MANUTAHI.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 23 March 1922, Page 4

MANUTAHI.

! -'. ~- •';'»- —-—■'" ; UiN VEILING OF KOLL OF HONOUR ! i .__,.,. .. .■-■■' Yesterday afternoon many of the residents, of the Manutahi district gathered at the Public Hall to partiei- ' pate in the unveiling cereniony of the' Manutahi roll of honour, v Mr. E. I Dixon, M.P., performed the ceremony, j and was supported by another.speaker,; : the Rev. Lion, of Patea. It was a! most impressive function, and was one' which will no doubt be cherished in, the memories of many of those who were present. i With the singing of a verse of the National Anthem the ceremony was lopemed, and; Mr. Muggferidgie /then ! briefly ' explained the reason of the! • leathering. .He mentioned that the <. .forts of the ladies of Manutahi were ic! sponsible_for the roll of honour, and that- a portion of £Le funds raised for! tli3 sending of parcels to soldiers was j left unspent when the war ceased.- It! was by drawing on this fund that thej roll of honour had been purchased. Mr. | Muggeridge then called upon Mr. Dixon' to address the gathering and perform the unveiling ceremony. > In his opening remarks .Mr. Dixon -said that his mind went back to those memorable days when it was his privilege to farewell the boys at the Hawera railway station. He would never forget those occasions as long as he lived. He.had felt as he had shaken hands with those boys and had wished them j "God speed and a safe return" that! they_ were fully conscious that some! would never come back; and he would' never forget the mothers, wives, sisters, and sweethearts who. in some' cases also tendered their last farewells, to those whom they loved and who were1 going forward to do their duty to home anji, .country. Such a state of affairs,' however, was only to be expected in time of war, as it Iwas impossible fori every man to go and fight for his' country and return without making the! great sacrifice. They recognised that; the .war could not be brought to a conclusion in any other way than by sacrifice, and that they knew full well when the boys left Hawera. . The boys, as j he said, were conscious of it too; yetj they did not flinch from the path of. duty, but rallied to the call from every part of the Dominion and every 'part of the Empire. From home, town, and city the response came; they were all • willing to go and defend their Empire '• against a relentless foe, and they all recognised ttat their country was worth dying for. And the question arose: "How great is our responsi- ; bility?" To-day people were living in comparative peace as the result of the' ' sacrifices those gallant boys had made. * Continuing, Mr. Dixon said that no one wished to see another such war. ' One of the surest preventives against future wars was the cultivation of a ' spirit of brotherhood and loyalty to the Empire. They were all brothers, and when they realised that then the times of w.irs would be no more. There : were two bonds which tied the nation together; one was ldve of country and "* the other was love of Almighty God. That was verified by the"- soldiers .during ! the whole of the war period. Refer-j ring to the roll of honour, the speaker. , said that each time it was brought' ' before their notice it would bring to' their minds cherished memories of days. bhat had gone. , ' A

