FOUR HUNDRED MEDALS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19337, 29 May 1937, Page 14

FOUR HUNDRED MEDALS

CORONATION SYMBOLS PRESENTATION AT TOLAGA MRS. SEMPLE'S DUTY (Herald Special Reporter.) TOLAGA BAY, this day. Four-hundred medals, suspended from red, white and blue ribbons, mementoes of the recent Coronation, were presented by Mrs. Semple, wife of the Hon. H. Semple, Minister of Public Works and Transport, to children of six schools in Tolaga Bay yesterday afternoon. The schools concerned were Manga - heia, Manga tuna, Arero, Wigan, Mangawhetu, and Tolaga Bay. The children were drawn up in the school grounds, sang the National Anthem at the outset, and concluded by singing "Land of Hope and Glory," a fitting conclusion to the message given by the Minister. Melva Norris, a member of the Tolaga Bay School, presented Mrs. Semple with a beautiful bouquet, followed by three cheers for Mr. and Mrs. Semple. The chairman of the *'Uawa County Council, Mr. J. McNeil, presided, and said it was a disappointment that the presentation of the medals could not be carried out on the appropriate day owing to the infantile paralysis epidemic restrictions, but they were fortunate now in, having a Minister of the Crown to distribute the medals.

Mr. A. Gordon Hultquist, M.P., said that the opportunity was one in which they could show their allegiance to the British Empire, and on his suggestion the children gave Mr. and Mrs. Semple a hearty round of applause. The Minister expressed his pleasure at being present at the function, and congratulated the children on the manner in which they sang the National Anthem. He told them that they lived' in the freest country and the freest Km|lire in the world, and when they readied 21 years of age they would be able to take part in the government ol the country, hut this could not be done in other countries, such as Germany, Russia and Italy. That was why they sang "God Save the King," because the King was the head of a great democracy, whicli meant that they would he able to exercise their votes when they reached their majority. They would be masters of their own destiny, and would be able to worship their God freely in a maimer not permitted in many other countries. The King was peace-loving just as his father was. Continuing, he said that mother was their best pal in the world, then fathers, and then the teachers next. Unless they took notice of their teachers and accepted their mothers' advice they would not be fitted to go out-into the world and do their best. He urged them to be generous and sympathetic, and to help people who required assistance, for that was what our Saviour did, trying to lift the fallen. .

"I wish yon well; God bless you all,'' he concluded. . - The children then filed past while Mrs. Semple placed a medal in each child's hand, and pleasure beamed from the little faces as the children received their tokens.