . The around-the-world trip had cost Halliburton over $ 50,000, plus fuel. In the first year, the book, entitled The Flying Carpet (after his valiant plane) earned him royalties of $ 100,000, in those depression-era days

516-515: A 21-year-old student at Juilliard , Dartmouth "lads" John Rust Potter, Robert Hill Chase, and Gordon Ellicott Torrey. The crew composition would change; engineer's assistant Richard L. Davis would bow out, ship's cook James Sligh, and able-bodied seamen Ralph Granrud and Benjamin Flagg would be added and a last-minute entry, student globetrotter Velman Fitch of the University of Minnesota. A Chinese messboy,

645-455: A Chinese bosun and two Chinese sailors completed the crew. After he inspected a number of junks along the China coast, finding most either too expensive or wholly unseaworthy, Halliburton decided to have a junk built. Although it took less than six weeks to complete; its construction was marked by cost overruns, delays, engineering errors, and what Halliburton perceived as the primitive work habits of

774-534: A Wenchow-style junk, 75 ft (23 m) in length, modified to Halliburton's specifications and built in the shipyards of Kowloon by shipwright Fat Kau. Its stern was emblazoned with a colorful dragon, its interior hull was equipped with a diesel engine ; the Sea Dragon , a dramatic symbol of East meeting West, was to be an attraction at the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in San Francisco (at Treasure Island ); there, after its three-month voyage across

903-535: A bohemian lifestyle. Halliburton's most enduring relationship was with freelance journalist Paul Mooney , with whom he often shared living quarters and who assisted him with his written work. French police reports, dated 1935, noted the famed traveler's homosexual activity when in Paris at about the time of his planned crossing by elephant over the Alps: "Mr Halliburton is a homosexual well known in some specialized establishments. He

1032-548: A career as a lecturer. Leaving college temporarily during 1919, Halliburton became an ordinary seaman and boarded the freighter Octorara that July, bound from New Orleans to England. He toured historic places in London and Paris, but soon returned to Princeton in early 1920 to finish his schooling. His trip inspired in him a lust for even more travel ; seizing the day became his credo. The words of Oscar Wilde , who in works like The Picture of Dorian Gray enjoined experiencing

1161-400: A community as reasons not to presume death. A person can be declared legally dead after they are exposed to "imminent peril" and fail to return—as in a plane crash, as portrayed in the movie Cast Away . In these cases courts generally assume the person was killed, even though the usual waiting time to declare someone dead has not elapsed. Sentell also says, "The element of peril accelerates

1290-533: A further hint of career evolution. Publisher James O'Reilly, who reissued The Royal Road to Romance to celebrate the centenary of Halliburton's birth, characterized the author-adventurer thus: "From the Jazz Age through the Great Depression to the eve of World War II, he thrilled an entire generation of readers." He was "clever, resourceful, undaunted, cheerful in the face of dreadful odds, ever-optimistic about

1419-539: A household name associated with romantic travel. Halliburton was acquainted with swashbuckling cinema star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. , who was also a world traveler. Halliburton himself, though several times approached about film versions of his adventures (notably by Fox Film Corporation in 1933 for The Royal Road to Romance ), only appeared in one movie, the Walter Futter -produced semi-documentary India Speaks (1932; re-released in 1947 as Bride of Buddha or Bride of

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1548-401: A new Register of Presumed Deaths, and has the same effect as a registration of death. Death is taken to occur on (a) the last day that they could have been alive (if the court is satisfied that they are dead), or (b) the day seven years after the date they were last seen (if death is presumed by the elapse of time). In England and Wales , if the authorities believe there should be an inquest ,

1677-406: A people's court, the people's court shall declare the death of the person if the conditions for a declaration of death as set out in this Law are met. The Chinese law specifically talks about the return of the absentee. The validity of the previous declaratory judgment of death is not imperiled by the sheer fact of return. The absentee or interested party (or parties) must apply for the revocation of

1806-404: A person disappears during a war, the period of disappearance shall be counted from the day when the war ends or from the date of absence as confirmed by the relevant authority. Where a natural person falls under any of the following circumstances, an interested party may apply to a people's court for a declaration of death: Where a person has disappeared from an accident, and it is impossible for

1935-590: A person lived in Scotland on the date they were last known to be alive, authorities can use this act to declare the person legally dead after the standard period of seven years. The declaration of a missing person as legally dead falls under the jurisdiction of the individual states unless there is a reason for the federal government to have jurisdiction (e.g. military personnel missing in action ). People who disappear are typically called missing , or sometimes absent . Several criteria are evaluated to determine whether

2064-691: A person may be declared legally dead: Professor Jeanne Carriere, in "The Rights of the Living Dead: Absent Persons in Civil Law " (published in the Louisiana Law Review ), stated that as of 1990, the number of such cases in the United States was estimated at between 60,000 and 100,000. According to Edgar Sentell, a retired senior vice-president and general counsel of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, almost all states recognize

2193-405: A person was dead if, after seven years: This was a rebuttable presumption at common law – if the person subsequently appeared, the law no longer considered them dead. Otherwise, courts could have granted leave to applicants to swear that a person was dead (within or after the seven-year period). For example, an executor may have made such an application so they could have been granted probate for

2322-468: A popular book in its day and one cited in F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby . Regarding marriage and matrimonial customs—what he calls "the sex-mysteries," Halliburton could be both matter-of-fact and ingenuously outspoken. In Borneo he notes that for the Dyaks "free love is not only accepted, but encouraged," and, after describing their courtship rituals, remarks that "in this utterly natural society there

2451-401: A presumption of death may arise after a person has been missing under certain circumstances and a certain amount of time. In most jurisdictions, obtaining a court order directing the registration to issue a death certificate in the absence of a physician's certification that an identified individual has died is usually necessary. However, if there is circumstantial evidence that would lead

2580-599: A reasonable person to believe that the individual is deceased on the balance of probabilities , jurisdictions may agree to issue death certificates without any such order. For example, passengers and crew of the RMS Titanic who were not rescued by the RMS Carpathia were declared legally dead soon after Carpathia arrived at New York City. More recently, the State of New York issued death certificates for those who perished in

