Built His Own Memorial

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 10, 13 January 1936, Page 10

Built His Own Memorial

POET-HISTORIAN’S WAY OF SAVING RELATIVES DEATH EXPENSES There stands in B 'scombc cemetery. . (England) to-day a beautiful monu- 1 mciit in the form of an angel. It is described as the finest work of art of its kind in Bournemouth. It is a memorial to a. Bournemouth resident who lias had, it plated m the • cenuMery himself, thereby saving r atives ami friends any trouble or expense after his death. The resident is Mr. < umbeiland j Clark, the well-known historian, poet and dramatist, who has lived in Bournemouth for many years. The inscription on the base of the nionuincnt “•Sacred to the memory of Cumber- 1 land Clark, poet, historian, dramatist, bom 2Slh April, LS62 (here, is a space to fill in the death dale;. The longer I live the mure do 1 turn to Christianity as lhe one hope of salvation, the one faith for the soul of man, the one comfort in distress, the one consolation in death, and the one and only power that can save the world.—a'umberland ‘ ('lark. ’ ’ When a reporter called upon Air Cumberland Clark at his fiat he found a man who certainly gave the impression of having prepared his mem< : ai anything up to half a century before its time. Asked why he had had this memorial placed in the cemetery, Mr. Cumber- ‘ land Clark replied, "Well, the reason is rpiite simple and I really fail to see ' why other people, do not do the same thing. ‘‘There have been cases, you know,’’ he added, with a smile, "where a person has died with the thought of leaving a suitable memorial placed over his grave, but the money has gone towards the provision of a new car. "1 have given my solicitors definite instructions,” continued Mr. Cumberland Clark, “to see that 1 am buried beneath this memorial so that there will be no bother or anxiety to fall on relatives or friends.”