SCOTT MEMORIAL TABLET.

Otago Witness, Issue 3117, 10 December 1913, Page 81

SCOTT MEMORIAL TABLET.

ERECTED AT QUEENSTOWN. THE UNVEILING CEREMONY. (Feom OtJB Own Correspondent.) QUEENSTOWN, December 3. The idea of a Scott memorial originated few' months ago at a parade of the Jueenstown Senior Cadets, when Captain Igie addressed the boys on the subject f the Antarctic tragedy. The fact that onr of the five heroes wore the King s miform appealed to the bovs, and with he whole-hearted enthusiasm of youth hey at once responded to their captain s all to join in collecting funds to erect * suitable memorial. The residents of he Wakatipu responded generously, and he result is the splendid monument uneiled by Colonel Bauchop to-day. When the w'orld was young, and the ce king reigned supreme, a great glacier mshed its way up from the Antarctic, ihearing and rounding off the summit of Mount Nicholas as it pursued its relentless course, and hollowing out and then occu>ying the whole of the Wakatipu basin. A.s the earth warmed the ice disappeared, and sundry boulders of varying shapes and lizes which had been picked up from the Humboldt Mountains, far away on the west side of the lake, were deposited in the glacial track. The Quenstown Park came in for a large share of these, and it is one of the most magnificent of the boulders that, at the suggestion of Mrs Algio, who is responsible for the whole, design, the 42nd Company of Senior Cadets have chosen whereon to place the tablets commemorating the brilliant achievement and heroic death of Captain Scott and his gallant companions. Into this boulder have been set two large marble slabs, measuring 4ft Bin by 2ft 7in. There is no ornate carving upon either, but they are massive and effective and in thorough keeping with the general scheme. One bears the following inscription ; Erected with funds collected by the 42nd Company, Senior Cadets, to commemorate the patient, stubborn, invincible courage, the loyal comradeship, and brilliant achievement of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, C.V.0.. R.N., Dr Edward Adrian Wilson, F.Z.S., Captain Lawrence E. G. Oates (Inniskilling Dragoons), Lieutenant Henry R. Bowers, R.T.M., and Petty-officer Edgar Evans, R.N., who reached the South Pole on 17th January, 1912, and perished on the return journey. They rest in the great white silence of Antarctica amid the scenes of their triumphs, wrapped in the winding sheets of the eternal snows. Sub umbra crucis. The second tablet is inscribed as under : THE LAST MESSAGE. “W e arrived within 11 miles of our old One Ton Camp, with fuel for one hot meal and food for two days. For four days we have been unable to leave the tent, the gale is howling about us. We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown us that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past. We took risks; we knew we took them. Things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the Will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last. Had we lived, 1 should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions, which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale. — R. Scott.” “ 25th March, 1912.” A Hero’s End. “ He was a brave soul. He slept through the night hoping not to wake, but woke in the morning. It was blowing a blizzard. Oates said : ‘ I am just going outside, and may be some time.’ He went out into the blizzard, and we have not seen iiim since. “ Captain Oates realised that he could march no more, and that his comrades would not willingly leave him. By going out to meet death he left them free to push on and take the chance of life that remained to them.” “ Greater love hath no man titan this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”—St. John, xv, 13. Above the tablets are set into the rock five marble stars, so placed as to represent tlie Southern Cross. They form a very conspicuous and pleasing feature of the design. Surrounding the monument is a massive wrought-iron chain supported by rough-hewn granite pillars. The whole work is not only unique and appropriate, but is in excellent taste —simple, but bold and effective The work was entrusted to Messrs Kingsland and Ferguson, monumental masons, Invercargill, who carried it out to the satisfaction of all. This afternoon the ceremony of the unveiling of the memorial tablets took place in the Queenstown Park in the presence of e large gathering of people. Although the weather was rather threatening during the earlier part of the day, the afternoon turned out gloriously fine, which no doubt tended to increase the gathering. The officer commanding the parade, Captain A Igie, inspected “ B ” Company, 10th Regiment, at the Garrison Hall, after which they joined the troops of the 7th Mounted Regiment and 42nd Company Senior Cadets, and marched to the park headed by the Queenstown Brass Band and the Southland Pipe Band. On arrival at the memorial the parade formed up into lino for inspection by Colonel Bauchop, C.-*J..cjr., ’ lue uiMi-a£ OJ-iuuicuiumg mt> district. The unveiling ceremony then commenced by the people singing the “ Old Hundredth,” accompanied by the Queenstown Brass Band. The Rev. Wm, Uphill led in prayer. Then followed a “ Lament” by the Caledonian Pipe Band, and a Scripture reading by Mr Hunt from Psalm 33. The Mayor (Mr D. F. Sutherland) then