2709-529: A remarkably large sum. Barbara H. Schultz's Flying Carpets, Flying Wings – The Biography of Moye Stephens (2011), besides recounting the Flying Carpet Expedition from a flier's viewpoint and documenting Stephens' (1906–1995) contributions to aviation history, contains Stephens' extended reports of the adventure. With rare glimpses into the travel writer's art, these give historic balance to Halliburton's often romanticized renditions. Early in 1934

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2838-539: A representative of the Feakins Agency heard him deliver a talk, and soon Halliburton was given bookings for lectures. Despite a high-pitched voice and occasional discomfort on the details, Halliburton displayed such enthusiasm and recounted such vivid recreations of his often bizarre foreign encounters that he became popular with audiences. On the strength of his lecturing and increasing celebrity appeal, publisher Bobbs-Merrill , whose editor-in-chief David Laurance Chambers

2967-500: A revered place, such as the Taj Mahal. Acting as sort of an emcee, or performing some often cleverly garish stunt, he recalled that person and invoked a place associated with him; by so doing, he escorted readers to a different time and locale, with some reflective asides added into his narrative for perspective. Accordingly he duplicated Hannibal's crossing of the Alps by elephant – naming

3096-477: A ride at the last minute. The first few weeks of the voyage, if uneventful, went according to plan. Calamity struck on March 23, three weeks out to sea, when the ship headed into a typhoon approximately 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west of Midway, where it was due to call on April 3. The closest friendly ship to the junk was the liner President Coolidge, 400 miles (640 km) away, and 1,180 miles (1,900 km) west of Midway Island , itself battling huge seas. It

3225-612: A ride in the airplane; in neighbouring Iraq, they gave the young Crown Prince Ghazi a ride, flying him over his school yard. In India, Halliburton visited the Taj Mahal , which he had first visited in 1922. In Nepal, as The Flying Carpet flew past Mount Everest , Halliburton stood up in the open cockpit of the plane and took the first aerial photograph of the mountain, and to the delight of an amazed Maharajah of Nepal , Stephens and Beinhorn performed daring aerobatics. In Borneo, Halliburton and Stephens were feted by Sylvia Brett , wife of

3354-415: A spacious living room and dining room and three bedrooms: one for Halliburton, which featured a wall-sized map of the world, one for Mooney and one for Levy. Because of its position, perched 400 feet (120m) above a sheer canyon, it was called "Hangover House" by Mooney, and this title was cast into a retaining wall on the site. Writer Ayn Rand , who visited the house in 1937 while still an unknown writer,

3483-590: A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice , the number of requests received each year is fewer than ten, but few of these are refused. Without a body, an inquest relies mostly on evidence provided by the police, and whether senior officers believe the missing person is dead. One notable person presumed dead under the Act is the 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), who was last seen alive in 1974 (although there have been numerous alleged sightings since that time), and whose death certificate

3612-689: A violinist, and was a fair golfer and tennis player. In 1915 he developed a rapid heartbeat and spent some four months in bed before its symptoms were relieved. This included some time at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, run by the eccentric and innovative John Harvey Kellogg , whose philosophy of care featured regular exercise, sound nutrition, and frequent enemas . In 1917, following an apparent bout of rheumatic fever , Wesley Jr., thought strong and in fine health, suddenly died. At 5'7" (170 cm) and about 140 pounds (64 kg), Halliburton

3741-673: A week for 26 weeks, "to speak on a beer program". The Memphis Commercial Appeal , and newspapers in Milwaukee, Kansas City, Columbus, and Toronto published his syndicated stories. At the end of the year, Halliburton returned to Europe to fulfill his dream of emulating Hannibal by crossing the Alps on an elephant - one chosen for the task from a Paris zoo named "Miss Dalrymple", going from Martigny (Switzerland) to Aosta (Italy). The following year Bobbs-Merrill published Halliburton's Seven League Boots , filled with his latest adventures and arguably

3870-514: Is also suggested by his skilled interview with the executioner of the Romanovs , the last ruling dynasty of Russia. Distinguished by their readerliness, the essays on historic persons which appeared in both his books and newspaper articles, specifically of Spanish–American War hero Captain Richard Hobson and of Haitian leader Henri Christophe , show the skills of a natural biographer, and offer

3999-507: Is believed to have based the "Heller House" in The Fountainhead (1943) upon Halliburton's house. On September 23, 1938, Halliburton boarded the SS ; President Coolidge , bound for Hong Kong. From Hong Kong he intended to sail a Chinese junk across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco. The junk, named the Sea Dragon ( Chinese : 海龍 ; pinyin : Hǎi Lóng ), was an essentially

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4128-814: Is generally applied to the officials appointed through the imperial examination system. The English term comes from the Portuguese mandarim (spelled in Old Portuguese as mandarin, pronounced [ˌmɐ̃dɐˈɾĩ] ). The Portuguese word was used in one of the earliest Portuguese reports about China: letters from the imprisoned survivors of the Tomé Pires embassy, most likely written in 1524, and in Castanheda 's História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses (c. 1559). Matteo Ricci , who entered mainland China from Portuguese Macau in 1583, also said

4257-571: Is in the habit of soliciting on Saint-Lazare Street " (near the station of the same name ). Halliburton admired English poet Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), whose beauty and patriotic verse captivated a generation. Halliburton intended to write his biography and kept ample notes for the task, interviewing in person or corresponding with prominent British literary and salon figures who had known Brooke, including Lady Violet Asquith Bonham-Carter , Walter de la Mare , Cathleen Nesbitt , Noel Olivier, Alec Waugh , and Virginia Woolf . Halliburton never began

4386-475: Is no such thing as prostitution or repression." Halliburton's love of the world's natural wonders, and such monuments of mankind that seemed best to compliment those wonders, derives in part from the Romanticism of poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge . His admiration may have been piqued by his exposure at Princeton to English Professor Henry Van Dyke , a popular essayist and poet of his time who

