KING LEADS NATION

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12604, 15 November 1926, Page 12

KING LEADS NATION

IN ARMISTICE DAY SILENCE WHILE ALL LONDON STANDS SULL DENSE CROWD IN WHITEHALL Bv Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association LONDON, November 11. His Majesty the King, standing in front of the Cenotaph with the Princes, and behind him the Ministers and Dominion statesmen, all bareheaded, led the solemn silence, last.ng two minutes, throughout England, l’he whole of London stood still, and there was not a sound. **en the engines of the ’buses stopped. It was perhaps the greatest silence yet observed. From dawn onward, pilgrims wended their way to the Cenotaph. When the silence fell the Cenotaph was literally Hidden in wreaths, while Whitehall and the approaches to it were throngid with a dense mass. A few moments wfore Big Ben chimed, the members if the Royal Family laid wreaths of iaurel and poppies. They were followed by the Dominion Prime Ministers. The Queen and the other Royal Ladies viewed the solemn scene from the window of the Home Office. Mr Coates placed a wreath inscribed : “In reverent memory from the Government and people of New Zealand.” IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY Perhaps the note of Dominion sorrow was struck even more surely in Westminster Abbey than at Whitehall. While the choir was singing the “Dirge to the Faithful Departed,” the black-coated High Commissioners advanced to the grave of the Unknown Soldier, the representatives of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand being on one side, and those of South Africa, India, the Irish Free State, and Newfoundland on the other. New Zealand’s High Commissioner (Sir James Parr) deposited a wreath inscribed: “The Government and people of New Zealand render homage to the Unknown Soldier.” When the High Commissioners had placed their tributes from the Dominions, the wreaths framed the grave with a border of bronze, gold, and green leaves and flowers. A pilgrimage of mourners then began, lasting all day, men, women, and children mostly, throwing poppies. MAORI FOOTBALLERS’ PART The Maori footballers attended the AVelsh regiments’ Armistice Day service at Cardiff barracks. Barclay, Gemmell, and Haupapa, who served in the New Zeal-tod Pioneers in war time, and also Mr Bell, Matene, with Mr \\. T. Parata, the manager, laid a wreath on the monument to the fallen. Mr Parata, prior to yesterday’s match, laid a wreath on the memorial on the Bristol ground. GREAT WOTS “IN DUBLIN UNION JACK TORN TO RIBBONS POLICE DISPERSE THE MOBS. LONDON, November 11. At the conclusion of the Armistice Day silence at Trinity College, Dublin, 50 men who were trailing a Union Jack in the mud approached a number of students. The students sang the National Anthem. An ugly situation developed, when the police ordered the Republicans to move on. They obeyed after tearing the Union Jack to ribbons and shouting. “Up, the Republic!” When passing the Church of Ireland premises the mob hauled down a Union Jack, which was flying from a window. Later. Armistice Day in Dublin ended in riotous demonstrations. The police fispersed the fighting crowds with satons.