VAULT IN FORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23618, 30 March 1940, Page 13

VAULT IN FORT

PREPARING FOR CASKET WORK AT BASTION POINT AN AVENUE OF FLOWERS Iho preparation of the vault which is to receive the body of Savage constituted one of the principal works carried out at Fort Bastion yesterday. Wooden frames to hold hundreds of wreaths were erected on either side of a path loading across the pit of the fort to the magazine area, and finishing touches were given to the reconstructed military road giving access to the Bastion Point reserve. Formerly an ammunition chamber, the vault chosen as Mr. Savage's last resting place is a comparatively small underground compartment in the centre of the fort from which passages lead left and right to gunpit.s. Workmen were engaged yesterday in cleaning and repairing the vault and in building a low platform on which the casket will be placed. Future Memorial I n til such time as a permanent memorial to mark the spot is devised, the vault will be sealed and the entrances to the passages closed. Architects at the fort yesterday indicated that any plan for a memorial would probably involve a considerable amount of reconstruction, including the building of a doorway immediately opposite the vault leading out to the open. Fifty yards from the old gate at the back of the fort other workmen were busy building a platform from which the burial service will be performed. From the platform a straight path has been constructed between old earthworks, through the gate and to a doorway into the passage leading from the left-hand gunpit. Along this pathway Mr. Savage will make his last journey.

Distribution of Wreaths The pathway yesterday was untidy with tools, timber and other building materials; to-morrow it will be a beautiful avenue of flowers. From the platform to the gate greenery will be pegged into the earth and covered with cut blooms. The old concrete pillars of the gate have been repaired, and above is bein<' constructed an archway which will oe surmounted with a floral cross. Wreaths sent in tribute to Mr. Savage from all parts of New Zealand will he placed on high frames lining both sides of the path within the fort, while others will be spread above the entrance to the passage. To the left of the entrance a concrete wall has been covered with a special frame to carrv Ministerial wreaths. Drapings at Doorway

The actual burial ceremony will he completed when the casket is passed through the entrance to the passage and placed on a temporary platform. It will be carried to the vault subsequently. Much has been done already to improve the appearance of the passage doorway, bur when tin l ceremony takes place it will be hung with black satin curtains relieved by white drapings and two large white* crosses. At the right of the entrance will he a large, solitary wreath. Above the fort and directly over the burial vault another platform is being built on the site of the former observation post. Here a bugler will sound il The Last Post" when the ceremony is over. It is hero, too, that the memorial will eventually arise to command an unrivalled view of a wide horizon, but especially out toward the open sea.

HOUSE OP COMMONS MESSAGE FROM SPEAKER [nv TKLKCKAPir —I'KKSS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Friday The Speaker in the House of Representatives, the Hon. W. 10. Barnard, has received from the Speaker of the House of Commons, Captain Fitzrov, a message of deep sympathy to tho New Zealand House of Representatives and expressing the House of Commons' recognition of the statesmanlike qualities of the late Prime Minister and their realisation of the loss the Dominion and the whole Empire had suffered.