MEMORIAL TABLETS UNVEILED

Southland Times, Issue 24201, 10 August 1940, Page 8

MEMORIAL TABLETS UNVEILED

FORMER MASTERS AT OTAGO BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

Memorial tablets to two men who had done a great deal for the Otago Boys’ High School and its old boys, Mr A. i Y. Smith and Mr J. M. Fraser, were unveiled at a service at the school on | Sunday in connection with the seventyseventh anniversary celebrations. The memorial to Mr Smith was unveiled by Mr F. H. Campbell and was “in memory of one who taught at the school from 1877 to 1891 and who is still held in affectionate remembrance by old boys everywhere.” Mr Campbell said that old boys mourned the passing of Mr Smith, and he read extracts from numerous letters, one from as far away as Melbourne, in connection with the memorial. Mr Smith took a special interest in the sports of the school. In 1877 he played cricket for Otago against Canterbury and in 1883 toured the West Coast with the school football team. Affectionately known to his pupils as “A.Y.”, Mr Smith was always keenly interested in the activities of his former pupils, many of whom made a point of calling on him whenever in Invercargill.

The memorial tablet to Mr Fraser was unveiled by Mr Webster who said that Mr Fraser had been a great friend to old boys of the school, and he mentioned his hospitality to old boys at the jubilee celebrations. Among those present at the ceremony were Mrs A. Y. Smith, Miss Smith and Mrs Fraser and her family.