4515-429: Is satisfied that the circumstances suggest that the missing person's death is either virtually certain, or highly probable. If such an order is made and not successfully appealed, it has the same status as a death certificate. It takes ten years to declare a missing person dead. After ten years from someone's disappearance, a motion to declare the person legally dead can be filed in court. Declaration of presumed death

4644-471: Is stipulated in articles 29–32 of the Polish Civil Code and pronounced as a court judgment. In general, a period of 10 years is required to pass for a legal declaration to be made, with the following exceptions: A court's declaration of death comes into effect retroactively and is subject to legal consequences from before the date of the declaration, going back to the assumed date of death, as declared by

4773-458: Is thought to have taken place in international waters or in a location without a centralized and reliable police force or vital statistics registration system, other laws may apply. The Chinese law treats declaratory judgment of death and disappearance differently. Relevant provisions can be found in Section 3 ("Declaration of Disappearance and Declaration of Death"), Chapter 2 ("Natural Persons") of

4902-584: The Bell Syndicate Newspapers contracted with newspapers throughout the United States, beginning with the Boston Globe , to publish weekly feature stories prepared by Halliburton. About one thousand words each with pictures, ultimately fifty stories resulted. Among these were stories about the Seri Indians of Southern California , Fort Jefferson , where Dr. Samuel Mudd , convicted of conspiracy in

5031-654: The French Foreign Legion , and continuing via Cairo and Damascus , with a side trip to Petra . In Persia (now Iran) they met German aviator Elly Beinhorn , who was grounded by mechanical problems. They assisted her and then worked out shared itineraries. Later, Halliburton wrote a foreword to her book Flying Girl about the adventures she had in the air. In spite of being exhausted, and their plane becoming less safe, Stephens and Halliburton continued their eastward journey. In Persia, they took Crown Princess Mahin Banu for

5160-581: The General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China enacted in 2017. Where a natural person has disappeared for two years, an interested party may apply to a people's court for a declaration of absence of the natural person. The period of disappearance of a natural person shall be counted from the day when a person is not heard from, until the day the individual is recovered or located. If

5289-585: The Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. Based on the examinations of imperial China , the gwageo first arose in Unified Silla , gained importance in Goryeo , and were the centerpiece of most education in the Joseon dynasty . The tutelage provided at the hyanggyo , seowon , and Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the gwageo and their subsequent career in government service. Under Joseon law, high office

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5418-774: The Last Emperor of China , to King Feisal al Husain of Iraq and his son the Crown Prince. Over time Halliburton's social and political views shifted. An early letter (1923) expressed his "virulent antipathy for democracy as practiced in America" and a hatred "for the laboring class", but these views contrast with the plight he shared with the abused prisoners at Devil's Island , and is evident in some early maritime adventures of working alongside rough-hewn seamen. In "Straight Talk From Russia," in Seven League Boots (1935), he contrasted

5547-794: The Panama Canal , his retracing the track of Hernán Cortés ' conquest of Mexico, and his enactment in full goat-skin costume, of the role of Robinson Crusoe in Alexander Selkirk's , "cast away" on the island of Tobago . Animals figure prominently in this and many other of Halliburton's adventures. Halliburton's friends during this time included movie stars, writers, musicians, painters, and politicians, including writers Gertrude Atherton and Kathleen Norris , Senator James Phelan , philanthropist Noël Sullivan , and actors Ramón Novarro and Rod La Rocque . Casual acquaintances were many, as lectures, personal appearances (notably to promote India Speaks ), syndicated columns, and radio broadcasts made him

5676-463: The SS  President Coolidge , along with others noted that the masts and sails were far too heavy, and that the poop deck , meant to house a radio cabin and galley, was 10 feet (3.0 m) higher than befit a junk of its size. The first attempted voyage in February was forced to turn back on the 14th after a week at sea, due to an illness among the crew. For medical reasons, Potter stayed behind after

5805-520: The September 11 attacks within days of the tragedy. The same is usually true of soldiers missing after a major battle , especially if the enemy keeps an accurate record of its prisoners of war . If there is not sufficient evidence that death has taken place, a legal declaration of such may take longer, as simple absence does not necessarily prove death. The requirements for declaring an individual legally dead may vary depending on numerous details including

5934-541: The State of Vietnam (1949–1955). The Confucian examination system in Vietnam was established in 1075 under the Lý dynasty Emperor Lý Nhân Tông and lasted until the Nguyễn dynasty Emperor Khải Định (1919). Elephants were used to guard the examination halls until 1843 when the emperor said it was no longer necessary. Korea adopted the civil service examinations called Gwageo under

6063-652: The United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries . The speech standard of the Ming and Qing empires was called "the Mandarin language" by European missionaries, translating the Mandarin Chinese : 官話 ; pinyin : Guānhuà ; lit. 'language of the officials', which was current already in the Ming dynasty. The term "Mandarin" is also used to refer to modern Standard Mandarin Chinese , which evolved out of

6192-656: The White Rajah of Sarawak . They gave her a ride, making Ranee Sylvia the first woman to fly in that country. At the Rajang River , they took the chief of the Dyak head hunters for a flight; he gave them 60 kilos of shrunken heads , which they dared not refuse but dumped as soon as possible. They were the first Americans to fly to the Philippines; after arriving in Manila on April 27,

6321-820: The nasalized pronunciation of the Portuguese. In the 16th century, before the term mandarin became widespread in European languages, the word Loutea (with various spelling variations) was often used in Europeans' travel reports to refer to Chinese scholar-officials. It is frequently used, for example, in Galeote Pereira 's account of his experiences in China in 1548–1553, which was published in Europe in 1565, or (as Louthia ) in Gaspar da Cruz ' Treatise of China (1569). C. R. Boxer says

6450-503: The nine-rank system and the final form of the mandarin emerged. Mandarins were the founders and core of the Chinese gentry . A governmental office (for example, a central government department or a provincial civil governorate) headed by a mandarin is called a yamen . The mandarins were replaced with a modern civil service after the fall of the Qing dynasty . During the Qing dynasty, the governor of

