Empire’s Silence

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 508, 10 November 1928, Page 1

Empire’s Silence

ARMISTICE DAY TO-MORROW’S CELEBRATION Two minutes’ silence to-morrow will mark an Empire’s gratitude for the peace which followed four years of fire and madness on earth. A decade has fiown by since November 11. 1918, when the fighting nations put up their swords, and set about repairing the wreckage of war. Armistice Day is essentially a day of thanksgiving for victory, and of hope for many years of world-peace. Falling on a Surday. the tenth anniversary will have a religious atmosphere. EARLY CHURCH A.t the desire of his Majesty King George V'., all church services will begin at 10.45 instead of 11 o’clock, and the two minutes’ silence will bo observed as a religious ceremony. All trains will stop, and all road traffic will be suspended for the brief space after eleven o’clock has struck, and the people of New Zealand will stand bareheaded in remembrance. The Returned Soldiers’ Association invites its members to attend special services at the churches in memory of fallen coiprades. Practically all denominations are holding special ser vices, St. Matthew’s, St. Patrick's, St. Andrew’s, and Pitt Street Methodist. At St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church the morning service will bo combined with one in memory of Mr. John Reid and Mr. William Culpan. formerly session clerk and organist of the church respectively, to whom tablets will be unveiled. Members of the Old Colonists’ Association, and th« Auckland Bowling Club, will attend* and the service will be broadcast. The Revs. D. D. Scott and James Milne will officiate. At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, solemn high mass will be celebrated, and Bishop Cleary will preach. Devonport churches will also hold special services, and the preacher at Holy Trinity will be Bishop Anderson, of Riverina. TOWN HALL MEETING A commemorative meeting will be held in the Town Hall at three o’clock, under the auspices of the League of Nations Union, the Council of Christian Congregations, the Y.M.C.A.. the Y.W.C.A.. and other bodies, the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, presiding. A motion pledging support to the Government in all its efforts to promote peace and general disarmament, based on international friendship and co-operation. wiiL be moved by Mr. E. C. Cutten. S.M., and seconded by Miss Jean Begj, Addresses are to be given by Archdeacon Mac Murray, the Rev. W. Lawson Marsh, and Mr. T. Bloodworth. The Victoria League will hold a service at O’Neill’s Point Cemetery at 2.45 p.m. Canon McFarland will be assisted by the Rev. Atkins. The league will also receive gifts of flowers to be taken to soldiers’ graves at Waikumete Cemetery. The Armistice Day service will be held in the chapel of King’s College at 7 p.m. It will include a commemoration of the old boys in whose memory the chapel was dedicated, and the preacher will be Archbishop Averill. At the Theosophical Society, Mr. J. W. Shaw, M.A., will lecture at 7 p.m. on’ “Working for Peace.” LORD JELLICOE’S MESSAGE SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD In connection with the celebration of Armistice Day, the president of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association. Wellington, has received the following letter from Lord Jellieoe, Grand President of the British Empire Service League, with headquarters in ; London:—• “The thoughts of all in the Empire on this, the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice, will turn with gratitude to the men who brought victory to our arms in the Great W;ir. and perhaps most of all to those who gave their lives in achieving that victory. But all will, I hope, dwell upon one of the reasons which brought about that victory, and at the same time demonstrated to the world the unity of the British Empire. “Who can forget the magnificent response made by the whole Empire to the call of arms? From all parts of the world men came; Britain’s sons and the descendants of Britain’s sons, to help the Mother Country in her struggle to protect the weak and to uphold the sanctity of a signed treaty. “It is with this thought in my mind that I send warm greetings to the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association, in the belief that in the British Empin Service League we have an organise - tion that will foster the spirit of brotherhood which was sd strongly evident