RAIN & CEREMONY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1608, 27 November 1912, Page 8

RAIN & CEREMONY.

OPENING OF THE NEW POST ' r OFFICE. 1

INTERESTING SPEECHES

WELLINGTON G.P.O.'S HISTORY

' Rain pouring down in 'torrents on a iu ckl e s s'' ulnlj re 11 a-cov ere d crowd—such were ; the-conditions:.under. which' the Wellington Post Office- : waS'opened yesterday afternoon/-'--Elaborate; 'preparations had been .made Jo accommodate a' big crowd of people'.'bh'-a 'spccially-cbiistructed staging, but,all.who,wore oil-the, outside during theislio.rtj.-eeremony clustered /unconi-' iortably round tno. steps, waiting impatiently lor the i magic words:."'! declare. this building open,"- 10. allow, .them.' to get. in out of'the-persistent downpour. • -'io the majority:of the. people the. speeches, .were inaudible, - and;- brief 'as ic was, . they would have gludly ' had the ceremony ehorteppil.f .••.M 0 other, noise, could be heard: by' most'of thenr thanths beating of . the rain , on the 'uiiibrellas.

. After,,tho things, went even more awry. VU'hen the door was opened the crowd,.eager.to get under shelter, all tried to get through, the somewhat harrow portal -at'-pnc'ejj-'a'nd.some .ladies,; who were unlucky' 'to get. involved in the surge, liad a. most uncomiortablo .time; There were only ; ; a few hundreds of people altogether;"nut there were Chairs and •a table, and... impedimenta;- to be clearetTaway .'from their-path, and delay gave t'iso. Jo crushing. , Inside, the injtle choir of the Post Office employees, which was to have sung to the people . outside had this been possible, sailg a couple of verses'- of "God Save the King," and; then -the people-.were iiiio'niied' that those who had cMds-of'ihvititioii. would find-tea in a room--' ou-'tbe-top floor, > Tea was served under; the niosl icoiiifortablo' circuiuStitucE& possible in the long rooni'on.-the:top.flat,; and the;people'.'sbori ;re*oov«red. : .their igoOd; humour. -It 1 lvas during - tea 1 and -after-! wards .that"-fhoHKoir, under. Mr. P. V.. Waters,"chief . clerk' of 'the' Post Office, 'sang .a' number ;0f choruses, and sang them- remarkably well. The soloists were, Miss M'Lioil. and Miss Doll. . The., audi-., en'ee tho'roiighly approved of the numbers, and applauded \cordialljv -All-the ar-. rangeinents 'inside the building were controlled by a committee Of -postal' em- 1 ; 1 ployees; Mr. Markmanh Wvas chairman 1; of tho' committee, and Messrs. ,W. J. Meredith -and C. E.;'Brian \'joint secretaries. '

As Already', stated,. the ceremony .was' brief;" The ''.Ministers: -. present -were the Hon.- W.V Eraser,'. tlie ; -'Hon. ' J.. Allen' and ■ the Hon. . AV. 11. ;Herries. Hon:' E. H. Ehodes',; PostmasterGeneral, was jinabls .to Vatterid, : ow.ing : to and; -the' Eoni. A.;* L'. 1 ■ Herd- . man was detaiio'd at the Supreme Court, where. heWas' representing 1 the; Crown ..in ail action' '-as'.' Attorney-General.>' Mr. Rhodes, :aS'; Pp&tm'asteivGenSriil, sKould have performed- the'opening . ceremony, but this duty .was, in;-his "absence! performed -.by the... Hon'.. W.'Eraser. The Mayor bf'''Weliihgton;-''Mr. : I D. McLaren; .presided7at'ythe"'ceremony. /.There were, a veryVfew remarks from Mr: ll'LaWn, ;and' ; a curtailed speech from.'Mr. Eraser.. : A handsome -souvenir of the 'occasion' was handed'to r Mr.'Eraser tobe forwarded to'.Mr: Ehodes.-;Tt,is a silver key,with' a greenstone.paper-knife .attached: 'It is . the gift, of .the: contractors, 'and bears tho inscription:— . • .' ' v 'Tr«ented;-to i ' , 'the :'.Ho'n.' .:R... Heaton Bhod^;^Pos^|^erj^eral>,'tjr'',th9,;Pon.tractors, Messrs' J. anil A.-Wilsoiij; 350yember 26, J912/'.' fV' ; .

