OUR UNHONOURED DEAD

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 395, 2 January 1909, Page 4

OUR UNHONOURED DEAD

■ SAD SPOTS IN THE NORTH ISLAND. ' BATTLE MEMORIES AND NEGLECTED GRAVES. v [BY O. A.xYottKO.] A spectator and onlooker- may find much to interest him. in observing the develop- j mont of the colony, especially if he may have hid Bimilar experience in other lands. It | may, be said that it is given ' to few , to be . able to segregate themselves sufficiently from • tho ordinary interests whioh animate.mankind to become, impartial in their judgments, • but, if any arrive at this position, it is surely the world w'eary. traveller., /•■ '-' In this new. country tho vagaries of public opinion—or what is supposed to represent public opinion, i.e.,-the extreme writings of tho sensational part of - tho press of the. : Dominion—are' always amusing ,'and sometimes pitiable. One weok, a section of tho 1 press may bo bumptious and vainglorious,swelling the Neiy - Zealandor's head with pride in the illimitable possibilities of his country, and picturing a glorious : future; noxt week, W6 are quaking in abject fear of what will becorco of us when tho "Yellow Peril" arrives' on , our shores; then wo be-'' eosde excited'to. a pitch of . hysterical frenzy in entertaining the American Fleet; and _a looal poet breaks forth into song : to, thiseffcct: — : Fleet, if you please, ' Protect us from the Japanese. , . When wo recover from, this stated wo _ say .pleasant things to soothe tho susceptibilities . of tho "Old Mother" who .supplies us/ with, , pookefc money, and maintains a .'number of : marine-bull-dogs, to frighten oxpeotant rob- : bflrs. This is, all very; amusing, 'hut : there- : are elements in the situation which ought' to give us pause. ' , / . ."' , ' 1 ".'Neath blades of the grava grass." Macaulay says somewhere "that a people that does not keep in memory, ,tho, great ' deeds, of, its ancestors is not. likely to do : anything worthy of: being • remembered by its' descendants. - , What navo wo -done, or ', what are wo doing, to "keep, in memory the groat deeds" done for. thia. and futuro 'gon- . orations by our unhonoured dead ? • In the . north, in'/'thb littlo 'graveyard of the village Church of Wajmate, havO been collected: : -tho boiies of : a few' of r th'ose who fell in. at-, tacktog the .Maori pas of. .Ohaeawai ' arid Okaihau, in tho war which followed after Hone Hokq cut down, tho English .flagstaff at Kororarika, Bay of Islands, in 1845: at . To Ngutu 0 te i Manu, ■ where Major Von . Temnsky fell, and in. tho pretty little: ■ Anglican Church of St., Mary s, New 'Ply-: i! niouth, and its adjacent-graveyard, geherouß , efforts have been mado to honour tlio deeds - of . a few of thoso who fell in tho Taranaki • wars of 1860-70. : Having instigated thoso:..humane,'., and patriotic efforts to j j.per'pbtuateihel-. memory of these ; hocouted dead, it is, a pleasure to record hero that at Waimatc, and in Now Plymouth, the namo of Archdeacon Walsh will always be honourably associated. But around the pas /.'tormed by our troops: during the war in thei north: at Vfaittra, Manawatu, Otapawa, Turuturu, Ngatapu, and many other places from Waitotara. to ■ White Cliffes in Taranaki: at B.angiriri, Orakau, and' the numerous battlefields of ,W*i- ■ katoj at Pukohiuahina (Gato) Pa/' Taurnnga; and along 'the Nanier-Taupo-Boad in': ; the' pursuit of To Kooli, lie tho unhonoured remains of many of tho Queen's troops and : of/the;: organised-bodies of: the 'settlorsvwho . fought-and fell, tho ono at tho call of duty, tho other in defence of tho country of thoir > adoption. • v " r - ?',"/: r-f ■ And No Man Caresl" 1 i The ,'prosent : ge>eratiott.'':do' .aot know ,at ' :,'^nyf 4€H'er¥ p tLtifl' country,' for '.themj''oir ■ Surely thoy' would' .not. neglect an obvious duty. Tho graves of the dead/'lying - unhonoured'whore .they fought land 'fml'-cair miitsly'from' tho past. /Nof;is. tho present 'generation to be . altogether blamed for this , ignoranco; • 1 In a country where'neithcr -tho /Bible ; nor : -'histerj'--- ara taught? in : the public schools, how, can'patriotism .bo -inculcated P. Whpre is -tho use of the, Government calling upon tho ablebodied TOUth of the Dominion to join tho De-: fenco 'rorceSj. 'When thoso; .