THEIR LAST REST VICTIMS OF TRAGIC FIRE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1914, Page 8

THEIR LAST REST VICTIMS OF TRAGIC FIRE

: PUBLIC FUNERAL AT UPPER HUTT ' IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY. '-The funeral of the victims of the tra.gicTfire at Upper Ilutt took place today. The ceremony was public through>out> and the different services with f which the deceased had been connected 't-vffite all fully represented. The interfcslehts in the morning were those of the Irfotfr men who were members of the f'Jtbman Catholic Church— James x Comesfckey, .postmastel' at tha Upper Hutt, |?Gpnstable Dennis Mahoney, who was in [•charge of the local police station, Wil•■lliiitp. Flynn, the railway guard, and [' Michael .Toohey, the bridge contractor, ■',whjbr* f died from his injnries in Welling' "'tori' Hospital early on Sunday • morning. i'The weather was beautifully fine and ■'bright, find a very large concourse of pfeOple gathered at the township of 'Upper Hutt. The morning train from .Wellington brought with it a large body ''of police, in full dress uniform, , several ■ ■•postal officers, and a number of railway 1 r&etk. There were also friends and rela'utjves of -the deceased men, and many '.Visitors. 'The cortege was formed up opposite "♦^Police" Station and Post Office, direct]vj in front of the scene of the disaster hAII the township turned out, and visijifa'Z, came from all over the district. '.There must have been more than a thou■sand people present. Over all was the solemnity of a great occasion — the last »rites over four of the men who had met '.Hheir deaths as though by stroke oE fate -'•in the 1 * 'performance of a neighbourly i-servjce of good citizenship. Genuine rfeeling for the dead men was visible 'everywhere, for- they were all popular ;*»bdL well-respected in the district, pathetic were the reminiscent quotes in the low murmur of conversation ►saßo'ut the late , Constable Mahoney for PJhis^kindliness and honesty of character. ?Oi -all the deceased were spoken good .words. ; . ORDER OF THE CORTEGE. i Ofi the arrival of the train from Welplington the' order of the funeral procesyskm was arranged. In the front came P.thirty-.eight, constables with nine serBge4nis.jtindei 1 Superintendent Ellison and pnspector^^ Hendrey, representing the "Force in respect of the memory £of the Jate Constable Mahoney. With {■them were Chief-Detective Broberg and }other detectives. Then came twenty* 'jfiour railway men in uniform, with the tjstationmaster of -the Upper Hutt, Mr. jijames Kemp, mourners of the railwayj^men Guard William Flynn and Porter Taylor, who lost their lives in rtho explosion. The Lower Hutt Branch of the HiberLnian Society, to which the late William i Flynn had belonged, was represented by Mibout twenty members in regalia. About tthe casket containing the remains of the t -guard "Was wrapped his Hibernian sash. Theft followed the mortal remains of <Ahe four deceased. Those of Mr. {"Comesky were borne by commissioners r -of the Upper Hutt Town Board — Dr. <JCemp and Messrs. Webb. Benge, and '"Qtrin (the last an ex-commissioner of the p.board> The body of Constable Mahoney p'-Vrf oorne by hlfc brothers, and that of pGuaTdi Mynn by Guards J. Martin, ' J. fißrown, B. Elliott, and F. Mitchell. His ftcomrades in the employ of the May morn ''Company carried the body of Michael 'Toohey. The relatives of the deceased ' follow ed the biers. In, the cortfege -were the Hons. "3. D. i Bell ■ (Minister of Internal Affairs), A. , I/. Berdma-n (Minister of Justice), W. fFraser (Minister of Public Works). Mr. if. M. Wilford (M.P. for the district), I'Mr. J. P. Luke (Mayor of Wellington), /.'Messrs. G. Frost, A. H. Hindmarsh, and <i 3. E. Fitzgerald (Wellington City Mr. R. Fletcher (Wellington aßarboor Board), and many other gentletinea, representing public departments and '^local bodies. The public procession numbered some |<2GO of 300 people, and the cortege as pat wound its -way slowly down the road ;"to the little church in the trees made a(isolemn and imposing spectacle. There 1 -was no band to play mournful music, but church bell tolled at intervals. 