DOMINION DAY ANNIVERSARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 230, 25 September 1908, Page 2

DOMINION DAY ANNIVERSARY.

A TOLLAND CELEBRATIONS. ] n THE YOLUXTEKK PARADE. : ( The fir_t annhersary of the raising of 1 the sinLur of New Zealand from a eoiony ! lo a Dominion will be celebrated Lo-mor- ' row, the _fitli of September, by the hold- l iuf of a volunteer parade on the Outer ' Domain, although, with the exception of ' the proclamation of a general holiday in ' Bearlv all the Government Departments, ] practically little etee in the way of addi- 1 lional arrangements has been done to ' mark the occasion. A number of public ' and private buddings are being decorated, < the post office being decked out iv flags _j_J bunting. At the suggestion of the Prime Minis- j ter ,md tie" Minister for Defence, a parade of the Auckland Garrison will take place on tne Outer Domain at 3 pjn. The companies will bo formed up in line of quarier-column as for review, after ■which a march past will take place. iLieutonarrt-Colo-nel (i. C. B. Wolfe. 0.C.D., will have charge of the parade. The members of the Empire Veterans' Association -will nwemble at the saluting point at < 3 p.m.. and m«dal_ and decorations arc to be worn for the parade. THE HOLIDAY. In the Post- and Telegraph Department the money order and savings bank offices will be closed throughout the day. All post and telegraph offices (combined) which are usually opened between 9 a.m. and 3 p-m., wiii open in both departments between '' a.m. and 10 a._i. _ j In addition, omees which open on holi- j days will observe published holiday , hours. !"> a.m. to 4 p.m. j The. races at Avondale should attract a large attendance, and given fine wea- , ihcr. a most enjoyable day should be I spent on the course. A special railway | time-table will provide ample means of j conveyance between Auckland and Avon--a!e. . I Holiday escirrskin tickets are being, issued on the railways from any station to any station on the Auckland section, both to-day and to-morrow, available for | return up to and including Wednesday, j •September 30. j

MEDALS TOR THE CHILDREN.

" r THE CITY SCHOOLS. Xhe Prime Minister reoMtly suggested i that the pupils at the various schools in j the Dominion shcudd parade on the -Saturday morning to salute the. flag and to receive the special medals struck in honour j of the oecadion. As to-day is tb_ last oi the school term prior to the Michaelmas hoiidavs. and in view of the fact that mon o"t the touchers were naturally anxi- j ou* to leave as early as possible, the Auckland Education Hoard advised that Xhe presentations take place this afternoon, and this proposal was adopted in nearly all eases. The chairman (Mr. P. M. Mackay) and members of the City Schools' Committee visited in turn the "four schools in their district this afternoon, proceeding first to that in Chapel-street at 2.10 p.m. j in addressing the pupils, Mr. Mackay j said that on May 0, 1007, the proclamu-I tion was issued raising the status of New 1 Zealand from a colony to a Dominion, j xhus placing their country side by side j with the sifter States planted by Great Britain all owr the world. The change brought about an assumption oi greater responsibility. A colony was a dependency oi the parent country; a dominion was a nation. To have attained thisvroyal favour redected great credit not only on the generation oi to-day, but on the past generation, which constituted the pioneers ot -their country, and who, changing the primeval forests into smiling farms, commenced the work ot developing the latent possibilities of the land in the directions ' vi agriculture, pastoral pursuits, mining,! and manufactures. In 18'iil the Duke of •Wellington, then Premier of Great Britain, had declined to bring New Zealand | wtibin the pale of the Empire. In 1840 Governor Hobson landed with his com-

mission, and in Zso_ a constitution was | v given to New /_?alaad. To-day they were I celebrating the second birthday of their d national existence. On the boys and girls j —the rising generation—depended the j luture credit of the Dominion, and indus- - trion- work at school was the best guaran- j tec for their success in life. The battl_3 ; of the future would be commercial ones, " and the best educated naXion would be ■ victorions. They must always remember . that" they held in their keeping the hon- 1 ' our, prestige, and integrity of their conn- • try. ' The medals were then handed ov.?r to ' the headmaster, who superintended the distribution. Three cheers were given for , the J*rime Minister, The National An- , them" being afterwards rendered. The committee then visited the Nelson-street —>ehuol at _.3_ p_—-, the -Vapier-street fcchool at 3 p.m., and the BeresfordUstreet "School at 3.15 pjn., at each of which ____lar proceedings took place.

