AT LOWER HUTT

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 97, 26 April 1928, Page 13

AT LOWER HUTT

A united memorial service was /held-; in the King George Theatre, Lower Hutt, in the morning. The service was conducted by the ministers of the various churches and the Salvation Army, and the singing was led by the combined choirs and the Hutt Valley Choral Society,'under the baton of Mr. Douglas Taylor. On', the platform were the Mayor (Mr. W. T. Strand) and Councillors and borough officers. The Rev. J. K. Lopdell led in prayer. Scripture readings were given by Archdeacon A. L. Hanscll and the Rev. R. T. Wearne. The address was given by the Rev. C. H. Olds, who told the story of Gallopoli with dramatic force. Many motives, ho said, led men to the war, but behind all was the great indomitable spirit, a rising in wrath against a world wrong. That was the spirit in which wo had entered the war. We must never forget the war was sent to purge us from sloth and greed, and we must be careful to loam our lesson. There was only one way in which we could honour our dead, and that waa in carrying on in the spirit that actuated the men in the war. In spite of passing showers and tho damp ground, a large company gathered round the Cenotaph on tho Lower Hutt Recreation Ground in the afternoon. Hymns,'Jed by the united . choir and the Municipal Band, were sung, prayer .was.led by the Roy. J. M'Caw, and a Scripture reading: was given by Captain V. J."Dick,'of the Salvation Army. The Mayor (Mr. W. T. Strand), in introducing Mr. D. S. Smith, reminded tho people that through the goodness of God and tho sacrifice of the men our homes were still free. They had met to honour the fallen, their mothers, and other dear relatives, and to express sympathy, for, thosq who had lost their near and dear. The way to honour them.waa by the path of. sacrifice, and if we were prepared to make halt' the sacrifices tho men had mado this country would soon have all its problems settled. Mr. Smith said tho day was one of solemn rcmembranco for the fallen, and thero ,was a desire to prcservo it as a day of meditation. It was a day of national consciousness. They thought of the landing at' Gallipoli thirteen, ■years ago, when men from all parts of the country formed part of tho assaulting brigades; men of all creeds and classes, who wore ono in the unity of their spirit and their determination to fight for their country and their Empire against an enslaving foe. Mr. 'Smith dwelt on the great sacrifice which New Zealand had been called upon to make. No memorials made by man woro suilicieut for those who had given all. but as tho Greeks of old had it they hud their immortality in the minds of mpii. It was a day- of sympathy for tho widows and tho children, tho mothers and tho fathers of those who died, and it was a day of special remem brnnce for thoso wounded, maimed, and wasted by tho war. It was also a day .for remembrance of thoso at homo with out whom tho war could not hnvo been carried on, thoso who provided comforts for tho troops; thoso who saved (md skimped'to' assist thqir country's cause, and to tho statesmen who laboured unceasingly. The band played the "Funeral March," tlio "Last Post" was sounded, and the Benediction pronounced by the Rev. R. Dudley. Floral tributes wore laid on the base of the Cenotaph by local bodies, churches, schools, and the public. Thero was a march past by the Scouts and Cubs, School Cadets, Cadets, and Territorials, all under Captain Cowie.