THE PENGUIN'S DEAD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 434, 17 February 1909, Page 8

THE PENGUIN'S DEAD.

FUNERAL SERVICES. - INTERMENTS AT KARORI. , GREAT GATHERING OF THE PUBLIC. Yesterday, under itho fairest auspices of Ihose floklo elements that had' wrought such dostruotion near_ Torawhiti on Friday lost, the Penguin's dead were Interred at Karon. It was a day' of pubho mourning. Every phaso of the tomblo tragedy had combined to sharpen emotions, to quicken, Hie ' sensibilitio9 of tho community,! and the, people of 'Wellington shared their bereavement with tho friends and relatives of the deceased. It was a sad and memorable occasion. Flags, at half-mast, everywhere drooped pathetioally in tho languishing breeze;, bells tollod out their sad summons to tho city, and from every quarter people assembled at various points to honour the dead. . > As the hour for the departure of the funeral procession from tho 'Artillery Hall In Buoklo Street drew near, a vast crowd gathered in the vicinity of the temporary mortuary. Some gained points of vantage, and others stood round tho doorway of the ' hall and'gazed respectfully within as the doors ojjened to admit someone in authority. Within, five lorries, draped ,m black, their tops covered wi,th union jacks, were drawn, up, and on those the burial, caskets were placed—two on each. The casfiets were then draped with' smaller flags, and garlands of immortelles, roses, and other floral tokens ( of sympathy were laid reverently, upon them. Relatives and intimate friends of tho dead, mid ministers of religion wore also there, .waiting to follow tho remains to tho grave. Ton o'clock rang out; tho police guard pressed back the waiting crowd without, and cleared a way for the procession, as down the .street appeared'a,sixth lorry (which was to head the procession), bearing four white caskets,, beautifully wreathed—tho remains of'lvy Alice, Roso Agnes, Wallace, George, and Florence M'Quire. The double doors of tho hall parted, and a hush fell upon the waiting throng, as the cortege slowly drew out into tho street, and, preceded by ,tho Mission Band, with muffled drums, proceeded along , tho route. " v ' > t The Procession. „The ton caskets which left the hall—tho Jther remains had been claimed the night before—"contained the bodies of: —< ' E. GALE (seaman). .J, RAFFERTY (greaser). , > * MISS D. M. RIBBANDS (passenger). — WELLTJM'(pantryman). ERNEST OROOKE (riewUjcl). G. BARNES (trimmer)), H. WOODS'(fireman). 1 T. WOODFORD (seaman). FELIX WOODWARD. . t> KEITH COPE WILLIAMSON (passen- _', Eer) * '

Jflite'r, them followed the cabs conveying mourners and prominent citizens, while' ochmd and alongside streamed) in sympathetic silence, the publio throng. It had been originally intended that the route of the funeral procession to Earori Bhould"bo by way of Webb Street, aoross Wdhs Street, along Wordsworth Street, and „Aro Street to the heights of Kelbume. At She last moment, howover, it was deemed advisable, in view of the heavy weight' of the Worries, to prooeedj after loaving Webb Street, ■jlohg Cuba Street, up Ghuznee Street, to wsolcombo Street, and thence by way of Mount Street and Salamanca JEtoad, to Kelbume. By this change of routo a number of people, who had tahen up their positions along tho original lino of the funeral procession, found that tho cortege, instead of crossing to Willis Street and into Aro Street, had moved down Cuba Street, and a rush ensued , in the direction,of the new route. The strains of tho "Doad March" were wafted r out on tho still air, and'a deep and reverent Bilonco pervaded tho vicinity, : i Among those in the procession were a number of shipmates of the drowned members of tho Pon- '• gum's crew, sailors from 'other vessels o tho Union line, and" also 'from" tho Nov Zealand Shipping ( Company's ' fleet.'' Mr James Moore, Seamen's Missionor, prcoedec the section of, the cortege which bore th< bodies of the unfortunate men. All alonj ' tho fouto stood a line bf silent citizens, 'wh< reverently bared their heads as tho oortegi passed slowly by. - Progress up the stiff grade to Woolcomb* end Mount Streets was slow, and'many o - the mourners m tho cabs alighted to ease th< ascent. Hero, too, tho cortege was joinec 'by a majority of thoso who had como fron tho vicinity of the original route, and it wai a long procession which yiound- uj to tho Kolburno heights, across tho viaduot through the tunnel, and on to Karon. Oi tho knolls along tho upland roads crowds o peoplo/were clustered to view tho procession 1 while here and there a photographer was t< be seen, perched precariously on 1 some pom of vantage. ,By this time, tho processioi had thinned visibly, but up tho Karon tram line long beforo, and even after, .heavily freighted cars had passed in quick succession , and by tho timo the cortege had gained'th< oemotery gates/ a dense throng hac assembled to witness its arrival. J At the 1 Cemetery. I At the cemetery gates, a suspioion, whip! had been gradually foiming, that by corian sections of the crowd along tho route tin occasion had been degraded from a solemr event to a public spectacle, took dcfimt< shape in tho mmd—indeed it bocarao a solf evident truth. As has been already stated a dense crowd, transported thither by tin Karon cars, had assembled at tho gates cabs, motor-ears, and other vehicles addec to tho congestion; to such an oxtent was tin traffio impeded that it uas with tho groates difficulty that tho mam cortege, and thosi ( of tho private interments, wore given acces to tho cemetery. Tho police—a mero hand ful—were quite unablo at times to contro tho traffic, their efforts being mainly centra upon preventing tho people from causing , congestion at the gates. of serious rush through tho entrance were quit evident, and had the police failed at an timo to withstand the press outside, grav sacrilege might havo ocourred. As it was there were one or two incongruous and dis tressing incidents. Tho polios guard sta tionod behind tho gates allowed seotions o the orowd to enter at intervals, and on tbos occasions an unseemly rush down tho mal avonuo followed the, opening of tho gates Commissioner Dinnie was with the polic guard, and personally assisted his suboi dinatoß. Iho late—too late—arrival of second detachment of polico suggested th

inference'that'"tho. Commissioner find'realised' tho. gravity 'of : : the and sent for. reinforcements... It w&uld liavo been. much iriofe. ?cffec!tive,;'it. ,wa's;freely a! dotaohment of the Royal . New; Zealand Artillery "been dotailed for duty at tlip gates. / ','All albng'.tho main avenue.and about the' burial places people'had assembled,- atjd die scene, as; the main cortege entered the gates,ahdvpassed' slowly along, , was 'an "imprbssxve and ;, pathetic 'one.\ The Mission Band, in 1 fronts played the;! beautiful; processional, air, ■"The Garland of Flowers," a3 ■it marched along the main,avenuo; tho crowd was : hushed iji revoreiitial awe, as if a poignant realisation;-,of;-.the awful-nature, of '.the? tropho had-suddenly oomo upon it. It was a scone nover to'be forgotten. '