NEWTON EAST.

A very interesting ceremony took place Uvday at the Newton East Hcnool, when the Dominion medals were distributed to fte pupils in the presence of a large number of the parents. Mr. Sexton (chairman of the school committee) delivered an interesting and appropriate address on the marvellous growth of the Dominion which had taken place within his own r-ceol lection. He exhorted the scholars to realise their responsibilities a? members of such a growing and enterprising community. He also referred to the recent illness of the headmaster (Mr. 1"). JJ. Meige). Messrs. Schoiield and liealey (members oi tale school commttter) gave short addresses, the former impressing upon the children the great privileges they enjoyed as British subjects, while the latter spoke forcibly of the educational ad vantages possessed by child- | Te.n of tne. present day compared with I those of a past generation. The medals I wore then distributed, and _ftcr saluting -the flag *nd singing "G-od Save the King," "the cbij<iren were dismissed. An interfasting item in the programme was a patriotic =ong by Muster Hubert Carter.

. | MT. RDEN. j

The scholars of the Mt. Eden Public School paraded at 2 pjn. for the purpose | of receiving the Dominion Day medals.: As there is su«4i a large number of j children attending this school, the head- j master (Mr A. Hosking) and his staff! thonghtfally distributed the medals beforehand, and at the hour named the ceremony of saluting the flag was duly j performed. A number of the members j of the committee, and also parents of | scholars, attended the function. The | chairman iMr W. Colei introduced the! Mayor of Mt. Eden (Mr Oliver Nicbol- j son ,i. who briefly addressed the gathering : The Mayor referred briefly to the ' cause of the gathering that day. He mentioned that the title of ihe country i had been changed because the King i deemed New Zealand worthy to take a I higher place in the British Empire. They j •houid consider themselves to be peen- I I" fiariy xarvottred in bang Teridents of one i

Di the brightest possessions of the greatsst Empire that the world had ever seen. New Zealand was greatly favoured by Providence', its climate being most equable and other conditions very desirable. They lived ia a country in which they enjoyed the privileges of one of the best education systems in the world., and he exhorted tie children to fully avail Uiemselves of the opportunities thus opened up for them. If they persevered, xhere was no reason why they should not attain to the highest position, not only in this country, but also in any part of the Empire. They should be extremely grateful for the privileges they enjoyed, and should show that gratitude by taking full advantage of their opportunities, and thus become qualified to fulfil their part in carving out the future of this Dominion. They should remember that the future of New Zealand greatly depended upon the way in wmen t_e children profited by the early training. It was for them in the future, to make New Zealand better fitted to take its place amongst the nations of the world. Thei- must be determined that when the time came that they were called upon to play their part, they would play it well. In conclusion. Mr Nicholson expressed the hope that the children would treasure the medals they had received, as they would serve to remind them of the time when New Zealand was raised to a higher position, and impress upon them that their country required their best services ou its behalf. (Applause.) The scholars sang tiie National Anthem, and gave three cheers for the King before the function ended.

NEWTON* WEST.

There was a very large muster of chilI dren for the Dominion Day celebration |at the Newton West school. Mr. G. J Sayers, Mayor of Grey Lynn, ajid several members of the committee were present. Ml. Sayers, in the course of a short adI dress, touched on the importance of New I Zealand's first birthday as a Dominion. jHe went on to refer to the gTcat advantages which modern education placed w'thin the reach of all children and exhorted them to make the best use of their opportunities. The Dominion Day medals were then presented, and the School cadets saluted the flag. Cheers were given for His I Majesty the King, and the National AnI them sung by the assembled scholars. A i gold medal presented by Mr. Hcaley, a I member of the committee, for the best j footballer, was awarded to Ma.ter Frank | Hobson.

