THE FUNERAL

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

THE FUNERAL

AUCKLAND PROCESSION TENTATIVE PLANS MR. SEMPLE COMING NORTH ]t is expected that the funeral of the late Prime Minister, which is to take place in Auckland oil Sunday afternoon, will be one of the most impressive ceremonies yet held in the city, although the actual burial service on the slopes of Bastion .Point will not be lengthy. Bishop Listen will officiate at the graveside and will bless the burial ground. As is customary the short but beautiful Latin prayers said at the last rites will also bo recited in English. Arrangements for tho funeral have not yet been completed and a iinal decision will have to await the arrival from Wellington this morning of the Minister of Public: Works, the Hon. H. Semple, who will havo the assistance of several departmental officers who are coming north with him. These are the Commissioner of Transport, Mr. (i. L. Laurenson, and Messrs. A. \V. Mulligan and l{. J. Bender, of the Department of Internal Allairs. The .Minister will meet the .Mayor, Sir Krnest Davis, and representatives of the City Council and other local bodies at a. meeting at the Town Hall at 11 a.m. to-day. Traffic Arrangements It will be necessary to make provision for the control of unusually large crowds of people who will desire to pay a last tribute to Mr. Savage and these arrangements will be the subject of discussions between .Mi". Laurenson and the officers of the city traffic department.

In addition to the very largo number of residents of the city and suburbs who will line the. route of the funeral procession, it is expected that many people from the country districts north and south of the city will wish to be present. The Railway Department has in hand tentative plans for the running of special trains on Sunday from the outer suburbs and from more distant | points, such as Hamilton and Helensville. These plans, however, cannot he completed until the wishes of the Govj eminent as will be explained by Mr. | .Semplo are known. Route of Procession The special train hearing the body | of .Mr. Savage is timed to arrive at the I Auckland railway station at 2.15 p.m. | on Sunday. The funeral procession will |be formed at the station and it is thought that it will pass through Queen Street, and then proceed along Quay Street and the waterfront road to Orakei. To reach the high level on Bastion Point the procession will in all likelihood leave the waterfront road and follow Ngapipi Road, along the eastern shore of Hobson Bay, then proceed by Kepa Road to the southern end of the Orakei housing settlement, whence it will take the new road along the ridge to Bastion Point. Police and Military Escort If the plan announced for the funeral procession in Wellington on Saturday morning is followed in Auckland the hearse will he preceded by mounted police and an escort of 30 men representing the throe services, the Navy, Army and Air Kor'o. Then will follow cars bearing wreaths, and official cars carrying representatives of both Houses of Parliament, the judiciary, tlio Consular Corps, and various public bodies, it is likely that the members of the public will be asked to pay their respects to the late Prime Minister by lining the route of the procession. The part to bo played by the defence j forces has yet to be determined, but j it is thought that men now in training! for active service will be called upon j to provide detachments of honour ami ! for various other duties. It is also ! thought that men of the armed forces will lie called upon to lino the route of the funeral, principally in Queen Street, and possibly some part of tho route closer to the place of burial.

CHURCH ARRANGEMENTS

MASS AT CATHEDRAL

With Bishop Liston as celebrant, the Solemn Pontifical Mass of Requiem for the late Mr. Savage will take place in St. Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday morning. While seats are to be reserved for State, Consular, civic and other representatives, it will be of a public character. Pupils and teachers at Roman Catholic schools in Auckland city and suburbs yesterday offered prayers for the late Prime Minister. The IVimale of New Zealand, Archbishop Averill, yesterday sent out notification to all the clergy of his church it; the Dominion directing tbein to make special reference on Sunday to the death of the Prime Minister, and wherever possible to hold special services appropriate to the occasion. The archbishop has also asked Dean Fancourt and Canon Coats to conduct memorial services at St. Mary's Cathedral and at St. Matthew's Church, and these will probably he held in tho morning.

The Presbyterian churches generally will follow their usual custom, and pufpit tributes "ill be paid to the life and work of the Prime .Minister. A direction to that effect is expected from the moderator of the church, the Right Rev. J. Lawson Robinson, of Christchurch. It is expected that all Bible classes and Sunday schools usually meeting in the afternoon will bo closed for the funeral.