LINK WITH THE PAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18630, 11 February 1924, Page 8

LINK WITH THE PAST.

EARLY MISSION WORKERS. MAUSOLEUM AT TARAWERA. A connection with the historic pasS of the Hot Lakes district is being * effected by th« erection of a mausoleum at Kariri, Lake Tarawera, which will commemorate the work of the late Eev. 8., M. Spancer and Mrs. Spencer, who laboured for over half a century among the Maoris, and who founded who Church Missionary Society's station there in 1843. They resided there for some 10 years. Kariri was at that time the principal village of the Tuhourangi tribe, members of whom lived at several other villages around the lake. A church was built and the whole peninsula was laid out neatly. Most of the houses stood in \ little enclosures with gardens and plots of cultivation, but the ground around was worked out, and as tribal wars ceased the Maoris began to settle at Te Wairoa, where there was good virgin soil. In 1853 a new station with a church wag formed at a spot known as Te Mu. Mrs. Spencer's remains were taken up to Kariri by the Maoris from Maketu in 1882, and were interred there, and those of ~ her daughter, Mrs. Way, were buried there last November, where for about the first time since the eruption in 1886 many Maoris gathered and the service was conducted by two Maori clergymen. v lt was then urged that the Tuhourangi should bring their dead to Kariri and make it the tribal cemetery, and this is lkely to be done. The mausoleum to contain the remains of, Mr, and Mrs. Spencer and some members of the family is now being erected. It,, will be of an ecclesiastical type, 17ft. long by 7ft. wide. There will be a cohrse, of stone for 54ih., then one of heavy glass for another 2ft., and finally a tiled roof, which will have a steep pitch. On the glass will be engraved inscriptions regarding Mr. and Mrs. Spencer and some of the members of the family, the remains of whom will be in small coffins on a ledge just below the level of the glass, and visible. The remains of Mr, Spencer are being taken to Kariri from Maketu. Friends, both Maori and pakeha, aro invited to be present at the dedication, which has been fixed for February 20. Maori and English clergy will take part in the ceremony. In this way a historic spot, with its beautiful, restful character, will be made known to the present and future generations, and so links with the past will be preserved.