HOMEWARD BOUND

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8365, 27 February 1913, Page 7

HOMEWARD BOUND

ANTARCTIC EXPLORERS MRS SCOTT TO MEET PARTY HERE TO-DAY. Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, February 26. Commander E. R. G. R. Evans, R.N., accompanied by Mrs Evans, Mrs Wilson, Lieutenant W. N. Bruce, R.N.R., Dr. Atkinson, and Mr Nelson loft for Wellington by the Maori last night to meet .Mrs Scott, who is travelling to Wellington by the Aorangi from San Francisco. The party, with tho exception of Mrs Wilson, Dr. Atkinson, and Mr Nelson, will leave Wellington on Friday by tho Aorangi for Sydney. Mrs Scott and her brother, Lieutenant Bruce, will travel from Sydney to London by tbo P. and 0. steamer Medina, leaving on March 5 th. Commander Evans and Mrs Evans will leave Sydney on March 12th by tho Otranto for Toulon, whence they will travel to England. Commander Evans said he particularly did not want to bo interviewed, but felt very much leaving New Zealand, and he wished to express his gratitude and that of every member of the expedition for Hie kindness and unbounded hospitality shown to the officers _ and crew of the Terra Nova by the citizens of Christchurch and Lyttelton , and the people of New Zealand generally. “During our sojourn here,” said Commander Evans, “we have made friends with men in every walk of life, and wo shall all carry away with us feelings of intense gratitude and affection towards New Zealand and its good people. Wo have felt very much the loss of onr bravo leader and our gallant shipmates. Captain Scott was a great leader, and if he could not have brought hack the southern party safoly no other man could have done so. No one who has not made an extensive sledge journey in low temperatures on .the Great Barrier can know what Captain Scott and his brave fellows had to contend with. _ Dr. Wilson was a friend and adviser to every member of tho expedition. His good advieo and splendid judgment helped us to smooth over many a little difficulty. Oates was a magnificent man, and Bowers was the pot of tho expedition. He was very clever and as hardy a man as one could find. Poor Evans was a fine specimen of a British seaman.' He was a man of great strength and endurance, and as sledgmaster to tho expedition his services were indispensable. You must not forget Brissenden, the stoker petty officer who lost his life at French Pass while the crew of tho Terra Nova were carrying out survey work_ there. W© all feel the loss of these six men more than any words of mine can tell, and our one wish is to terminate tho expedition in such a_ way that tho reproduction of scientific results, charts, and photographs will he in itself a lasting tribute to our noble leader and his fearless companions, whose memory can only make us all better men.” _ Whilst disinclined to say anything, Jest it be thought presumption on his part to express any opinion, which might perhaps be taken as criticism of tho really great and good work, Commander Evans said_ that his ideas in regard to a memorial fund were that it should be sent to the hon. treasurer of the expedition in London,. Sir Edgar Speyer, Bart., and in the svept of funds subscribed being sufficient to really handsomely provide for those dependent on Captain Scott and his lost comrades the treasurer should hand back tho New Zealand fund to the New Zealand treasurer to provide for the erection of a suitable memorial. It might possibly bo that the £30,000 mentioned in the London press cable messages as having been subscribed included expeditionary funds, out of which wages - had to he coal bought, and many other liabilities met. If this was so the funds available for the dependants of the lost men would be very considerably less than £30,000. “Mind you,” said Commander Evans, “I do not wish to express my opinion, hut you pressed me for it, and my idea is that every penny should be available first for dependants, _ and once their welfare had been satisfactorily established then other money could be expended in the erection of a fitting memorial. But the finest memorial will he tho preservation of Captain Scott’s wishes and plans in their entirety.” Seen shortly before the steamer sailed. Commander Evans said that if a memorial were erected locally, he thought that it should take the form of a large cairn, possibly surmounted by a cross erected on the summit of the Port Hills at a spot where it would ho plainly visible, not only from Christchurch and surrounding district, but also in full view of Lyttelton and of all shipping entering the port.