DEVONPORT WAR MEMORIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 115, 16 May 1924, Page 7

DEVONPORT WAR MEMORIAL.

CUSTODY OF THE MOITCTMEJCT. THE FIXAL CEREMONY. The final meeting of the Devonport I War Memorial Committee took place in Ford's Rooms last night, when there ■was a crowded attendance of members and their friend 3. The Mayor presided, and explained that the meeting was held to finaJly dispose of all mattera in which the Memorial Committee was concerned, and to hand over to the borough council I the formal custody of the bronze monuj ment recently unveiled by the Governorj General, Lord Jelliooe, in Marine Square, jHe called on Crs. Little and Aldridge to I receive on behalf of the council all the documents and historical records in conI nection with the memorial, also a parch- ! ment, signed by all the members of the committee, setting forth the conditions under which it was hoped the council would safely guard the welfare of the memorial, and expressing the hope that the people would never again have to erect a memorial for such a purpose as that caused by the ravages of war. The ceremony was a deeply impressive one, and Messrs. Little and Aldridge made most impressive replies in accepting the safe custody of the memorial on behalf of the people, making mention of the fact that the memorial would endure many generations far beyond onr own time as an emblem to the memory of those who had fought for the woVld's freedom, and a reminder that Truth, Justice, and Freedom shall not perish from the earth. The memprial was indeed the symbol of a great ideal, and was the emblem of the greatest romance of all time. After the formal ceremony the meeting resolved itself into a social function, and a lengthy musical programme was gone through, those contributing being the Misses Wilson and Bagnall, Mrs. Richards, and Messrs. Kennings, Sparrow and Perry Taylor. Mr. Lillicrap presided at the piano. During the evening Mr. W. K. Howitt presented Mr. R. A. Spinley, on behalf of .the members of the committee, with a silver fruit and cake dish as a token of their esteem for the splendid way he had carried out the duties as secretary over a long period on the Memorial Committee. His work as organiser of the final ceremony had come in for special praise from Lord Jellicoe. Mr. Spinley feelingly replied, and said he would treasure the memento -while he lived. Mr. John Henderson then presented the treasurer. Mr. J. Kew Harty. with a silver entree dish, suitably in scribed, for his excellent work in conI serving the funds and his manifold I efforts on behalf of the War Memorial. I Mr. Harty in his reply paid a warm i tribute to the work of the whole of the j members of the committee with whom : lie had been associated all the time. His , work, like Mr. Spinley's, had been a i labour of love. The donation of £2.5 I given by Messrs. McNab and Mason, the J contractors for the base of the memo- , rial, had made him a happy man, for it had just squared accounts.