PILGRIMAGE TO BIER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20209, 30 March 1940, Page 7

PILGRIMAGE TO BIER

LATE PRIME-MINISTER PRAYERS AND TEARS BRITISH M.P.'S MESSAGE (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. In a deeply spiritual atmosphere, hallowed by prayers and tears thousands of people are filing past the bier of the late Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon, M. J. Savage. A steady flow of people all morning up the steps of Parliament House crowded 10 and 12 deep. It is estimated that by 10 p.m. 45,000 will have passed the casket. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. W. E. Barnard has received from the Speaker of the House of Commons a message on their behalf to the New Zealand House of Representatives of deep sympathy and an expression of their recognition of the statesman like qualities of the late Prime Minister and realisation of the loss that the Dominion and the whole of the Empire had sustained. Carefully organised arrangements enable 1500 persons every hour to‘pass the casket and the beautiful setting of official wreaths. There is a brief lull in the constant stream each half hour when the, guard is quietly changed, and to the word of whispered commands the four representatives, either of the Navy, Army or Air Force, take their places and bow their heads over reversed arms. The Parliamentary social room, the most spacious in the building, is becoming too small to contain all the wreaths displayed on the. tall racks. The public are permitted to visit this wonderful collection, tributes to one whose death has prompted this extraordinary display of public sympathy.

This afternoon Mr. E. T. Tirikatene. M.P. for Southern Maori, accompanied by prominent representatives of his race, will Jay a kiwi mat at the head of the casket. The Hon. F. Langstone, acting Native Minister, and other members of the Cabinet will attend.