THE "SPEECHES. ', BUILDING "FORMALLY - OPENED. The'llayor said that he,was. not going •" to have .the guilt on his conscience of .. keeping' his. auditofs exposed for any long time to ( weather.., If he, " did," it miifht 'be-necessary.- to' erect an- • . other public hospital. The! Mayor then read apologies for-absence "from, the Hon. ' ■ W, P.'JMassey (Prime Minister), the Hon. ' P. M.\B."EiSheri'.the.Hon. A." li.'.Herdman, • • C ' Sir. Joseph. Sir Robert Stout (Chief . Justice), Colonel Heard, and a number of .. : . others.- He had'also to.tender an apology, ho said;, on-behalf , of the Hon. E. H. Rhodes ' (Postmaster-General),' who -, was "" 'prevented by illness from .being present.; . In' tho absence of the.Pos&astKr-General . ' ■ he. would>in a few f iinonien{ss'calt"iipbn the Hon. W. 3?ras^r^^^X'Siiiiister■ iffor"Public • Works) - to talS,";iiS''Kabsen't;; L place and declare "the linilding open. He ■ only wantcd;:to;,^y,' as .Mayor, of the city, . . that ho had'.'attended: the laying of the .foundoitipn-stone. of this' building, , and was glad- to be_ present at its opening. .He' 1- regarded' the erection ot' ;the .building' as another step forward in the good work . done in t^e-improvement, of. this city, ' with the., assistance ofthe " Government. The building s'tood to speak for itself, and lie-trusted that it. wbuld.stand for a • . long. time'Ss'an'evidence of the advancement and in .business affairs of this community,'"and of New Zealand. Concluding, the .Mayor asked. Mr. Eraser : :o declare the building open, so that as '-. '-.nany as "possible of ."those assembled could ijet inside. . (Applause.) Tho. Hon. ..W. Eraser said that be was exceedingly..sorry that the Postmaster-General--was-not able to take the place v ' that was."rightly:-his: !thnt afternoon. .. In tlie absence of Sir. Rhodes, lie, as.Miniisp- ter for Public Works, had been asked to Iperform;the. opening ceremony, because r' .' the erection of the building had.' come wtfhinithe^rovinco-of-.his. Department, if The- contractor had worked under , tho ; ■ direction of the officers of the Post and I • Telegraph Department. Mr. Eraser then o briefly outlined some historical features of tho' Wellington Post Office and finally , .declared the building open.

I - ' • ABSENT MINISTERS MESSAGES OF APOLOGY following is the message of apologyforwarded by the Prime Minister from ■ '-•■Auckland:—. • , ; . "Hon. R. Heaton Rhodes, •- "Postmaster-Gener'al, ~!77 „ ..V ■■7:. "Wellington. "I regret extremely that - publio business in the Auckland 7 province ! • . prevents my being-able to-be'present;. I . at the opening ceremony of the new' Post Office in 'Wellington ; this*'after-. 1 . '.noon. The splendid edifice which'you • • '- ' are opening for'•b'iisiness I '-'forms ' a hapdsome addition to the many pub- ; ' lie buildings of the Capital City, and t" indicates the wonderful-progress made not only "by AVellington, but by-the.. Dominion as a whole durihg the lost !• fifty years. There, is-no truer .index';of the advancement of a city than its postal business, and; in this, as in all ' ' other matters appertaining to the wel- • fare and prosperity of'the country ■: the do everything - .possible-to m'eetjthe growing reqitire- ■ ments.77of;-;the;;.ppftfilatipn. .1 should , i like, through 'yourself, to express to, the iitizeris of Wellington my hearty 7i congratulations [Upon ;the" erection of ";, such? f a:-.- magnificent,; and up-to-date :: , -Post Office. ■'■!( ' - "(Signed)-W. F. MASSEY, "Prime Minister." ; ! The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher forwarded. | the following message'to the Postmaster- . General:— - "I am sorry that I cannot be present this afternoon,'. I hope,; however, to be present :at the opening of Wellington's now railway . station in. i the not-too-distant future. < . "(Signed) F- 'M'."'B. FISHER/' "Christchurch." The following message was received trom the Hon. A. ,L. Herdman, . member, . i. for Wellington-North:—,'j ■ : ' "To the Hon. Mr. Rhodes, i "Postmaster-General.. L - "ft i s with extreme' regret "that. I. have to ask you to be good enough; to apologiso for my absence, ;; to-day from the official- opomng_ of . Wellington's new Chief Post Office. Tho reason for my inability,to attend the ceremony is that-Pamr engaged in the Supreme Court, appearing for - the i; Crown in a case.under tho qommer- ■ - cial Trusts Act, and'it is quite irapos-. ■; |i sibla for me to-leave Oburt. I led;-, sure that the oeremony will pass off; • j : 7 with considerable success, in spite of f ' th° inclemenoy of the wea/tfoer. Wel- - linpton has good reason to feel proud of its new Post Office, which I am r. certain, in its np-to-dateness, equals any similar institution, in Australasia

May I, as a member of Parliament for the City of Wellington, congratulate you.aiid your Department on the splendid structure which you have tho honour to officially open to-day. "(Signed). A, L. HERDMAN."