HUGE CROWDS IN WELLINGTON

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22983, 1 April 1940, Page 8

HUGE CROWDS IN WELLINGTON

TRANSPORT SERVICES TAXED PROCESSION TO RAILWAY STATION (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON March 30. The biggest crowd Wellington has ever experienced for a funeral, and perhaps the biggest ever seen in its streets, gathered this morning to witness the funeral of Mr Savage. Public transport services of -every kind were run early to cope with the thronging masses that set citywards before 8 o’clock, and for the succeeding hour, suburban outlets were set a problem with which it was difficult to cope. • Certain vantage points naturally attracted more people than others, but the route throughout was heavily lined, and windows, verandahs, roofs, and every other vantage point, including, in some cases, stationary trams, became black with people, the masses increasing in density after the shops closed at 9 o’clock. The route was lined with guards, all three services providing troops, and at intervals bands were placed, providing solemn music. The 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force was represented by approximately 1850 of all ranks from Trentham Camp, and there was also a detachment from the Maori Battalion at Palmerston North. A special detachment of Royal Marines from H.M.S. Leander and a detachment of Air Force personnel lined the route in the vicinity of the railway station. The scene along Lambton quay and Willis street was impressive, and the crowd was very dense where the procession swept through Mercer street, past the Town Hall to return via Jervois quay and Customhouse quay to the station, where the crowds were intensified with the rush of people from most narts of the route already covered. Nothing could have been a greater tribute to the memory of Mr Savage than the demeanour of the crowd. Every element of the life of the city was expectantly subdued. With the absence of idle chatter, and with lowvoiced comments, chiefly concerned with the life and work of the man they honoured, the crowd showed its feeling in'an unmistakable manner. Silent Tribute Long before the cortege arrived, everyone became silent, and while the head of the procession was still hundreds of yards away, all hats were removed. The presence of women lining footpaths in thousands was a tribute from the mothers and housewives to a man whose aim had -been to smooth the path of family life. Following two mounted police came the band of H.M.S. Leander, heading the procession and the escort, comprising detachments from the three services. The casket was borne on a gun carriage drawn by an artillery tractor. The coffin was draped in the New Zealand Ensign and covered with a Maori mat. The pall-bearers were Ministers of the Crown. A mass of wreaths followed in six large lorries, presenting a splendid blaze of colour. Immediately behind walked the Governor-General (Lord Galway) and his aides. Then came the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand (Sir Harry Batterbee), a representative of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Governor of Fiji (Sir Henry Luke), a representative of the Empire Parliamentary Association. Then came former Prime Ministers, the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton), the Chief Justice ■ (Sir v Michael Myers), -and judges, former judges, members of the Legislative Council, members of the House ,of Representatives, the Chiefs of the Naval, General, and Air staffs, and representatives of the native race. Following the Mayor cf Wellington were prominent officials, former members of Parliament, and the president and secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party and the New Zealand Federation of Labour, Trade Commissioners, and Consuls. Representatives of religious denominations, medical advisers to Mr Savage, magistrates, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, heads of Government departments, private secretaries to Ministers of the Crown, presidents of local body associations, and representatives of local bodies then followed. Procession Begins Punctually at 9 a.m the coffin was raised from the bier in the vestibule at Parliament Buildings where it had lain in State for two days and was borne on the shoulders of 10 soldiers, five Maoris and five pakehas. It was flanked by Ministers of the Crown and solemnly carried down the steps .to the gun carriage, which was drawn up in front of the escort, comprising men from H.M.S. Leander, the 15th Heavy Battery, the Maori Battalion, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Governor-General stood erect at the base of the steps, and behind him were marshalled the official, section ofthe cortege. Conspicuous among them were Maorf representatives in their mats and Samoans in their customary garments. Facing the steps were the precise and compact ranks of the escort with arms reversed, and behind them people with heads bowed. Several beats of a drum were heard as the cortege Wheeled slowly down the drive, and then the strains of the Leander’s band measured the slow tempo of the solemn cavalcade as the rear- of the official section of the cortege left the steps. Massed groups of representatives of trade unions and Labour organisations, some in uniform, followed. Then there were several blind persons, guided by Boy Scouts, and representatives of the St. John Ambulance, Boy and Sea Scouts, and the Boys’ Brigade. , Shortly before the arrival of the coffin at the station, the Navy, Army, and Air Force escort slow marched on to the platform with arms reversed and took up a position immediately opposite the mortuary van. Solemnly the individual detachments went through impressive movements of “rest arms,” and when the casket appeared, carried by the Maoris and flanked by Cabinet Ministers, members of the fighting forces were there with bowed heads. . i The head of the procession reached the platform at 10.13 o’clock, and two minutes later the coffin was placed in the- van. Representatives of all forms of public and private life filled the platform in silent knots.