THOUGHTS ON ANZAC DAY 1922.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 2973, 29 April 1922, Page 5

THOUGHTS ON ANZAC DAY 1922.

(By A.S.E.). With a day teeming with rein, rain which must have reminded many a returned man of the cruel weather of the winter in the trenches, our Anzao Day in Pahiatua, passed off vith the * ‘quiet resignation' ’ which characterises a wet holiday in our town. The one and only service held was overflowing with a congregation met with one purpose, forgetting things of sect or creeds or dogma, each one felt that here at any rate was Holy Ground. As one of the congregation in that building, I could without being a prophet recognise the fact that Anzac Day will always be in Pahiatua a true “Day of Re>membraace” and that in the future, those who will keep this a Holy Day will be able to meet around a true

“Stone of Remembrance,’’ a meeting place which will for many here, be to them just what the Cenotaph, and “The Unknown Soldiers” grave in Westminster Abbey is to-*-many an English parent. To the» parent or relative, who has to say: “I know" not where they have laid him,” it appears to me that our Soldiers’ Memorial will symbolise to many the place where tlieir dear ones lie.

And so by next Anzac Day, those who have had this work in hand, will have finished their task, but it will only be to reveal another one.’ “Something accomplished, yet something still to do.” Eor with the Memorial unveiled, there will appear the necessity for beautifying all that Square, for tearing down wire fences and wooden supports, making a. decent cement border, supplying substantial seating places (“For they who fain would rest” near the Stone of Memory), and so make a veritable garden of beauty of the spot. Any excuse that poverty may suggest is exploded in view of the fact that in one other Square to-day a. beautifying process is in progress. As to the Memorial, it is of the “Cleopatra’s needle” type, actually a “Stone of Memory” resting on a solid foundation—symbolical of the strength and solidity of the Empire for which each man gave up his all—. and pointing w r ith unerring aim to the clear sky above—symbolical, too, of the place where they who fought, and they who prayed whilst other fought, shall meet. The stone lies to-day in one of the pretty garden spots, which adorn our country town, whilst men cunning in the art of carving stone are engraving the names of the fallen on the “foundation granites.” Up to now nearly 120 names have been received, and the end apparently is not yet. Tr: July our Sailor Governor-Gen-eral has promised to unveil the Memorial, and although the whole work is not really elaborate “just a, carven stone pointing Heavenward’’ each resident who gathers around it on “Unveiling Day” will be able to say*.

“This is a token of love and remembrance to our fighting men,” for the whole amount needed wais subscribed without pressure, or hope of reward, the committee insisting from the first mooting of the idea, that notxhring in the way of amusement, art unions, bazaars, etc*, would be tolerated in gathering the necessary funds for Pahiatua’s visible, recognition of the men who fought, and in the fight discovered that secret of eternal faith which only death can reveal.