-have,; not /' beon taught what patriotism- means? Amang;the many' omissions" of duty of the present and past ; Governments: none will have svich farreaching- consequences-' as this neglect ] to ' teaoh, ffie history of,';;tho Dominion . in' . .the public schools,. as also .their neglect to ap- ■ 1 point-. iv cOriimissibii ' to inquiro and report upon the scattered: places of', interment; and the state 'of the /little l ceineterit's lovingly formed and left by tho Queen's troops as a saored -legacy, to tho caro of the oolony. Bloody Days at. Huti/ Hera are. two incidents, which might, with advantage, :bet illustrated,'.-and,- with theirstories,. hung on the walls of; our pakeha and Maori schools. In May, 1846, owing to' disagreements. as to tho - legal - purchase ofland, 'the Maoris.; threatened to attack Wel-lington.'A-detachment; of the'^th-Regiment,' under Lieutenant (afterwards .General) Page, .xfbr* billeted at Boulcott's farm to guard tho' Hutt /Bridge, and .hear.- ; the / briclge / was .mounted; a non-commissioned officer's guard with, a, bugler, a little fellow of some twelve to .thirteen :summer?. Oh the morning of .-May 18,. in tho dark hour beforo the dawn, the '■ attacking .'Maoris- stealthily; approaohed the. guard tent; in which: the soldiers vero soundly sleeping,, trusting - implicitly to the vigilance of the sentinel posted on an eminence commandins a view of , the country around. Tho sentry was not true to his trust, and instead:, of keoping evcry aense alert, 110 "stood at ease," perhaps dreaming of ,the: loved on'ea ho had left in the Homeland over the sea. That was his last dream on earth, a tomahawk smote him,-and silenced him :for ever.' The -Maoris' then 'encircled the guard tent, and, when olose, rushed upon it. and with their tomahawks slashed at every movement, under tho. canvas. Th 6: little boy bugler crawled out from under the tent, and, springing to his feet j was sounding-the aAarm, when a Maori out! off his bugle aim. Without' hesitation . the brave boy - stooped, and, seizing .the. bogle with his left band; again essayed to do his duty, but it was .his own '.last post'.' he sounded,;as.the grim; ■relentless tomahawk desfiending, Bent 'him to await tho .Great Reveille. / Grim, Brave, and Forgotten. ' . .The other,incident 1 ocourred , at: Waitara, frohi which a. chain of• redoubts extended at intervals to tho Pukorangiora Pa, near which the. Maoris were strongly entrenched in Te Aroi Pa. The Queen's, troops occupied these redoubts, and were patiently sapping; the intervals between to seizei.the work.: Early one morning tho Maoris attempted to talco No. 3 redoubt' by -storm, . and i-succee'ded in surmounting the raVnparts, " irom whence thoy - were shooting down the garrison- within. The officer;in-commandj realising his critical posir tio'n, 'ordered' his bugler to. :feound th 6 regimental call of. the i'ogiinent guarding tlio neighbouring redoubt; The'"call" was understood, and reinforcements came. Meanwhile, however,':the/Maoris pressed tho attack, ana rushed; updn, the soldiers. Ono of them received a bayonet thrust through his : breast,' but,' seizing.: the .soldier's ::musket .with, his other; hand, he forood'/tht!; bayonet': further through ,his chest in his fierce endeavour to roaoii .his^.ononiy'with his t'omahawki * When the Maoris observed that thoy were being surrounded by newly-arriving troops, they 011doayoured' to. rotiro, taking: with them, their dead' and wounded, finimig thein being our brown hero with tho Soldier's -bayonet; stick-ing-through him. /Neither of tho combatants would: quit his hold of the-musket, but tho soldier,, finding himself being dragged away : by. tho rotroating Maoris, at last let go. This ; Maori recovered from his wounds,- and, after the war, was often to bo sioen 111 New Plymouth, where 110 would laughingly nnd proudly show the cicatrize of his wound 011 chest' : arid -■.'back.: 'Surely,-- with the lapse of time, the feolmgs excited then have; calmed: to / a deserved : , respect for a brave, peoplo, who, after all, only fought after their native manner in defenco of their homelarid, Would it not, therefore, 1 be .a graceful: act, eoothinj; to tae: feelings