6579-519: The "Richard Halliburton of the occult," William Seabrook (1884-1945) ( Jungle Ways ) commanded nearly as wide a readership. For contemporaries Thomas Wolfe , F. Scott Fitzgerald , Corey Ford and Ernest Hemingway , Halliburton held some literary (and for humorist Ford, some satiric) appeal. Writers Paul Theroux , Jim Harrison and Susan Sontag , among others, acknowledged debts of gratitude for his influence on their work. Television news celebrity and author Walter Cronkite , who heard him lecture in

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6708-409: The 'Gate of Propitious Destiny,' one of the entrances to the palace, and halted before it. Torches flared. There was subdued confusion and whispers. mandarins and court officials hurried back and forth. Slowly, darkly, the great gates swung open,—I could look inside the courtyard and see the blazing avenue of lamps down which the procession would move up to the throne room where the emperor waited. Into

6837-402: The Chinese carpenters, issues prompting him to write, "If any one of my readers wishes to be driven rapidly and violently insane, and doesn't know how to go about it, let me make a suggestion: Try building a Chinese junk in a Chinese shipyard during a war with Japan." From the start, funding for the project was a main problem. The corporate sponsors whom Halliburton approached thought the risks of

6966-506: The Coast Guard to send a search vessel. A Yugoslavian freighter, SS  Recina , was the first to arrive at the last reported position of Sea Dragon , on April 16. Later in May, an extensive US Navy search with several ships and scout planes, including USS  Astoria , scouring 152,000 square miles (390,000 km) over the course of many days, found no trace of the junk or the crew, and

7095-566: The East ). In 1930 Halliburton hired pioneer aviator Moye Stephens on the strength of a handshake for no pay, but unlimited expenses—to fly him around the world in an open cockpit biplane . The modified Stearman C-3B was named the Flying Carpet after the magic carpet of fairy tales, subsequently the title of his 1932 best-seller. They embarked on "one of the most fantastic, extended air journeys ever recorded" taking 18 months to circumnavigate

7224-630: The Halliburton family gravesite. His ghost is reputed to haunt his final residence, Hangover House , completed in 1938 by architect William Alexander Levy in Laguna Beach . Halliburton never married. In his teens he dated several young women and, as revealed in letters to them, was infatuated with at least two of them. As an adult, his companions were chiefly male. Among those romantically linked to him were film star Ramón Novarro and philanthropist Noël Sullivan , both of whom enjoyed, as Halliburton did,

7353-465: The King's Tomb (one of a series) subtitled "a Richard Halliburton Adventure" (Green E-Book, 2019). Also of interest is Ruth Wolff's novel The Sea Dragon (Xlibris, c2021). The World War II liberty ship SS  Richard Halliburton was named in his honor. Declared death in absentia A presumption of death occurs when an individual is believed to be dead, despite the absence of direct proof of

7482-598: The Memorial Tower at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Architecture historian and writer Ted Wells considers Hangover House, which Halliburton commissioned, to be one of the "best modern houses in the United States". Nearly a quarter century after Halliburton's disappearance, his father donated $ 400,000 to build an imposing bell tower . It was dedicated in 1962 as the Richard Halliburton Memorial Tower;

7611-512: The Oakland and Golden Gate bridges as well as the cultures of the Pacific rim. Despite having an interest in sailing craft since childhood, Halliburton had little practical navigation experience. Seeking capable leadership, he hired veteran mariner John Wenlock Welch as his captain and Henry von Fehren as his engineer. Besides Halliburton's secretary Paul Mooney, the initial crew included George Barstow III,

7740-496: The Pacific, it would dock and, for a small admission fee, take fair-goers on excursions around San Francisco Bay. According to Halliburton's first cousin, whom he visited in 1938, the trip was meant, in part, to renew interest in Halliburton whose fame at the time was in decline. Biographers credit the idea for the voyage to Walter Gaines Swanson , who, as the Exposition's public relations manager, promoted its goal of celebrating both

7869-617: The Panama Canal, climbed the Matterhorn and Mount Fuji (achieving its first documented winter ascent), and twice he descended into the Mayan Well of Death, the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza . The occasional trouble that he received from authorities only contributed to the excitement of his adventures. Such run-ins occurred when he breached security to take photos of the guns at Gibraltar and

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7998-534: The Portuguese used the word. The Portuguese word was thought by many to be related to mandador ("one who commands") and mandar ("to command"), from Latin mandare . Modern dictionaries, however, agree that it was in fact borrowed by Portuguese from the Malay menteri (in Jawi : منتري , [ˈməntəri] ) which ultimately came from the Sanskrit mantri ( Devanagari : मंत्री , meaning counselor or minister – etymologically linked to mantra ). According to Malaysian scholar Ungku Abdul Aziz ,

8127-441: The Richard Halliburton Collection at Paul Barret, Jr. Library at Rhodes College. Beginning with Gerry Max's Horizon Chasers: The Lives and Adventures of Richard Halliburton and Paul Mooney , published in 2007, a succession of books about Halliburton has appeared. John Hamilton's Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Newsgathering Abroad , published in 2009, devotes considerable space to Halliburton and his contemporaries in

8256-403: The Social Security Act. These processes were not considered satisfactory, and so in February–March 2013, the Presumption of Death Act 2013 was passed to simplify this process. The new act, which is based on the Presumption of Death (Scotland) Act 1977, allows applying to the High Court to declare a person presumed dead. This declaration is conclusive and cannot be appealed. It is recorded on

8385-408: The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , was imprisoned; Admiral Richmond Pearson Hobson , who deliberately sank his own ship during the Spanish–American War , the Battle of Santiago de Cuba a month later; Henri Christophe and the Citadelle Laferrière in Haiti; Christopher Columbus , Lord Byron , and "The Girl from Martinique Who Wrecked Napoleon ". Paid well, to fulfill his end of

