ARMISTICE DAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 296, 12 November 1934, Page 2

ARMISTICE DAY

COMMEMORATION SERVICE

ADDRESS BY PADRE OLDS

The customary Armistice Day commemoration service was held at the Soldiers’ Memorial in the Square yesterday morning. Padre E. T. Olds, of Napier, who was in camp at Rangiotu with the Rifle Brigade in tlie early part of the War, delivered a short and telling address based on extracts from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. He took three main points —- the first, remembrance for those who had not returned from the Great YVar; the second, thought for those who had returned but who had left with the same thoughts of sacrifice as those who had not come back; and the third, dedication of our efforts toward ensuring that there was never war again. In the course of his address Padre Olds said that we did not glory in war; only criminals and imbeciles did that. There was a fair attendance at the service, those present including the Mayor (Mr A. E. Mansford) and Mrs Mansford, Mr J. A. Nash, M.P., and Mrs Nash, members of the City Council, Mr YV. G. Rutherfurd (representing the R.S.A.), Captain G. M. McCaskill (representing the Defence Department) and a number of representative citizens. The' N. (Manawatn) Squadron of the Legion of Frontiersmen paraded under Major J. Merritt.

The order of service was: Hymn, “O God Our Help in Ages Past ; praper, led by Padre Olds; address by Padre Olds; two minutes’ silence; Benediction and National Anthem. Mr T. Ranford presided at the organ The gathering was held in order to commemorate a day 16 years before when the things we had hoped for and the men at the Front had fought for, we fondly believed had come to pass, said Padre Olds. YVliatever had been our disappointments since then, we dare not be stinting in our appreciation of the actions of the men who had left for active service. It was not with any sense of sadness that the gathering was doing honour to their memory, but the thousands who had gone had placed us under a debt which would take us all our lives to repay. It was very remiss of us if we did not recognise the large numbers in our midst now who had left their homes to go to the YY’ar and who had been fortunate to come back —some had been unfortunate since. We were insulting the men who did not come back if we did not remember those who returned—those who had given the best years of their lives. YVe now had a challenge before us of the achievements of tlie past. YVe did not glory _ in war, tbe speaker added; only criminals and imbeciles did that. Those men who had gone did so to take part in a war that was to end war, although some believed, since the YY’ar, that to attain a warless world other methods would have to be undertaken. But we should accept that challenge to make this a world without war. Padre Olds read an extract from the writings of Abraham Lincoln: “It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought thus far nobly advanced. It is rather for us to _be dedicated to the great task remaining before ns.”

Might we, 6aid Padre Olds in conclusion, as the first notes of the chiming of the clock striking 11 p.m. were heard across the Square, treat the hour as a time of memory, a time of dedication.

Among the wreaths deposited on the memorial was those from the Mayor, City Councillors and citizens of Palmerston North, the Patriotic Association, the R.S.A. and N (Manawatu) Squadron of the Legion of Frontiersmen.

AT ST. PAUL’S CHURCH

SPECIAL REFERENCES.

At St. Paul’s Methodist Church yesterday, the morning service had special reference to Armistice Day. The two minutes’ silence was observed at 11 o’clock and, immediately afterwards, a wreath provided by Mr A. J. Shailer was hung over the Roll of Honour. The congregation united in singing one of the patriotic hymns from the Methodist Hymn Book.

The preacher, Rev. A. N. Scotter, spoke on the claims and needs of peace, dwelling on the fears, jealousies and hatreds that are the basis of war. He pointed out the duty of Christians to learn more of other nations, to be true and honest m all dealings and to give sympathy and service to our fellowmen of all races. “Peace came on Armistice Day, but the hatreds and fears still remain. By sympathy and Christian courage, these must be done away if peace is to be lasting and valuable,” lie said.

The evening service was equally impressive, marked especially by a message intended to arouse the worshippers to fight on, not with the sword, but in moral action against those things which would hinder and prevent realisation of the purposes for which the Great YVar was fought The preacher, Rev. A. N. Scotter, in the course. of his sermon said there was something in this world that could not be overcome by statesmen or politicians. It was useless to cry ns in the text “Peace, peace; when there is no Peace.” Cruelty, bigotry and hatred still existed; the spirit and letter of the Treaty of Versailles were being violated even by nations who were signatories to it; there was intensified building of armaments and preparation for war; there could be no peace while such existed. Rev. E. T. Olds, of Napier, who was a padre with the forces overseas during the war, sang “There is no Death,” a song written and dedicated to the men who made the supreme sacrifice. The choir rendered the anthem “Seek Ye The Lord.” Fred Scotter and Miss Audrey Cameron read the Lessons, morning and evening, respectively.

SERVICES IN YVELLINGTON. PARADE AT MEMORIAL. Per Press Association. YVELLINGTON, Nov. 11. Armistice Day was marked in YVellington by a special open-air service at the Basin Reserve, following which returned men, 500 strong, marched through the city streets to the Citizens’ YVar Memorial, where a wreath of remembrance was laid. Addressing the men, Canon Percival James said: “This day commemorates the most welcome silence that ever fell upon this earth, when, after four yea.rs of mechanical massacre and chemical annihilation, the Great YVar, which in its hideous monstrosity had dwarfed all wars of history, as suddenly as it had begun came to an end and there fell a great hush over the long-drawn battle line.”

Special Armistice services were held in all city churches. Mr YYL Nash, M.P., gave an address at the Citizens’ Armistice service in the YY r esley Methodist Church. The First Battalion of the YYellington Regiment paraded at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral and held a reunion last night.