FAULTY STOPPING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 67, 20 March 1931, Page 6

FAULTY STOPPING

MEMORIAL INSCRIPTION "They tell me that you spend four millions a year on education, in the light of which fact it is strange to note that the inscription on your beautiful War Memorial contains five mistakes." Thus writes a correspondent, who then proceeds to point out the mistakes. The inscription on tho memorial is exactly as follows, stops and all:— "This memorial was erected by the citizens of Wellington in grateful! memory of the men and women of Wellington who gave their lives for the Empire in tho Great War 1914-1918 This stone was laid by His Excellency General Sir Charles Fergusson., Baronet L.L.D., G.C.M.G., X.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.O. Governor General of New Zealand on the 25th day of April 1929" j

Tho first mistake pointed out is that there is an omission of a period after 1918, but this perhaps may be excused by the fact that it comes at the end of a line. There should be no period or full-stop after "Fergusson," and this is the second mistake pointed out. Tho period between tho two L's in L.L.D. is tho third mistake —it is always written "LL.D."—and neither it nor the-preceding one can be justified. The fourth and fifth mistakes are pointed out as being the omission of commas. after "Baronet" and "M.V.0.", and certainly each should be there. Exception, too, might be taken to the omission of a hyphen between the words "Governor" and "General"; and finally a comma after "New Zealand" would remove any lurking impression that Sir Charles Forgusson was Governor-General only on 25th April, 1929.