8514-594: The book, but his notes were used by Arthur Springer to write Red Wine of Youth—A Biography of Rupert Brooke (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1952). A vigorous correspondent, Halliburton wrote numerous letters to fans, friends, editors, sponsors, and literary acquaintances. To his parents alone, he wrote well over a thousand letters; a large selection of these, edited in part by his father Wesley, was published in 1940 by Bobbs-Merrill as Richard Halliburton: His Story of His Life's Adventure As Told to His Mother and Father . In his colorful and simply-told travel adventures Halliburton

8643-423: The coroner may request an inquest under Section 23 of the Coroners Act 1962. If the Minister for Justice grants the inquest then the person may be declared legally dead if that is the outcome of the inquest. As an alternative an application may be made to the high court; before November 1, 2019, the general position was that a person needed to be missing for at least 7 years before a person could be treated as dead in

8772-475: The court has the same legal consequences as if the fact of death was proven: If such decision was a mistake and the person later returns, the decision is nullified and the person becomes eligible to request most of his assets back. However, if the husband or wife of such person married again, the marriage will not be restored. His funds and securities, taken under bona fide circumstances, also cannot be requested back. Prior to 2013, English law generally assumed

8901-437: The court. According to article 45 of Civil Code of Russia , a person may be declared dead only by a court decision, on the following grounds: A legal date of death is considered to be the date when the court decision declaring person dead was made. If a person disappeared under life-threatening circumstances, the day of his or her actual disappearance may also be considered the legal date of death. The declaration of death by

9030-426: The criteria above that the person is in fact dead. There are constitutional limitations to these procedures: The presumption must arise only after a reasonable amount of time has elapsed. The absent person must be notified. Courts permit notifying claimants by publication. Adequate safeguards concerning property provisions must be made in the case that an absent person shows up. Some states require those who receive

9159-402: The deal, Halliburton traveled extensively to Cuba , Haiti, Martinique, Miami, Washington, D. C. (to do research at the Library of Congress ), to New York, Europe, and finally to Russia. At the height of his popularity, he appeared on radio, attended celebrity parties (including one at the home of novelist Kathleen Norris who also wrote stories that appeared regularly in the newspapers). After

9288-574: The death benefits—so, on returning, the life insurance company sued him, his wife, and his company. In the end, the court ruled Burney's actions fraudulent. Missing persons have, on rare occasions, been found alive after being declared legally dead (see below). Prisoners of war , people with mental illnesses who become homeless , and, in extremely rare circumstances kidnapping victims, may be located years after their disappearance. Some people have even faked their deaths to avoid paying taxes, debts, and so on. Mandarin (bureaucrat) The term

9417-438: The dry deck of the craft indicated its buoyancy and, implicitly, its seaworthiness. To improve its stability, however, ten tons of concrete ballast were supposedly poured into its hull. There were other concerns. Many observers thought the heavy diesel engine, which released endangering fumes, was out of place aboard a vessel that traditionally sailed sufficiently without mechanical assistance. Moreover, Chief Officer Dale Collins of

9546-565: The earlier standard, and to the broader group of Mandarin dialects spoken across northern and southwestern China. In China, from 605 to 1905, mandarins were selected by merit through the extremely rigorous imperial examination . China had civil servants since at least the Zhou dynasty , but most high positions were filled by relatives of the sovereign and the nobility . It was not until the Tang dynasty that imperial examinations were used for placement in

9675-457: The effort was ended. By June, Halliburton's mother abandoned hope that he would be found alive. As with Amelia Earhart , many rumors and reports of Halliburton's fate continued to arise over the years, with fans hoping he might yet turn up alive. The ocean liner SS  President Pierce , captained by Charles Jokstad, passed flotsam in the middle of the Pacific, covered with an estimated one year's growth of barnacles in 1940, believed to be from

9804-490: The elder man died the following year at age 95. In his Second Book of Marvels , Halliburton stated, "Astronomers say that the Great Wall is the only man-made thing on our planet visible to the human eye from the moon." Although untrue, this statement was a possible source for the urban legend that the Great Wall of China could be seen from space . The Richard Halliburton Papers are held at Princeton University Library and

9933-462: The emperor or a Grand Secretary in the Forbidden City (highest) to being a county magistrate , prefectural tax collector, deputy jail warden, deputy police commissioner or tax examiner. Military appointments ranged from being a field marshal or chamberlain of the imperial bodyguard to a third class sergeant, corporal or a first or second class private. In the table below, " n a" is shorthand for

10062-657: The enterprise greater than its rewards. Chinese venture capitalists in Chinatown thought it far too dangerous while China was torn by war and Buick refused to be associated with something called a "junk". While the Sea Dragon Expedition was partly funded through: paid subscriptions for a projected series of progress reports that Halliburton intended to send from China, sales of commemorative tokens and other keepsakes, and expected tourist excursions. Major and immediate funding came from Halliburton's wealthy relatives, including

10191-411: The eyes of the law, but exceptionally may be earlier if there is strong implication from the circumstances the person is dead. This meant that their next of kin were denied any bereavement-related entitlements under any pension, life insurance or social welfare scheme. Since November 1, 2019, when the Civil Law (Presumption of Death) Act 2019, commenced, a court can make a "presumption of death order" if it

10320-819: The fateful expedition of Hernando Cortez to the heart of the Aztec Empire , like his hero Lord Byron, he swam the Hellespont , metaphorically bridging Europe and Asia, and he lived among the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. Halliburton was an early proponent of what Susan Sontag in her essay "Notes on 'Camp'" tagged "the theatricalization of experience." He did not just view legendary places and landscapes, but dramatized them, often by performing, in relationship to them, some athletic feat ultimately intended to thrill armchair travelers as well as to educate them: he swam

10449-648: The fifth, he promised, would be sent from Midway Island. Sea Dragon , March 23rd. Collins, President Coolidge . Southerly gales. Squalls. Lee rail under water. Hardtack. Bully beef. Wet bunks. Having wonderful time. Wish you were here instead of me.  — Welch, master (March 24, 1939) Hastily repaired and recaulked, the Sea Dragon left port once again on March 4, 1939. Recruits added to replace Potter and Torrey included able-bodied seamen Ben Flagg and Ralph Granrud, both in their early twenties. Globe-trotter Velman Fitch, whose seaman skills were uncertain, hitched