cordial welcome to Colonel Bauchop, the Hon. T. Fergus, the Rev. Dutton, Mr M‘Far land, and also to the Caledonian Pipe Band and their chief, and hoped that their stay would be an enjoyable one. At the same time he wished to thank one and all, not forgetting the local band, for the services they were rendering in connection with the unveiling of the tablets to the memory of those heroes of the Antarctic Expedition of 1911, Captain Scott and his comrades, whose bodies lie beneath the eternal snows. After reading a large number of letters of apologies from gentlemen who were unable to be present, he asked Colonel Bauchop to unveil the tablets. Colonel Bauchop, in addressing those E resent, stated that the nation had never een loth to recognise bravery. It had at all times identified itself with what was brave and heroic. That day they found part of their sailors and soldiers cementing that greater feeling which would bind them all together, and it was an intense gratification to him to know that the soldiers of 10 and 15 years to come had thought that they were important enough to celebrate it here under the almost eternal snows and to celebrate the bravery of men who went off on one of the most heroic adventures that Englishmen have undertaken for years past. Not alone was that band great in its action. It was also great in all that it left in regard to documents. Captain Scott only voiced the feeling of his band when he said it was all worth it—their adventure was worth it : their death was worth it,— and that the whole life which must be Jived by our nation was a life of strenuousness. “ Die by strenuousness, and never by sloth.’’ He thought that they to-day in Queenstown drew more closely the links of the Empire when they celebrated the death of their own national heroes down in the South. “ I cannot help but feel,” concluded Colonel Bauchop, “ that we are all part of a greater Empire, because these men dying left us this record. I feel that it is my distinction as a soldier of New Zealand in pulling down these screens and unveiling the tablets.” Thos. Fergus, in the course of Ins address, said he was glad to see Cadets, Territorials, and veterans there who _ would bo only too willing to do their duty a.s they had done in the past. He was pleased to see Colonel Bauchop unveil the tablet of one of the best Britishers (he had said Englishmen) but ho did not agree with him at all. There had been men of the three nations of which the Empire was composed who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their fellow beings who had received no honour. Ihe Rev. D. Dutton said he desired most heartily to congratulate Captain Algie, the members of the 42nd Cadets, and those who had \assisted them in bringing about the results that they saw before thorn in the tablets. When would the story of their heroic endeavour cease to be told? 11 was a story which would bo told by succeeding generations ot English-speaking people until the end ot time. Noble deeds such as these, were not lost, they were lifted up to the skies to lead the race onward to still greater achievements. Could they conceive of anything more in the British way than that splendid example presented by Captain Oates? Then, was there anything finer than Captain Scott writing with his last feeble effort the words: “If we had lived, 1 should have had a story to tell that would have thrilled the heart of every Englishman of the courage of my companions, but these rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.” If Captain Scott had lived to write a thousand volumes he could never have stirred the hearts of the British men and women as those few rough notes and those dead bodies. Mr D. MT'arlane (Mayor of Invercargill) said that he had not been expected to make a speech, but it gave him great pleasure to be present on such a memorable occasion. He congratulated the 42nd Cadets, and mentioned the fact that ho himself liad been a soldier in the 42nd Royal Highlanders. At the conclusion of the inspection Colonel Bauchop presented Captain Algie with his long-service medal.