THE WAYSIDE CROSS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15367, 11 November 1920, Page 4

THE WAYSIDE CROSS.

DEDICATION SERVICE An. impre ".*-•<-.• .ic-er.e vr::.s v,-itr.s3;*ci r.. thy Kpiy- Trinity. Chur:h -.;.: j. . . o'clock tio-df.v,y.vken th« unTeiiir.s ...tv.. dedication servioe cf rho 1 ecently er.?.;'- - ed wayside- cro? 5 * was conducted, .tin* •crow, being m. nwmory of 500 irien from • this district who paid tho supreme sacrifice m the.-- great.- war. .• The hour, though unusual for the.pur--pose of . a function of, this type, was made hi order . tb enable . as many people ' as- possible to arrange, to be present m their luach hoiir., to do homage to the! „ memory, i oii the brave men who left' this] district. , X' .'■— • I The church grounds wore occupied by repi'es&itatives of local bodies, City Band, imember*. of Holy Trinity Girls' Club (all diressed m white); and parents of decea seel soldiers and others with . fioral tributes. ■ The thoroughfares m the vicinity -6f the church were well filled w*ith .people, while the^ children, at-. tending the main school were assembled X m thiv schoolyard opposite to. witness ' ' Ihe ceremony; • ; , . • . The function, opened with a selection X by the; Band,', under the con.ductorsbjp ..of Mr. "Chesterman. • Wreaths we re placed at. the crosa by the., parents of., fallen, 'soldiers, and by .; rep^efitatjiVes of various local orgam- , satiohs. ' Among the local bodies represented/ we^e. Messrs, C, Matthews (Cook Coujity Council), G. Wildish, Mayor (Borough Cotmcil), -H. Kenway (Cook Hospital Bbard), J. S, Barton,, S.M., . C. : E. T. OotSo»- (Chamber of- Commerce). - , Mr. G. E. Dartori stated : We have met to-day to hjwior thoso who fell dur- • ing the* great war, and' it- 19 mait fitting j that our ceremony should be Jield on this,' the anniversary of the day of armistice. the war" 'clouds ■ havo cleared and .the wounds have somewhat ;.-l'\le'd, . we .can with clear vision look back ib'l9l4y and realise" how much . WfChaVe tbamkf ul for. Britain had pledged- her. word ..-tOi help Frahco and . Bolgiiun. m their 'hour of -need:: Had we . foresworn- bhr word, .deserted our friends , and remained neutral; had we not been ' prepaid \to strike' for-Ireedom -with all • our. might;- there would have been, nothing lef tv for obr nation but. to hang her . head mi- shame.. ißut,. thank God, our - nation never faltered for a moment ; the ' challenge w^s .taken- up, and our small. . but noble ' .bandyof ; regulars revere sent •across thei Channel -to- uphold, our honor. 'The bsigle 7- sounded, ..throughout the length asdi ■ breadth . of the; E)npire, and we ate proud to r^m e mber that New Zealand' was one >of. vthe -firsfc to answer .the. call. One and. all,.u*ere prepared, .t,o • stasnd or fall m. the fight for Xfreedbm. For Xp ver four years -the struggle, went oh ; they< /were black days, with • scarcely | .a ray of sunshine, ' .Wt., the spirit of the nation never ,-faltered. . Th§ sacrifice was hard to -bear, but the answer was ever the .same, "Aye, to the last man." ,TVo y^ars 'ago to-day the, verdict was -flashed across the earthy. "Germany surrendersi*!"/ ahd'' the world was free once •more ; 'ttAve Ijut. proud hearts were filled -with gratitucle^Hthe sacrifice had not. been ih» vain j- -the' glbrioug traditions of 'our Empire had 1 , been upheld^ -and our good -zMXtte^B&K) _' highei* m the eyes, of the World than .ever before. X' The Allies had^ carried out thea**-- great t3§k;:and had paid the terrible pfvthe freedom. BritaiiX.paid her full' shareof the price, and all the units "of tho Empire had to pay theii quota. : Pakeha and Jitaori. Ticb ahd> p»or, high and low; all shared m. tbe.-sae:.ifices,-..and i the cross before you- is erected to their undying memotv. •.</-" We feol - for the relatives whose " hearts are still sore*- but their great darofort will always be the knowledge that their boy gave hisvlitV for other's."? He played biv, part; nobly- and died a soldier.^- -'-::• "Gone West"- to the' glory of the setting. • , sun, , .-■••. "■■■ To tin eridlesa day- of wellnearnbd rest, For another/ hero's part is done, . •■■ And another soul '.'Gone West." * The president °f the GirlF' r "---^"*7 .Club (Miss* SEX Davies) theu "pulled the string,, and the Union Jack slipped away from the Xriiepioriai; aiid was ftoy.n oyer the oWHskv •;. '.'.:-'. ' • An impressive sight was presented, by the presentation of a large number of wreaths. ; >vsch were laid at. tho foot of the me'mpri^', while the band., played Chopih r s^Marcbe .Funebre. .Ehe girls of the Hbly'/Tniuty.. Club, .marched round With wreaths and .'floral emblems, followed by tributes" from, local bodies and a large *nutbper 'of patents and' relatives of fallen: "fiiere. 