THE CALL OF DUTY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 131, 29 November 1929, Page 13

THE CALL OF DUTY

AUCKLAND MEMOEIAL

OPENING CEREMONY

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, 28th November.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum, standing on Observatory Hill in the Domain, which has taken five years to build, and for which £238,000 was subscribed, was opened with impressive ceremonial by the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, this afternoon.

Mr. A. S. Baiikart, chairman of the Citizens' Committee, reviewed the history of the memorial, and called upon Archbishop Averill to consecrate to the memory of the glorious dead the Cenotaph erected in tho Court of Honour in front of the building. The Archbishop's eloquent- dedicatory prayer was followed by trumpeters sounding the "Last Post." Kipling's "Recessional" was sung, and the ceremony of consecration concluded with the Reveille. ' . . . At the request of Mr. Bankart, the Governor-General then presented the Cenotaph and Court of Honour to the Mayor (Mr. G. S. Baildon) on behalf of the citizens. The Governor-General said that above the doorway of the museum would be seen the words of the great Athenian statesman Pericles. The whole tenor of his speech was that* we should not grieve too much for those who had died for their country, but rather that our eyes should turn to. tho glory which surrounded .their memory. Ho had said' it was easy to talk of brave fighting, but lie would rather that his hearers should fix their eyes day by day upon the greatness of their country and reflect that the Empire had' been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, fearing dishonour and being willing always to givo their lives for their country. THE STORY THAT SURVIVES. To-day's, function, said His Excellency, was similar in its circumstances. The Cenotaph did not represent the graves of- the fallen, but rather the glory of what survived ' them. It reminded us that these men knew their duty and had courage to do it —surely the noblest of all attributes. It depended on how each one of us responded to the call of duty. ■:■. As to.'- the -answer to, the question,: "Were these lives wasted—did they die in vain?" The lives would have lioen wasted, ho said, if we to-day did not dedicate our lives to duty and to our country. . Then came the ceremony of handing over tho building itself to Auckland, the president of the institute and museum, Mr. H. E. Vaile, accepting it from the Governor-General. His Ex-' celleney made " 'another' impressive speech, and opened the museum by knocking on the door with a carved mere, which was presented to him in a totara box carved in Maori style. The ceremony concluded with the National Anthem. ' ;

To-night masses of wreaths were placed on the Cenotaph by ex-soldiers and nurses, Territorials, Cadets, and others. .... ■ '

To-morrow the Maori ceremony of dedicating tho ancestral meeting-house of the Hauraki tribes, named Hotunui, takes place.

' The Auckland Electric Power Board has decided to present a flood-lighting system to illuminate the museum by night.