Hokitika Was In Mourning

Northern Advocate, 13 October 1941, Page 6

Hokitika Was In Mourning

[Per Press Association. —Copyright! HOKITIKA. This Day. Hokitika was in mourning yesterday when the funerals of Mr. Gregory Hutchison, of Kanieri, and Mr. Richard John Maxton Coulson, of Koiterangi, the Home Guard victims, were held in a town awed and horrified at the magnitude of the tragedy. Special reference to the tragedy was made in all Hokitika and district churches at the morning and evening services. The funeral servce for Mr. Hutchison was held in the morning at the Roman Catholic Church at Kanieri just outside Hokitika, and that of Mr. Coulson in the afternoon at the Anglican Church at Hokitika. Adjoins Constable’s Home Both men were buried in the historic Hokitika cemetery with Home Guard escorts. The little Roman Catholic church at Kanieri adjoins the home of the late Constable E. M. Best, the sixth victim of the shootings. Requiem mass was celebrated by the Rev. Dr. Harrison, who read a letter from Bishop Brodie expressing sympathy with the relatives of all those who have lost their lives in the tragedy and with the people of the district. The Bishop asked that the message be read throughout the Diocese and be conveyed to the Mayor of Hokitika (Mr. G. A. Perry) and the County Chairman (Mr. T. P. O’Neil). A lorry carried the floral tributes and 80 cars forming the cortege travelled through the streets which were lined with people. Territorials fired a volley and the "last post” was sounded. “Greater Love Hath No Man” Home Guardsmen and Free Masons took part in the long cortege which left the Anglican church after the Rev. T. D. Childs had conducted the service and paid a tribute to those who had lest their lives in defence of their friends. “Greater love hath no man.” he said. Present at both funerals were the Minister in Charge of Police (Mr. Webb); Police Commissioner Cummings, Mr. J. O’Brien, M.P. for Westland, the Mayor of Hokitika (Mr. Perry), the County Chairman (Mr. O’Neil), and representatives of the Returned Soldiers’ Association and other local * bodies. Both churches were packed and hundreds gathered at the cemetery. The funeral of Constable Best, who died from wounds on Saturday morning is to be held this afternoon.