PEACE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 252, 18 July 1919, Page 6

PEACE DAY

| FINAL ARRANGEMENTS TO-MORROW'S BIG PROCESSION y A meeting of the Peace Celebrations e Committee was held in (he Chamber ? of Commerce last evening. Mr, W. H. P. s Barber occupied the chair, and there " were <iome twenty-five to thirty members * present. ® Among tlie correspondence wore several ' letters from consuls of foreign Powers. " Those of the neutral' Powers replied ex- ? pressing their willingness to lake part i in the profession a? pence was something.. 1 in which tne.v should all rejn ; ce, but de- " dining to nrovide °bmclard-bearers as ? suggested. Others replied falling in with ' the committee's su"gfstion. A letter was received from the H.-irlnur Board, vegret- ' ting the inability to take part in the ' procession owing to the absence of the | chairman (Mr. .T. G. Harknessl. It was | decided that a further appeal be made to the board. ' The correspondence included the folI"w- ---' in? letter from the Chinese Consul (Mr. ; Tin Shih Yuan:—"The treatment which ' China received at the Pence Conference ' would scarcely justify me in taking part i in your celebrations. T much regret the ; unhap'iv position in which we find our- ; selves." . . ' The Navy League wrote notifying the 1 committee that over 100 slides connected with the Niw will be shown in the open snace the King's Theatre on Monday pvening, commencing with a » band performance at 7.10 o'clock. Th» music- to be played will be of a naval character. ' A vote of thanks was pa?: o d to Messrs. F. Cooper, Ltd.. for the offer 'of a prize ' of ,£lO 10s. for the best decorated motorcar in to-morrow's procession. A letter was received from Mr. F. Av. Furliy, Acting-Secretarv to the Cc'binet, slating that the committee would be advised later of the names of any Ministers who uiav lm able to take part in the function" "In the meantime." wrote Mr. Fa.rhv, "I have to state that a maionty of the Ministers will in all probability be participating in the Peace celebrations in other parts of/the Dominion." Major C. E. And'-ewsgwrote tliat a military parade of the local Tevritor'el-s and Cadets was bv the , Officer Commanding the* Wellington Military District, but flic \General Officer Commanding and his staff ! would not take part in the procession. In the course of a discussion on the Peace Souvenir, Mr. H. M. Gore drew attention to" the fact that the name of the artist who designed the cover (Mr. Kelly) did not appear anywhere. _ He noted that the names of the editor, printers, and publishers had appeared in J:hc Press, but no mention was made of the winner of the competition. ■ . ; Mr. .T. H. Helliwell said he had'been j approached on the rniestion of hoMin? • an open-air ball on Monday evening. If the committee anproved ho could secure a hand to plav dance-music for a dance to be held outside the Town Hall on the wond-bloclcs. t Objection was raised k) the idea ah the ground, that it would interfere with the concert to be held in the Town Hall. Mr. F. Blandford said he would second Mr. HelliVeli's motion if lie substituted the (eastern! front of the General Post Office for the Town Hall. That was agreed upon, find Mr. HelliweM was named as the Master of Ceremonies. The chairman said that thev would approach the council to have the 6treet before the G.P.O. swept up and the trams stopped. Mr. Whittaker reported that the four arches would lie ready for erection in the citv at 9 o'clock this morning. Mr. Ha.lpin commented severely on the quality of material supplied for the decoration of the "arches. He knew what lie was talking alwut when he said it was only worth half of what the committee had paid. Mr. Lewis said he had been offered a. 10 per cent, advance on what they had paid for it, and since a quantity had been sold at an advance on what had been paid for it. , The chairman said that he was disappointed in the«f|uality of the _ material supplied. There was no bunting at all amongst it, and no national flags. They had to purchase some real flags that afternoon to give solidity and to add a patriotic note to the decorations. Mr. Halpin said that some of the ma-te-rial was simply buttercloth. Mr. Lewis said that if, as stated, the material was not up to specification, committee had their redress. Tribute to the Dead. Tt was decided that there should be a dead stop in the proceedings at the Park at. noon for three minutes, out of resnect to those who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War. The signal for everyone to standstill would be three G's blown on the bugles, and after a pause of two minutes "The Last Post" would be blown, in honour-of the dead. Tiie secretary (Mr. Lewis) produced an emblem, which he thought members of the committee should supply themselves with in honour of the occasion, and as a memento of their connection with the peace celebrations. On a motion to adopt the emblem it was defeated unanimously. „ • ' . . Mr. OD. Macintosh proposed that the Government be asked to present a copy of the souvenir to each wounded and sick wildier in New Zealand, as a memento ■of the occasion. Mr. Curtavne thought it was rather a big proposition to attempt so late in the dav. He certainly thought that it would be a very graceful act to send a suitable message to the soldiers _ in the • various hospitals and sanatoria in New Zealand. . ■ , The chairman said that he thgugnt thev might Ire going outside tiieir func- , tions. as they were only concerned with the local celebrations. He was of opinion that the sending of such a message . should be done by the Governor-General . or the Acting-Prime Minister. Air. D. M'Laren was in accord with ; Mr. Macintosh if he restricted the issua to those in the various institutions throughout New Zealand. With that amendment the motion was passed. . 1 In reply to Mr. Halpin, the chairman said that Monday would be observed as a close holiday. J[r. M. J. Heardon moved that the com- < mittce should reco-nmend that employers : should not fctop the wages of employees , oil Saturday or Monday. There were i numbers who could not afford to lose 1 two davs' pnv out of their slender earn- i jugs. The motion was seconded by Mr. • M'Laren and carried unanimously. Message of Gratitude. On the motion of Mr. W. Foster it was decided to send out the following message:—"That the Wellington Peace Celebrations Committee at its last meeting j I before Pence celebrations desires to con- ■ | vev to our sick and wounded soldiers, and especially ta those in the "various hos- ; pi tals and sanatoria, the heartfelt grati- ' tilde of the people of Wellington for the sacrifices they have made in the service of the State,' in conjunction with their gallant comrades, and the sincere wish that thev mav speedily bo restored to health. To tliose veterfcns who in other J wars'have served the Empire's cause the , committee extends its best wishes and gratitude." ' j In Case of Postponement, . 1 Tf there i?-any doubt as to the weather ' 'being good enough to hold, the celebra- s tions, the members of the Postponement { Committee, will meet at the Town Pull at 8 a.m. to-morrow and on Monday. The 1 signal for postponement will be the ex- f plosion of six detonators from a vessel < in the harbour. ] The chairman asked the Press to op- f peal to the public not to encroach upon ! the roadwav during the passage of the 1 procession, but to limit their sightseeing s to the footpath and building-'-, etc., along 1 the route. ] The Judncr,. > Messrs. H. M. Gore. John Swan, and , J. L. Lawrence were appointed judgesof J the decorated motor lorries and cars. The | judging will be done during (he progress of the procession. ■ I THE BIG PROCESSION A GUIDE TO TIIE SECTIONS. ] The arrangements for Peace .celebra- ; tions in Wellington are being rapidly brought to a finality. Saturday's big 1 procession, which will leave Government r Buildings at 10 am. for Newtovrji Park, 1

