WAR MEMORIALS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 20, 23 January 1920, Page 2

WAR MEMORIALS.

SUITABLE FOR THE COLONIES. AN EXPERT'S .VUiEW. In these days, when practically every community of size in New Zealand is exercised as to the nature of the monument or memorial to be raised to the soldiers of the place, the -opinion of an i expert, Captain G. S. Keesing, now in Auckland, may be held to be of some value. Captain Keesing was, during the war, in charge of all the memorial work done by the Australian Government on all the war froirte, and was the designer of the Anzac memorial scheme, in conjunction with Sir John Burnett. He has also had Continental and American experience in memorial work. For colonial memorials Captain Keesing advocates a scheme that will be in keeping with the sense of fitness and beauty that one supposes the I people of some two hundred years in advance to possess; he states that the great memorials of the world, ■which have really accomplished their object, and been a true memorial to the people who erected them, are memorials such as the Pyramids, the Rpman triumphal arches, and such striking conceptions ac the Statue of Liberty in New York. "In order to attain this artistic height," Captain Keesing remarked, in the course of an interview this morning, "it is necessary to sink all personal considerations, and 'to realise that the monuments must be according to the ideals of not only the present generation, but also that of the people of the future." Speaking of the - choosing of cites for memorials, he stated that they should be placed prominently, in order to be clearly visible from all points of vantage, instancing, in the case of Auckland, the foot of Princes Street, which terminates in Emily Place. "In a similar locality in Brussels there is a rostral column on the higher level, with a Tecord room in the base. At the base is a site for a huge monumental staircase with niches for statuary, obelisks, and a decorative scheme of running water." "A memorial similar to this on the site suggested would be visible to every person travelling on the harbour," be continued, "and would form a suitable termination to Princes Street. Imagine the value of so generous a treatment, and its place in beautifying the city. Auckland has exceptional opportunities in the treatment of its rising hills, whose values have been proved in European cities. The basic idea in these cases has been that of surmounting a gentlyswelling line with a tapering edifice, such as a temple or a church building. In Marseilles there is a funicular railway terminating in a large stone plateau, ornamented with stone balustrades and a small chapel at one end. In Auckland a similar treatment, with a Hall of Fame surmounting it, would be a great acquisition, and a fine climax to the views of the city from the harbour. If such a broad-minded policy is followed, there is no doubt that Auckland will rank high among the beautiful cities of the world." Captain Kessing enumerated the values of erecting memorials with a view to subsequent city reconstruction, stating that, if a. general and broad treatment was given, it obviated the likeli-■hoed.-'oT there being a dissension as to the relative importance of sites for the monuments. '