Mr. Dixon read the following lines: Think! Would we wish that they had " stayed," \ .-• v - - When all the-rest the call obeyed? That thought of self had held in thrall Their souls and shrunk them ;ne«;i und small? Nay,' rather thank the Lord *hat they ' Rose to such height of chivalry That, with the need, their Jo>al soulsSwung like aneedle to its poll ; That,- setting duty iirst, they went At once' as to a sacrament. The boys, said Mr. Dixon, had: striyen for the maintenance of the bonds which held the mighty Empire; together,, and their sacrifices had not. been m \ain. . Continuing, Mr. Dixon said that they: in New Zealand to-day had their duties: to perform by reason of the sacrifices, which had been made. A good example should be set the boys and girls, so that the world might be made a betterplace for them, to live in. i ' * Mr. Dixon then unveiled the roll of honour "to the memory of those braveboys who responded to the call, son** of whom paid fhe supreme sacrifice in gmng their lives lor us." He saidS that when he read that such a larger number of Manutahi boys* made thesupreme sacrifice he was sure that; Manutahi had done its full share iii defending " the Empire. The speakozr trusted that they, as an Empire, might, be worthy of the great sacrifices Vvhicbnad been made. All present stood a moment in silence* while the Rev. Lion read aloud thenames of those soldiers who had been killed in action. The Rev. Lion Shen delivered a short speech. :Bfe{ considered it a- privilege-. to be 'asked to say a few words on:, such an occasion. ~ Holding the positurn he did it would Inot be right for him to speak unless he left some littlethought from th^ "Great Old Book" which would always remind them of the unveiling ceremony. In the booksot Samuel and Kings they would find mentioned , the names of individuals who had assisted their nation, Israel, and they would also find the .following: [ words: "These* names shall be to you_ i tor a memorial." Continuing, the. Rev. ! Lion said he had a suggestion which. ,he hoped would be taken kindly, and .which hlad ibejen i adopted in certain ; districts in South Canterbury, where-' ihe had previously been stationed. The I suggestion was that when a roll o& bonour was placed in a ball which was.. 'used for amusements such as dances some time should be decided on for- ! the -cessation of the dance proceedings, ' When all eyes should be turned to-; : wards, the honours board and. a • momeriFs silence should be observed. • llf the suggestion were taken up those concerned would be helping in ho small ' measure to perpetuate the memory of"", those men whose names.* appeared on cue roll. " . ' was a large number of school. . children present at the ceremony, and Mr. Dixon, speaking in a very free , and pleasant manner, gave them a very - helpful address. He did not'knowbut he might be speaking to some boyvor girl who had lost a brother or some--one -they knew at the war," but hewanted the children to always remem- - Aber as they loked'at the roll that the names inscribed on. it were the -names ':.. ■■ of^ihose" men who had" responded tothe call and had gone to fight for their country. He hoped that the boys and girls before him would never see an- - other ,war. Mr. Dixon reminded them, that before there eould^be a war there* 7 must Ibe a disagreement, and there-^ ~\ fore great good could be done if theyv ' as weii as every other boy and girl in the, Empire, fostered a spirit of" brotherhood. r He wanted, the boys anil ■ girls before him to go through-life and 'play the game. Theys^should do the' right wnatever it §ost them ; and if ', j they..did that they -jyould Inake their mark in the world; Character was ihe only thing which counted in this world. , ISTr. Dixon urged the children to live . for others. That was what the soldiers - I did.- If, they would put selfishness right out of their lives they w.puld grow up true men and women. - -On pehalf <>f the' ladies who were - responsible" for the roll of honour, Mr. Muggeridge thanked Mr. Dixon for thepart he had taken in the ceremony. Mr. Muggeridge said that he -had i known v all the^ men names appeared on theVrbU personally, and hecommented that they weire built-of the right material :: r ~,- I Mr. Dixon, in replying, that he^ , appreciated the splendid spint of the^ ■ people; of --;■ Manutahi; and considered. — himself privileged to have perform«d?l [ tna unveiling" ceremony. " V '" ! Mr. O'Sullivan proposed a hearty" | vote of thanks to the; ladies whtrwere^ responsible for the y .roll of honour.— Carried with acclamation. The~iiames which,appear on-therplE are" as follow:—Died on active service:: N: Wheeler,.G. Richards, E: Furnival,. H. jßhoades, E. Smithy T. Harvie, G_ Brewer, W. J. Simpson, E. * Lacey, T. Oldridge, and J. Ritchie. The othernames are: J. Wheler, ©. Hughes, H. Uamitton. ;J. Muggeridge, T. New* % port, SF. Woodnouse, C. Richards, D. W.g Schwass, C. Ritchie, C. H Buck— man, A. F. Wills, W.- Flett, W O'Neill, O, O'Neill, L. Hamilton, J. H. Tregea, A. Wrigley, C. Jainieson, J. ATTan t Cf R, Wemyss, C. A. Rutland, S. Leslie, C. Kenny, E. J. Goile, S. Tawse. T. J. Simpson, A. A. Quin, O. O'Sullivajo, R, P. Cornwall, F. Cornwall, J. Ritchie, M. J. O'Neill. After, the ceremony a much appreciated afternoon tea was served by theladies." .' , •.