GRAVE AT ORAKEI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23616, 28 March 1940, Page 13

GRAVE AT ORAKEI

GAZETTE ANNOUNCEMENT

BASTION POINT SITE I SUNNY HEADLAND THE LTIXG IX STATE ADMISSION OF PUBLIC {by TELEGRAPH—PRESS association] "WELLINGTON, Wednesday The late Pijime Minister will he buried at Bastion Point. Orakei, Auckland, on Sunday. The body will lie in state in the main vestibule of Parliament Buildings from 1 p.m. until 10 p.m on Thursday, and from 7 a.m. on Friday until 10 p.m. Requiem Mass will be celebrated, hy Archbishop O'Shea at the Basilica, Wellington, at 9.30 a.m. to-morrow. - The body will be conveyed to Auckland by special train on Saturday, arriving there at 2.15 p.m. on Sunday. Wellington is a city of mourning to-day. All flags are flying at half mast and blinds are drawn in Parliament Buildings, the' main vestibule of which is hung with purple and black crepe in preparation for the lying in state. Guard from Three Services When the body is lying'in state the public will be admitted by the main steps, and after passing the bier will be directed to the social hall, where floral emblems will be on view. Representatives of tho Navy, Army and Air Force will mount guard during the lying in state. The funeral procession will leave at 9 a.m. on Saturday on foot from the stops at Parliament House, and after Jiassing through the city will proceed to the railway'station. The order of the cortege will be:—Mounted police; tho escort, comprising detachments of the three Services, including representatives of ■ the/ Maori Battalion; the hearse; wreaths; His Excellency the Governor-General and Ministers of the Crown, and official representatives. Journey to Auckland The casket will be borne through the main entrance at the railway station and he placed aboard a .special train, which will depart for Auckland at 10.20 a.m., making an overnight stay at. Tauinarunui, and arriving at Auckland at 2.15 p.m. on Sunday. _At various points the public will be given an opportunity of paying their respects. The funeral procession will continue from the Auckland railway station at approximately 2.15, immediately on the arrival of the train, to the burial place at Bastion' Point. Businesses to Close Arrangements have been made tor floral tributes to Mr. Savage to be received at Parliament House, Wellington. I lie Maysr. Mr. I. C. A. Ilislop, has been requested to invito business people in Wellington to close their premises from ( J a.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Saturday to enable all citizens who so desire to pay their respects to the late Primo Minister. Ministers ask- local authorities outsido Wellington to invite citizens to cease activities for 10 minutes from !) fe.rn. on Saturday, this being the timo ot departure' of the funeral procession from Parliament House. All trains and telegraphs will cease for that time. On a sunny headland that stands clear above 'the sea, overlooking the Tamaki Yacht Club's clubhouse on the waterfront road, Orakei, and close to the remains of old Fort Bastion, Mr. Savage \v,i 11 have a last resting-place in Auckland, his adopted home. The site, rich in historical association with early -Auckland, commands a magnificent view of the Waitemata Harbour and fbe islands that stud the Hanraki Gulf. Mr. Savage will be buried not far from jin early Premier of New Zealand, Sir Frederick Whitaker. who died in 1801 and was also interred in a grave that overlooks the sea, in St. Stephen's Cemetery, Parnell. Only one other ex-

Premier, Dr. D. Pollen, is buried in Auckland, his grave beincr at Avondale. Altered in contour with the disappearance of the sugar-loaf rock that gave Bastion Point its name, and also with the construction of the waterfront road that runs past its base, the headland is still one of Auckland's landmarks. Every yachtsman and every motorist knows it, and equally well do visitors who arrive by sea, for its green peak shows clearly 'against the background of suburban homes.

; Bastion Point was chosen in the 'eighties of last century as the site for one of the fort.s built to meet a possible Russian invasion. The fort has long since fallen into disuse, but once it housed two Gin. disappearing guns, triumphs of their day, which commanded the harbour entrance and which were constantly manned as recentlv as during the Great War.

Enthusiasts of the Auckland Naval Artillery manned the old fort, and they were succeeded by No. 1 Company, Garrison Artillery Volunteers. .Many a practice shoot was carried out from the fort, and there are still cuttings in the cliff- face that recall passages leading to the fort auxiliaries.

• Only the old gnnpits and the magazine area now remain to tell the casual observer that bearded soldiers in tightfitting uniforms and "pork-pie" caps once followed the searchlight's beam across the dark harbour, looking for the Russian fleet that never arrived. The military glory of the point disappeared when the fort went out of commission some 15 years ago, but public interest in the locality was revived in 193-1, when in one of the tunnels driven in connection with the fort the cultivation of mushrooms all the year round was undertaken.

Now. on a site as appropriate as Point Halswell. Wellington, where the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massev is buried. Mr. Savage is to he interred on Sunday. Not far away is another monument to him. the State housing settlement at Orakei. and fin the cliffs between his grave and the sea the crimson poliutukawas that welcomed him to Auckland at Christmas will bloom with each succeeding season, adding a touch of natural beauty to a sacred spot.

ENGLISH AND MAORI

[BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLIXGTOX, Wednesday

The following Extraordinary Gazetto has been issued in Knglish and Maori:

"The Ministers, with profound sorrow, announce the death of tho Prime Minister, tho Rt. Hon. Michael Joseph Savage, at the Prime Minister's residence, Harbour View Road, Northland, Wellington, on Wednesday, March 27, IUIO, at 3.15 a.m."