of & fine race,/woro wo now to include them j in whatover.iifforts wo may undertake to per- :.v ( petuate tbe snemory- of the dead? -j HST 1 ( - "God. of our fathers,, known of old, ' j, 'i Lord of our far-flung batUe-lirie,--• • Beneath whose awful Hand we hold • •";! Dominion over palm and pine— Lord God.of Hosts, be with us yet, •" ■ I Lest wo forget—lest wo forget! • - 1 ''The tumult And tho shouting dies i . 1 The captains and.the kings depart; :-'•' ".. .! i . ■ Still stands 'thine ancient , sacrifice,'. i • An humble and it contrite heart. . - :.] Lord God of Hosts, bo with us yet, i Lest we forget—lost. we forget I- * The writer, has, visited Imany of tho battle jtfields, Maori pas, and redoubts in tho north, ; on tho west coast, and in Waikato, and the • talo of shameful neglect told by most of thom is shocking.: Two - instances. will suffice by way of illustration. ; -- o, Both , Cemetery and Playground. : , . At Waitara, the .little: cemetery near the school, was (March, 1007), and also waa vApnl, 1908), in: a disgraceful condition, one side of .the original fence was'broken;down, as also woro tho fences which had protected ; : the wood or- stone/memorials of the dead, f c ? grazing on the rank grass, soma -vandal had. out ..-down the pine trees which : : had been planted to give tlio place tho ap- ' " of A eemetery^and. afl around lay - the litter of broken branches and stacks of ; firewood. . However, many.' memorials ' had ' originally been erected by surviving com■rades or other kindly'hands; only two remained —one, a fine horizontal stone, in mem- ' oryi of the -officers. and men of the; Fortieth Queen's Regiment, who (as tho inscription- • simply sets forth) "fell bravely performing . their duty during the; war of 1880-61. "/The ■ ■;- . other—a tablet of wood—is t<i "the memory -: ;" of Alfred Broome, Naval Brigade,:: who fell mortally wounded whilst attacking' the < enemy's riflo pits 1 atMntarikoriko, 1 ' After ; reviewing'.the sad and. disgraceful.' condition ; of this old natal arid military cemetery,''and'. ; observing that it had become a playground of the children of the adjacent public school, I oould not but moralists oil ..tlio effect in the minds of - these children when in • after years thoy .would recall thiii: evideneo- of # people's ingratitude. A. Hawera Man With a Hoart; Tho other instance is at Ohawe, Hawera, near, the mouth of tho Waingongoro, where ' ; the Queen's troops engaged in the war were, encamped \ under General Cameron-awaiting 'transport to - convoy -them back "to England. . ■ Here; on as knoll,- the-troops formed: a littler : cemetery, within which were laid to rest some ■ :' of those who fell at the capture of Otapawa Pa, On January 18, 1866. Over tho graven - were erected tombstones and. slabs of wood, . / on which were beautifully cut tho names, '. age, corps, and circumstances of .tho death of those whose , bones lie beneath;, soma ; twenty-six of . tho s<th, 14th, and 40th ' Queen's Regiments, and. of the Wanganui Yeomanry, arid 3rd Waikato Volunteer Regi- ; monts,;]ie hero.' • This was protectod by a . : v ' fence, with a post and rail fence on ,-ths.- /■ inner side, and. a stunted, wind-blown' pine - or.two gave this,littlo,placo,the appearance ' 'of .tho-;yew-clad of the' Homeland. . Two years ago, : when -VisitfedUhis -'W lonely spot, tho sunk fence was partially ; ; filled up,! the/, post., and rail fence' broken ''■ V. down, irreverent hands had removed somoof . the head .stones, : the wood .head-slabs, were deoayed, seven .'being undecipherable, fences■.-/-' ■■;;; around some of the graves broken down, and - ' cattle had rim riot over tho place. ■ .-.After : years of .neglect, this. littlo God's acre was v.." ' sold, with tho -land, around, by Government, - 7 without ■ reservation' ■ -01 obligation,■■/•■■to .■•'• tho■ -present owner, Mr. James Livingstone, to plough. over, or otherwise, as 'it pleased-, him. To his honour .-' . '- v : be it hero: recorded; that ho has (at his owa charges) restored the cemetery to a stato of.: decent; order, and, lest it:. should again in timo fall into neglecting hands,- he-haa ; ■.'; ercotcd'a;itcja9gular.