10578-773: The first air meet held in that country). They crossed the Atlas Mountains and set out across the Sahara to Timbuktu , using the fuel caches of the Shell Oil Company . While in Timbuktu, they were guests of Pere Yakouba , a French Augustinian friar who had fled years before from the distractions of modern society and become a patriarch and a noted scholar of the community. They flew to their destination without mishap, then continued northward and eastward, spending several weeks in Algeria with

10707-403: The following: Most countries have a set period of time (seven years in many common law jurisdictions) after which an individual is presumed dead if there is no evidence to the contrary. However, if the missing individual is the owner of a significant estate, the court may delay ordering the issuing of a death certificate if there has been no real effort to locate the missing person. If the death

10836-400: The garb of a particular region by "going native," and in general his welcoming regard for the nuances of differing cultural identities and mores. As a sort of cultural ambassador , he met high-end government officials and heads of state from Peruvian dictator Augusto Leguia , to British Ambassador to Italy (during World War I) James Rennell Rodd , to Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, to

10965-432: The glitter and glamour of this 'Great Within' the trembling little girl, hidden in her flowered box, was carried. Then as I watched, the gates boomed shut and the princess became an empress. While Halliburton was attending Princeton, Field and Stream magazine paid him $ 150 for an article (equivalent to $ 2,280 in 2023). This initial success encouraged him to choose travel writing as a career. His fortunes changed when

11094-521: The globe, covering 33,660 miles (54,100 km) and visiting 34 countries. The pair started on Christmas Day 1930, making stops along the way, from Los Angeles to New York City, where they crated the airplane and boarded it on the oceanliner RMS Majestic . They sailed to England, where their extended mission began. They flew to France, then Spain, the British possession of Gibraltar , and on to Africa at Fez, Morocco (where Stephens performed aerobatics for

11223-446: The interracial mingling that their physical appearances suggested to him: "When Chinese blood and foreign blood are mixed, especially if the foreign blood is Russian, Portuguese or French, the devastating result is something to write home about." Halliburton's ideas on miscegenation are traceable partly to racist notions prevalent in his day. One source was Lothrop Stoddard's The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy (1920),

11352-477: The joy, pain and thrills—any emotion that any human ever had—and I'll be especially happy if I am spared a stupid, common death in bed. In 1922 Halliburton witnessed the last ceremonial marriage of a Chinese Emperor, the wedding of Emperor Puyi to Empress Wanrong in Beijing . The Royal Family would be permanently expelled less than 2 years later. Halliburton wrote of the event in his memoir as follows: At four in

11481-408: The junk's unsuccessful first voyage and later offered an account of his experiences, as did Torrey. Besides poor performance by the junk in rough seas, the February attempt was aborted due to an injury sustained by Potter when struck by the mainsail boom while handling the 18 foot (5.5m) tiller . Sea Dragon Expedition researcher Gerry Max has noted that Potter, as well as Torrey, who did not make

11610-547: The last of the great travel works of the classic period. In 1937 William Alexander Levy designed a house for Halliburton in Laguna Beach, California , which is now known as "a landmark of modern architecture". Alexander was a novice architect, a recent graduate of the New York University School of Architecture and close friend of Paul Mooney. Mooney managed the construction of the house. The house, built of concrete and steel, fortress-like in appearance, contains

11739-456: The legal regimes around the world. Conditions for declaration of death according to the disappearance law ( Verschollenheitsgesetz ): Presumption of death is governed by sections 107 and 108 of the Evidence Act, which allows for presumption of death for a person missing for 7 years to be raised in appropriate proceedings before the court. If there is strong evidence a missing person is dead

11868-596: The local coroner files a report. This may be done to help a family receive a death certificate that may bring some closure. An inquest strives to bring any suspicious circumstances to light. The coroner then applies to the Secretary of State for Justice , under the Coroners Act 1988 section 15, for an inquest with no body. The seven years rule only applies in the High Court of Justice on the settlement of an estate. According to

11997-469: The mid-1930s, credited Halliburton with steering him to a career in journalism. As the writer of a succession of bestsellers, and as a popular lecturer, Halliburton figured prominently in educating several generations of young Americans in the rudiments of geography, history and culture, especially through his two Books of Marvels , re-issued in one volume after his death. Two structures commemorate Halliburton: Hangover House in Laguna Beach, California , and

12126-424: The missing person's assets to return them if the person turned out to be alive. If a person is declared dead when only missing, their estate is distributed as if they were dead. In some cases, the presumption of death can be rebutted. According to Sentell, courts will consider evidence that the absent person was a fugitive from justice , had money troubles, had a bad relationship, or had no family ties or connection to

12255-477: The moment before it vanished, inspired Halliburton to reject marriage, family, a regular job, and conventional respectability as the obvious steps after graduation. He liked bachelorhood, youthful adventure, and the thrill of the unknown. To earn a living he intended to write about his adventures. He dedicated his first book to his Princeton roommates, "...whose sanity, consistency and respectability ... drove [him] to this book". Halliburton's father advised him to get

12384-437: The morning this gorgeous spectacle moved through the moonlit streets of Peking en-route to the prison-palace. The entire city was awake and the people thronged the line of march. A forest of pennants blazed and fluttered past ...gold dragons on black silk, blue dragons on gold silk; and swaying lanterns, and gilded kiosques containing the bride’s ceremonial robes, and princes on horseback surrounded by their colorful retinues. There

12513-540: The pachyderm he had gotten from a Paris zoo Miss Elysabethe Dalrymple; he emulated Ulysses' myriad adventures in the Mediterranean dressed often as a beach-comber or playboy; he re-enacted Robinson Crusoe's island solitude, adopting a menagerie of domestic pets with names such as Listerine, Kitty and Susie. Examples of this cultural self-enlistment filled his work and helped define his public image. Of further note, he retraced

12642-531: The person is dead (e.g., an airplane crash ). The presumption becomes certainty if the person has not been located for a period of time that has exceeded their probable life span, such as in the case of Amelia Earhart or Jack the Ripper . A declaration that a person is dead resembles other forms of "preventive adjudication", such as the declaratory judgment . Different jurisdictions have different legal standards for obtaining such declaration and in some jurisdictions

12771-407: The person to survive the accident as certified by the relevant authority, an application for a declaration of death of the person is not subject to the two-year period. In the event of contradictory applications for declaration, meaning that both an application for a declaration of death and an application for a declaration of absence of the same natural person are filed by the interested parties with

12900-413: The person's death, such as the finding of remains (e.g., a corpse or skeleton) attributable to that person. Such a presumption is typically made by an individual when a person has been missing for an extended period and in the absence of any evidence that person is still alive—or after a shorter period, but where the circumstances surrounding a person's disappearance overwhelmingly support the belief that

13029-514: The plane was again loaded onto a ship ( SS  President McKinley ) to cross the ocean. They flew the final leg from San Francisco to Los Angeles. A fictionalized account of his travels in India and Asia was depicted in the 1933 film India Speaks . Moye Stephens was a skilled pilot. Halliburton, in a reassuring letter to his parents (January 23, 1932), recited his many flight skills. Stephens, for instance, during one aerobatic display, astutely aborted

13158-399: The presumption of death, by statute or judicial recognition of the common law rule. Some states have amended their statutes to reduce the seven-year period to five consecutive years missing, and some, such as Minnesota and Georgia , have reduced the period to four years. If someone disappears, those interested can file a petition to have them declared legally dead. They must prove by

13287-546: The presumption of death." This rule was invoked after the attack on the World Trade Center , so that authorities could release death certificates . Although people presumed dead sometimes turn up alive, it is not as common as it used to be. In one case where this occurred, a man named John Burney disappeared in 1976 while having financial problems, and later reappeared in December 1982. His company and wife had already received

13416-516: The purchasing a used Ford roadster, he explored the heartland of California and the beauties of the Lake Tahoe area. Other commissions followed: United Artists was producing a movie about Benvenuto Cellini ; they asked him to do a story on the Renaissance artist 's love life . Halliburton also gave frequent lectures and even turned down offers; a radio company offered him the considerable sum of $ 500

13545-405: The said declaratory judgment, then it can be annulled. The legal consequence of revoking declaratory judgment is essentially about restoration, i.e. the return of property and restoration of marriage. Chinese law restores marriage between the returned absentee and his or her spouse, providing that the spouse has not remarried or declared unwillingness of restoring marriage. This is quite unusual among

13674-515: The suspension of freedoms in the Communist nation to the freedoms people enjoyed in democratic America, exuberantly praising the latter. Halliburton's last works (done in collaboration with journalist Paul Mooney), notably The Letters from the Sea Dragon and The Log of the Sea Dragon , both of which offer asides of Japan's hostile presence in China, suggest the war-reportorial course his writing might have taken had he lived. A news correspondent's role

13803-712: The term had its origin when the Portuguese living in Malacca during the Malacca Sultanate traveled to meet with higher officials in China and referred to them with the familiar term from Malay menteri (in Jawi : منتري , [ˈməntəri] ), but pronounced by the Portuguese with Old Portuguese phonology , pronounced [ˌmɐ̃dɐˈɾĩ] , where the vowel ending was nasalized and later misinterpreted to have ended with "n" and initially spelt in Old Portuguese as mandarin then in modern Portuguese as mandarim, due to

13932-705: The time not unique to him, when revisited today, are unsettling. At times ethnocentric, he thought it "extraordinary" that "such a primitive race" as the Seri Indians residing in Lower California "should live so close to (presumably civilized) Hollywood." Of the blending of races and cultures he encountered, Halliburton attempted to be descriptive rather than judgmental. Still, intrigued by the "slim Sonias" working in Blood Alley in Shanghai, he seemed both amused and dismayed by

14061-536: The travel writing field. The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: A High Flying Life from Tennessee to Timbuktu by R. Scott Williams appeared in 2014, American Daredevil: The Extraordinary Life of Richard Halliburton, the World's First Celebrity Travel Writer by Cathryn J. Prince in 2016, and Richard Halliburton and the Voyage of the Sea Dragon by Gerry Max in 2020. Of interest is Garrett Drake's fictional The Secret of

14190-616: The trip, and a couple of other crew members may have contracted gonorrhea during their time in Hong Kong at the start of the voyage. Dysentery also afflicted several crew members including Captain Welch. Halliburton himself suffered from a skin rash, the result perhaps of high anxiety, and nervous exhaustion. Days before the first crossing attempt, Mooney broke an ankle after falling down a ladder. Halliburton sent four letters to subscribers from Hong Kong between November 20, 1938, and February 16, 1939;

14319-604: The upper classes from the days of Henry VIII through to the Belle Epoque, and he championed the study abroad programs featured in the curricula of many colleges and universities. Halliburton wanted to be remembered as the most-traveled man who ever lived, but he was surpassed by the contemporary globetrotters and influences, Burton Holmes and Harry Franck . In his day he had few rivals, though Carveth Wells ( Adventure! ), Eugene Wright ( The Great Horn Spoon ) and Martin and Osa Johnson ( Safari ) could equally captivate. Called

14448-532: The wanderlust out of his system, return to Memphis and adjust his life to "an even tenor": "I hate that expression", Richard responded, expressing the view that distinguished his life-style, "and as far as I am able I intend to avoid that condition. When impulse and spontaneity fail to make my way uneven then I shall sit up nights inventing means of making my life as conglomerate and vivid as possible.... And when my time comes to die, I'll be able to die happy, for I will have done and seen and heard and experienced all

14577-619: The wife of his cousin Erle Halliburton . $ 14,000 of the $ 26,500 raised ($ 300,000 to $ 400,000 in today's money) came from the three crew members from Dartmouth: Robert Chase, John "Brue" Potter, and Gordon Torrey, who had extensive amateur sailing experience. A trial run in January 1939 revealed the vessel's flaws; the completed Sea Dragon, distinctly top heavy, rode precariously low, rolling and heeling in moderately active waters. Nevertheless, on January 27, Halliburton assured his subscribers that

14706-516: The will. This kind of application would only have been made sooner than seven years where death was probable, but not definitive (such as an unrecovered plane crash at sea), following an inquest (see below). Such an application was specific to the court where it was made – thus separate applications had to be made at a coroner's inquest, for proceedings under the Matrimonial Causes and Civil Partnership Acts (for remarriage), for probate , and under

14835-711: The word comes from Hokkien Chinese : 老爹 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : ló-tia ; IPA : /lo˦ tia˦/ , which was a common form of address for government officials in the Zhangzhou dialect of Hokkien Chinese. This is also the main term used to refer to the scholar-officials in Juan González de Mendoza 's History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof (1585), which heavily drew (directly or indirectly) on Pereira's report and Gaspar da Cruz' book, and which

14964-437: The world and the people around him, always scheming about his next adventure." He wrote that Halliburton's "manhood spanned the brief interval between the two World Wars" and acclaims him as a "spokesman for the youth of a generation". Halliburton insisted throughout his career on the importance of travel abroad as a means of self-improvement and discovery. He was an advocate by example of the 'grand tour' championed by monarchs and

15093-519: The wreck of the Sea Dragon , perhaps the ship's rudder. Later, in 1945 a 30-foot skeleton of a 150-foot boat of oriental design, mistaken by some as that of the 75-foot Sea Dragon , washed ashore in San Diego , California. Missing at sea since March 1939, Halliburton was declared dead on October 5, 1939, by the Memphis Chancery Court. His empty grave is at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis at

15222-708: Was presumed to be on its way to rendezvous with the beleaguered craft. Among the radio messages the liner received from the junk's Captain Welch was an ironically cheerful one: "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here instead of me." As noted by the Coolidge, waves during those dire moments were estimated at 40 feet (12 m) high. The next message was different: "Southerly gale. Heavy Rain Squalls. High sea. Barometer 29.46. True course 100. Speed 5.5 knots. Position 1200 GCT 31.10 north 155.00 east. All well. When closer may we avail ourselves of your direction finder. Regards Welch." That

15351-590: Was also a Princeton graduate, accepted Halliburton's first book, The Royal Road to Romance (1925), which became a bestseller. Two years later he published The Glorious Adventure , which retraced Ulysses ' adventures throughout the Classical Greek world as recounted in Homer 's Odyssey , and included his visiting the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke on the island of Skyros . In 1929, Halliburton published New Worlds To Conquer , which recounted his famous swim of

15480-401: Was also a teacher of Halliburton's editor, David Laurance Chambers. Like them, Halliburton took a dim view of technology, and he gently urged that one see the world's marvels before "modern Progress" obliterated them. Halliburton was a cultural relativist . Believing that "culture was king," he adhered to the credibility of multiple perspectives. The attitude may explain in part his adopting

15609-464: Was arrested; again, when he attempted to enter Mecca , which is forbidden to non-Muslims; and yet again when he snuck past the gatekeepers at the Taj Mahal where, beneath a moonlit sky, he indulged in a swim in the sacred pool that faced the worshiped tomb. Halliburton's books were meant for the general reading public. Into households across America, they brought the world's many divergent peoples and cultures. Racist comments their author made, though for

15738-452: Was born in Brownsville, Tennessee , to Wesley Halliburton, a civil engineer and real estate speculator , and Nelle Nance Halliburton. A brother, Wesley Jr., was born in 1903. The family moved to Memphis , where the brothers, who were not close, spent their childhood. Richard attended Memphis University School , where his favorite subjects were geography and history; he also showed promise as

15867-483: Was closed to those who were not children of officials of the second full rank or higher ( Yangban ), unless the candidate had passed the gwageo. Those who passed the higher literary examination came to monopolize all of the dynasty's high positions of state. The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) divided the bureaucracy into civil and military positions, both having nine grades or ranks, each subdivided into primary and secondary categories. Civil appointments ranged from attendant to

15996-592: Was issued in February 2016. The incidence of presumed death in England and Wales is considered low – in September 2011, it was estimated that only 1% of the 200,000 missing persons each year remained unaccounted for after 12 months, with a cumulative total of 5,500 missing persons by September 2011. In Scotland, legal aspects of the presumption of death are outlined in the Presumption of Death (Scotland) Act 1977 (c. 27). If

16125-411: Was more than enough music. Last of all came the bride’s sedan hung with yellow brocade, roofed with a great gold dragon, and borne along by sixteen noblemen. I followed close behind the shrouded chair, and wondered about the state of mind of the little girl inside. Headed straight for prison, she was on the point of surrendering forever the freedom she had hitherto enjoyed... The procession wound its way to

16254-468: Was never robust but would seldom complain of sickness or poor stamina. He graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1917, where he was chief editor of The Lawrence . In 1921 he graduated from Princeton University , where he was on the editorial board of The Daily Princetonian and chief editor of The Princetonian Pictorial Magazine . He also attended courses in public speaking and considered

16383-406: Was the "innocent abroad", receptive to new ideas which he in turn expressed with a quiet erudition. Throughout his creative life he displayed a romantic readiness that shone through his best prose, prose at once picturesque, gently informative, extroverted, and personally confiding. He often described his attaching himself to a famous historic person (or key event for which that person was known) or to

16512-403: Was the last message heard from the junk. Until then, Halliburton had kept regular, if sporadic, contact with radio stations and trans-Pacific Ocean liners. At first the Coast Guard at Hawaii delayed searching for the missing ship, possibly thinking Halliburton staged his disappearance as a publicity stunt. After the Sea Dragon was a week overdue to call at Midway, on April 10, friends petitioned

16641-474: Was the standard European reference on China in the late 16th century. In the West, the term mandarin is associated with the concept of the scholar-official who immersed himself in poetry, literature, and Confucian learning in addition to performing civil service duties. In modern English, mandarin is also used to refer to any (though usually a senior) civil servant, often in a satirical context, particularly in

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