PONSONBY.

I There was a fine attendance of young j New Zealanders at the Ponsonby school, I where the chairman (Mr. W. J. Bees) made the presentation of Dominion Day medals. Mr. Bees, addressing the children, said that as most of them were too young to understand the significance of the term ''Dominion Day,"' he would not detain them long. Some of the elder ones might guess that it meant that New Zealand was growing in importI ancc, and desired tliat other countries i should recognise that fact. It did not | make much difference to the people; it I was something like calling a boy joi sixteen a young man. New ] Zealand was a small country j and had a small population, but there was no doubt that, for ila size, it was a wonderful country. It had Sounds which equalled those of Norway, Alpine scenery which rivalled Switzerland, perpetual snow in the Par South, while . north of Auckland the climate was so tropical that oranges grew plentifully in the open. New Zealand played an important part in commercial matters. Lost year it exported, amongst other things, kauri gum to the value of £600,000, ' cheese £060,000, flax nearly £1,000.000, | wool dose on £1.500.000. butter over I £1,500.000, gold £2.000.000. and frozen jineat £3,500,000; in all, over £10,000,000. ! This was a wonderful record for a small I I colony, which years ago was almost ' unknown. It -was natural that such a

valuable country should excite tne active interest of other nations, and the day might come when the people of New Zealand would have to do battle against the country's foes. He hoped that the ' young people would grow up with an ' intense love for their country, and that if ever the day came when they had to unite to oppose the foe, they would do it with all their strength. He hoped that the cadets when tbey left school would continue to improve themselves in drill and marksmanship, so as to give a good account of themselves should their services ever be required. I The flag vras then honoured by salute j from the children. "God Save the I King" -was heartily sung by the bun- I i"rtd_ of lusty youngsters, who were then dismissed to enjoy to the full the I rolidays of the Michaelmas period. |

RICHMOND ROAD.

It having been arranged that the Kichmond-i-oad school should break up at 2 o'clock, the distribution was commenced about fifteen minutes before that hour. The ceremony was short, but patriotism seemed to pervade every phase of it. The children were paraded, the cadets occupying a prominent position. Mr. _". Gregory, a member of the schools committee, conducted the presentation of the medals. Mr. Gregory impressed on the juveniles that they had a lot to be ________ for in living Ln snch a wonderful country, with such a beautiful climate, and told them that they should be correspondingly grateful that their lines were cast in such a pleasant place. There were well on for 800 medals to be presented. The elder scholars were handed theirs by Mr. Gregory, whilst the teachers distributed the otheTs to their respective ela-sses. ' The massed scholars then saluted the flag, giving three ringing cheers for the Ci-Weni. With the impressive rendering of "'God Save the King" the function terminated, :i.nd, happy to be free, the children quickly dispersed, and the school-ground, previously a scene of animation, was a , deserted area. i

I MT. ALBERT. I

The children of the Mt. Albert School \ with few exceptions, assembled in the j playground this morning to commemorate ! the anniversary of Dominion Day. The' j chavrmaji of the school committee, Mr.„ j Wesley Spragg, axd Mr. W. Shackelford, ; a member of the committee, addressed I the children briefly. Tbe children saluted the flag, and gave cheers for the Doi minion, the King, and the Empire.

j TAKAPUNA.

! I The pupils of the Takapuna Pubhc \ Schools received their Dominion Day ', , medals yesterday from the Chairman of , the Committee, Mr. H. L. Brett. The Key. t I Monckton addressed- the children on the r significance of the occasion. I'efreah- . | menta were provided, and a half-holiday 3 j declared.