-.iobeltslc of cemented beach".: stories;'/nine ■ feet' in height—a solidlooking and imposing monument—on the ■ . tablet ■«£., whioh'viSi cut in bold letters this /" legend—' . ' " "Somebody's , Sons, . '- ./ Lost Tliey..Also Are Forgotten.'l;, y; and then follow' the- names,' corps, etc;, of as , many of tho names - as -coukl be /deciphered '•. . of .tho stono . : graveyard desecrators ' had left. ' .''"f--■ V: . There-is somothinC'.very sliMking in -ths idoa ofthe colonial Government "selling land ■/ for settlement on -which' some- such littlo ■ cemetery: lies, and; to! find in some- instances' • : - ..tlia' settlers ruthlessly - ploughed ovor the.:graves till no trace is left to mark .tha spot where. unhonoured dead- li« below. Fortunately in the: instance which wo are considering, -Mr;. James-Livinistohe had himself served in tho war troubFeS of thfe pkt, . and. ho no doubt sadly reflected that tho fortune of war might have .'left:, his : bones .' ■:, to be neglected on somo" lonely wasto. - Why Not a Foiv Obelisks? :-./ Money would be well.spent in maintaining th© ; littlo 'cemeteries alluded to in decenl i repair,, and in ereoting ■ small. In Momoriani oemented cairns,; with. suitablo insotiptions. over tho bones, of thoso lying under'the sod in many scattered fields: for these bts tho placcs to which the' scnoolmasters of the schools; in. tho neighbourhood should : occasion- .". ally oonduct their scholars 'to recite a lesson / of history, and to show how a grateful country perpetuates tho . memory of those ' ,■ who fought and 'fell: in her service. .■:■ No general monument to commemorate th« wars of Now Zealand, on-Marsland Hill, New • Plymouth, ; or- anywhere elso, will, servo the : purpose so. well as will ; ;those :i isolated; and: lonely'.obelisk, and. surely t-h'e spot/where a soldier; and whore the reverent hands of his comrades laid him to rest, is tho-most . ; fitting, place:, to': ereot his memorial.-- Lvcy Lyttelton's line's on', the desecrated graves : of. those ■ who,' fell/in .South Africa apply, to our own unhonoured dead. ' - ""What is tho cry that breaks in on our "sleeping? \ /'/ ■-, Who is it comcth to trouble our rest, ■ : Coming to bear us away to tho city, / Drying our graves are apart and j unblest? Is not our blood' more' than oil of anointing, / rock than the shade of a dome; More 'than the;-fairest of marble engraving, Praise of our country and toars of our homo? "Are not tho prayers that our comrades prayed o'er us,'- -•:.,-.■■■ .. , .While 7 the -shrill: bullet sped" fierce on its ■- ■ .'■■■' way, :■. . / More than , the blessing'of stranger can;givo ■ /■•'."/' us, ; /j -;.v.:. .y- .■-/■".':/■ L :v'1 ' Moro thaii tho prayers that utimenaced ye '- pray? .. . k / , "Leave us to lie where the bullet hath laid us. Valley or plain, or the stony hillside, Deep in the tronch that our comrades have made us, Out in the bush where we suffered and / died." - ' / ' • •: ■ •■ To learn how nobly/;their forefathors died, with the -single purpose: 'of holding : their ' - - homesteads and protecting thoso they loved, 1 took: their ch'ancM,V and unselfishly gave up their for their country, would.light the firo' of prido and patriotism in tho hearts • of the littlo fellows. who are delighting us - at present while they are anlusin'g themselves - in playing at soldiers in the various jiublio ■ and private schools cadet. corps. •; ' ■v, -' , At' present : tho subject, of colonial defence :: is exorcising tlio public mind. Wo have oiir Navy ; League'; Military Defence League, our ' volunteer and cadet corps, and surely no time is more suitable. to ■ complain of tho 1 ' neglect' of soldiers' graves in various" parts of the Dominion. ■As has b'eeh v slioira r ;the ; i condition of theso is. a public disgrace, which 1 ■ tho public should insist tho . Chiveim-icnt V should: immediately- appoint a coriiinissiori to : rectify. Is it fitting that. the. graWs of those : wlio: ; served : tho' colony so well should cotitiiniflHo■ be neglectedP Let us sue to it that this reproach is removed Woro" history has te riieord tho" faot' that' : fro; left bur faitli- ,; f*il doad' lying about in the : solitary wastes ■' or under the- ploughed fields of tho' country thoy so bravely hold'for us, "uiiwept,' unhonoured, and unsung." There are more.', ways : tlian- one >?f' Wndin» : tea, but there's only one honest and right war - and that is to,blend .for quality. Many tena ' ■ are blended/for. valne—that-is, leas of certain '-' ■ prices aro lumped together in order ta maka • certain of. prfifit. Creseent Blend Tea is blintlu'l for quality, Irrespective of: the prices of'fh» teas required to make '-e: blend. It is a sciin-' tific combiuatioa of. the .strong'robust teas.of !■/.:■ Darjeeling and the fine dehcato teas of Ceylan. TW6 shillinga per lb, from all stores.—Advt. v: