MANAIA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 15 May 1925, Page 4

MANAIA.

MEMORIAL SERVICE,

(From. Our Own Correspondent.) ,

The memorial service held in the Manaia Town Hall yesterday to the late Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey wus. very largely attended by citizens of Manaia and .settlers from all parts* of the surrounding district. Before the (service, a procession was formed -up at the lire brigade '.station, - consisting , of school children, headed by the Mana-ia Municipal Brass Band, under Conductor J. A. G. Cosgrove. At the Town Hall the service Waia most impressive. On the stage were the following ministers: Revs. D. Smith, 8.A., A. C. Swaiiison, 8.A., and W. H. Hooper; also the chairman of the Manaia Town Board . (Mr. N. G. Nielson) and the chairman of the Waimate West County Council (Mr. E. Long). . . ;. < The service commenced >vith a prayer of invocation by the Rev. A. C, Siv.ainsoii, after which the hymn “Roejk of Ages’’ was. sung. Then the Rev*. T* Smith -gave a Scripture; reading, which was followed by the Rev. W. H. Hooper, wlu> offered a prayer in keeping with the solemn occasion. Another hymaii sung was “Now the Labourer’s Task is O’er.”

In . his address,. Mr. Nielson (chairman of the Town Board), said' that it wa/s impossible yet to* realise- the loss to the Dominion and-Empire earned by the death of Mr. Massey, After expressing the sympathy.of kill with the bereaved relatives, he urged oh the young, people who ‘ were oil the threshold of life and ivho - -would/sdqn have -ar * sayy-aiil future destinies of this country, to exercise their power and influence to mantain the high standard of national life attained by the late Pririie Minister.

Mr. E. Long (chairman of the Wainuate West County Council) also addressed the gathering. He . said that there was one outstanding feature about the late. Mr. Massey, that he was one of the people he started . out amongst; although attaining the 'highest position in the country he was never carried away; with pomp and show. He was like his predecessor, Richard Seddon, a man of the people. .‘‘We in New Zealand hardly realise how. fortunate we have been. in our leaders,” said Mr. Long. “We are one of the smallest countries in the Empire, but we have . had for ouij leaders some of the .biggest men. /Mr. Massey was .a very big man m every sense of the word. When he set out. to do anything, no matter what the odds were he generally accompli she dl it.

‘‘l think where Mr. Massey showed out best was during the war, particularly when, our soldiers were leaving our shores without an escort being provided for them. Mr. Massey then said before he would allow" them to risk their lives in that way, .he you Id sacrifice his own political life.” Portion of the burial service was then read by Rev. A, O. Swainson. The hymn, “Nearer My Godi ta Tliee” was sung and the benediction was pronounced by the Rev. A. C. S-wain-son. The service closed with the band pla.ving Handel’s “Dead March; in Saul.” MEMORIAL SERVICES. Throughout Neiv Zealand: yesterday the usual business activities of the day were suspended and the people gathered together to participate in memorial services to the late Prime Minister, concurrently with the funeral ceremonies at Wellington, and at these eloquent tributes were paid t.o the services rendered by the late Mr Massey to the Dominion and to the Empire.