will 'be divided into eight sections, e.ich under tlic control of a marshal. The order of the procession vas uiinounced yesterday as follows:—

Section A.—Mourned Police; motorcurs conveying Deputy Governor, Mayor and Mayoress, Consuls of Uio Allies, lending citizens, and gnosis of the city; Army Nursing Service; New Zealand veterans, disabled sailors and soldiers. Section 13.—Baud; Naval detachment (if in returned ewdicrs; '" Legion, of Frontiersmen; 'aptured Ger- • man guns; City Council exhibit. e Section O.—Baud of the 6th Regiment; 3 Territorials; band; rifle clubs; Amokura bojs; Senior Cadets. ' Section D.—Biiflo band, Boy .'emits, '<• Navy League, band, Pi re Brigade. " Section E—Local Bodies, Red Cross 1 Society, band, St, John ambulance Bri- ■>■■ gade, Wellington Hospital onibiihucc, Wellington Harbour Board ambulance. s Section I',—Government Printing Office, J bund, Civil Service, Women's National s Reserve and 'branches, Post Office elis- - . .Section G.—Bund, Salvation Armv, 3 V.M.C.A., friendly societies, 'Welsh Mj'o- • cicty. ; Section H—Baud, trade and general exhibits, "The Better 'Ole," W. Cainp- ' bell, JJeuhiird's Bakery, Dominion Pro- • duce "Company, Glaxo, Murphy and Co., [ New Zealand Products, T. mid G. Mu- ■ tua! Life Association, Wellington Wool--1 lun Company, Ltd., etc. ! The procession will form up us fol- ' lows:—Section A: racing south along Lambton Quay, east side from corner of ' Bunny Street to tram shelter; Section 1 13: facing south along Lambton Quay, 1 west side from corner of Molesworth 1 Street; Section 0. facing east along 1 Bunny Street, from corner of Lambton ' Quay to railway crossing; Section D: facing north along west side of Peathorston Street, from corner of Bunny Street; Section E: facing north e.long west side 1 of Pea the re ton Street, from ' corner of W'hitmore Street; Section V-. facing north along west side of teatherston Street, from corner of Ballam-e Street; Section G: facing south along east sido of Peatherston Street, from corner cf : Ballance Street; Section fl: facing south along east side r ; f I'eaiherston Street, from corner of Whitmore Street. SUSPENSION OP TELEGRAPHS AND , TELEPHONES. ' In accordance with the Government request for a suspension of .all activities and festivities for five mimttes after noon on .Saturday in memory of fallen New Zealand soldiers, the Post and Telegraph Department announces that sll work in the Chief Telegraph Office and ■Wellington Telephone' Exchange will be suspended for the five minutes Mentioned. No cat's will bo answered in the •elephone exchange between noon and five minutes past twelve. RETURNED SOLDTERS WILL NOT PARADE IN CHRISTCHURCH. I Hr Telegraph —Prc« A«soclnt'on. j , Christchurch, July 17. • The returned soldiers have decided not to take part in the military procession on Saturday afternoon. The chief reasons for their'decision are that the big football match between the returned men and the Canterbury representatives will lake place simultaneously with the procession, that no invitation was issued to the Returned Soldier?' Association to take part in the procession until after the arrangements had been made, and that there was some little unpleasantness following the last returned soleliers' parade on Ansae Day. The Wellington Returned 'Soldiers' Association is arranging a full parade in uniform of its members to take part in the monster Peace procession to-mor-row, and a notice appears.in (his issuo calling on members to attend. It is intended if possible for the parade to march in units. The motor-cars arranged for by the Peace Committee will pick up the disabled men in Lambton Quay, near the Government Printing Office. '