'At the church gates the cortegp Was ■tmet by the clergy, represented by his fiGrace Archbishop Redwood, the Very ££Rev. Dean Regnaulfc, and the Rev. i&Fathers Hickson, Daly (parish priest), IfM'Menamin, Tymons, Herring, S. MaPiioney (Wanganui), Connolly (Taihape), tetnd Walsh (Lower Hutt). The tiny, picturesque church was '.'crowded, and even then there were far ■anore outside than could be accommodated within. In fact, one man fainted '; with the heat v> ithin. The service, con--ducted by the Rev, Father Daly, as* sisted by the clergy present, was a Re- , quiem Mass. The ceremony, with the ; singing of the choir, was most impres1 sive. TRIBUTE TO THE DEPARTED. 'At the conclusion, Father Daly paid ; a touching tribute to the characters of l the men who had lost their lives. The ptsyrnpathy of nil _ would go out to the h-ifriends and relatives of the noble men r^wbo had^ died in performing a work of Ijgood citizenship. They wei'e 'Splendid l^cit&fens, and devout Catholics. They ( s>knew the great risk they were underageing in entering a burning building, 'Syet'they had not shrunk back. Others $Tiad stood by and looked on, and taken ,»no part. Even when the wounded were ;'Jying 'on the ground, there were men '■who did not tend a hand. In contrast /-stood out the heroism of those j brave "men who had mot their end in doing the ■ work of a good neighbour and a good .■ citizen. Ho congratulated all the com;'mles of tho departed -who had come to do honour to the memories of brave , mon. He referred specially to the late Constable Mahoney. On behalf erf himself and the congregation he would like s-also to extend the deepest sympathy to '■'the relatives of the other deceased, '. .Vivian, Taylor, and Polling. He knew ."them all 'personally as young men of a promise, cut off. by sudden death in their :, manhood. The interment then took place in the 'presence of a large gathering of people, 'including those who had been unable to '"rfind room inside the churdh. Prayers /•were chanted over the graves and the ulast rites performed. Then His Grace Archbishop Redw-ood addressed the as- 1 . semblage with brief, poignant reference to the departed, assuring the friends and relatives of the intense sympathy of all their countrymen throughout the ' Dominion. The men _ had met their death in a work of neighbourly charity and had been cub short in honourable «ud Useful careers. They were a loss •to their district, hut their actions had /-■Tieeii an example to all. He endorsed all that Father Daly had said, and hoped 'that the bereaved would try to bear with Clod's help their bitter sorrow and heavy Witll the chanting of prayers over the hi which the assembled people joined the sadly impressive ceremony ended. THE LATE MR. VIVIAN." Shortly after the time set down for the commencement of the funeral (2.15 p.m.) of tho late Mr. Vivian the cortege moved away from the Hj4tfc.£ojica {§&-

tion. The body was placed in the hearse by Commissioners R. H. Webb (chairman of the Town Boaid), H. V. Benge, Dr. F. W. Kemp, and ex-Commissioner R. Quinn, who acted as pall-bearers. Following in the procession were the relatives and friends of the deceased, the member for tho district(Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P.), representatives of the Police Force. Railway Department, members of the Town Board, and many prominent resklents of Upper and Lower Hutt. The interment was made at the Taita Cemetery, where the last rites of the dead were conducted by the Rev. J. M'Caw, minister in .charge of Knox Church, Lower Hutt. A MILITARY FUNERAL. As The Post went to press the residents of Upper Hutt are witnessing the last sad event of the day — namely, the funeral of the late George Taylor^ The deceased, whose last resting place is the Wallaceville Cemetery, was a private in No. 7 Company. N.Z. Engineers, Railway Battalion. In consequence he is being accorded a full military • funeral. The Territorials in attendance arc members of deceased's late company and also members of No. 8 Company of the samd battalion, with Captain Keenan, Staff Officer for Railways, in command. There is also a large number of relatives, residents, and visitors in attendance. Rev. Mr. Usher, who is in charge of the Presbyterian Church, Upper Hutt, is conducting the service at the graveside.