1 A pathetic sight was the emble n£-*pr*3bnt-ed -by •-, a man ;. and wife who had lost two sons m the war. Thb Rev. JameA Aitken * then* addressed the. assemblage,^and.. m s thft -Oourse ,of .his renfarks said*^ ?"£his Cross; whichhas been unveiled, carries pur memory back to the men who *-died for .us ,/dn-. the -great .warIt was for us and for. the generations who come after us theyi gave their lives; to secure for all .time * the 'Sacred blessings of liberty,/ jusWce^ahd- tthth.. To us this Cross will -at^ays have particular and tender recalling to our minds the touch of vanished hanc(s andthe sound of silenced. ;vbices. To future generations it will - stand/, as a cbngtaut • 1 <>minder • pf . the gtt>kt/i»cHsce&>y. \yhich thoir freedom; was preserved ahdl handed on to them,. The sacrifice which those men made Was ia long and painful one.* It begirin v.-hen they first left their homes and" their peaceful occupations: It continued through, .. th e monotony of unfamiliar and /distasteful duties, though the rough publicity of the life of camps and bfllets, and it only culminated m tbe agbby of wounds and the mystej iosu Texpcriohce ' ijpf death. It is indeed right that theu* names should be had ill • eveiiasting remembrance. But this Cross points jas farther back to Him .Who gav^. Himself up to death on Calvary, for. ally mankind. No. one can pa«( it by without having his thoughts direcCed, if jt hei -Wt' for a.^moment, to. the supreme* mbtdhoe of sacrifice m all hie- -, tory The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was a life-long sacrifice. It began m his childhood m the 'multitudinous unselfish- • messes of His « homXc j life.. It continued "^without ceasing through the -eighteen "years of duty m -the -carpenters shop, When- He rendered self -regardless service • to His fellow men m the.cqinmon toil of ' every day. . ; Just to be iri a world ot sin and selfishness like ours was to -Him a constant -.pain. Just to look out ;on human. sorrow, and suffering with a symX nathy like His' - was -to bear . a cou- \ stant burden on His hearfc- . And wlien 'He climbed -the gentle slopes of it vwas 'to' f,ace, n^>t merely, ,the few v hours of \physical i^ony which many .another roan has fnced with tfi^y apd; unflinching heroism. ■ It was tb faco the deefi mysterious experience which' i* r *veiled. -to 'us^ in the cry, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthahi. Tins • Cross also points upwardsfcb'.GOd, and re- \ minds us'/that the Spirit of Sacrifice is ' God's own spirit*. I*:i& the veiy principle of G<J#s own life. God lives by sacrificing Himself. Creation was .a move- ' ment of -s^lf-limitation and solf-sacnfice \ on Hia^partX. ' When He .'called man into being and bestowed ori him , Divine cif fof .freewill, He sacrificed Himself for \ man's. Hie:'. All His long providence and v care of the human* race, all His revelation of His nifcrcy and. love, -thte gift of Hia Soil,*, our Lord Jesus Christ, are so t many manifestations Of the spirit of sacri- \ See ©od Is love,; and what is love, but \flu» sphit which finds its. highest satisfacV>on not*in-itsown but m others welfare. At the centre' of » the Universe beats- a hv^art of love.. Heaven and earth and all fchaC iri them is, stand based on. the selfsacrifice Of God. Once moro, this . Cross . tioints us'to the future, and reminds us! that it is -not only m the fields of ' war 1 that sacrifice is called "for; it *is called; tor even more urgently m the wider and nobler fields of peace.* The world is waiting to-day for the manifestation of the .spirit of ' sacrifice . It is for. *us to hyo jn this spirit, to establiph this spirit m| our daily lives. "Each of vis m our own rv.ace md buy own sphere; m our .homes, *m our social life, m our business and industry, m the town am. tbe : State and the church, is s"6mmohed to think not of h»mself'bbt' Of others, to live not for his own cn&v bjit for tho common good. Jesus lara doWn tho principle that the true measure of human life was the service of rendered:' Service is the only measure of X, wbr tb and greatness, . ,_ And <his Cross. Call* us. all to serve, irt the esiirio spirit of self-sacrificing . devotion which marked,^he soldiers m the vfat*. and V7bi«*h found, its supreme expression m the defltb of Jcsu^bur^lkJrd. .... ' Spverd! 'hlihns were sung, and prayer wds ctlndiibt£&. /skc office of dedication wis conducted by tho Rev. H. Packp m a solemn manner. Aftet the Closing hymn "Abifle With .Me," the "Lash. Post" was pounded bv : liugler Sithms/i The National Anthem followed by Xthe prbnouncemenl. of ble"fefiinc (sonchide^. a short but impresiiva function. - . • : » :