"Tell Me, Have They Found My Boy Yet?"

NZ Truth, Issue 1182, 26 July 1928, Page 1

"Tell Me, Have They Found My Boy Yet?"

MOTHER'S CEASELESS INQUIRY FOR SON ♦ t

Late Lieutenant Moncrieff Was Sole Support of Old Mother Before Tasman Flight RUMOR THAT AVIATOR'S WIFE PROPOSES TO MARRY AGAIN

S „.mui,m,m.M.muu„..mim > miimiiiim.iiiiiimitiiiiiimniiimimimmmimwm.iimH.mii.m.mimH.m.m, ..im. »„„„»_,_„ .-« urn imm.i. imm mimiiimm... ''"m™'"™—^ iiiiiiiimimiiiniiiiimiiiiimimimt imiiimu i iiiiiiiitiiiimimimiiiiiii iiiitniimiMimi mmmimimmmiiimiiimmmmiiiimmimmiimii mimimiiimiiiiiimi iiiiiiiiiiuimiiiiiiiuiiiiiimiiiammiiimiHmiiiimmiiiiiimiiiMMmiimmwmiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimin i imimiiimimimiiii m uiiiiuiiimimmmmiiiiimmnmimmmmmmmniiinii g . || • , (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special ' Representative.) || If NEVER CEASING m that eternal human hope, the mother of the late Lieut. ("Scotty") Moncrieff comes regularly |j 11 to " Truth "for neWs of her boy. A pathetic figure, aged tremendously with sleeplessness and wondering, it is said, she plies the Jl 1! same sad, hopeful question: "Have they found my boy yet? Tell me,' have they found my boy ? " . || II And, of course, there is only the one answer. New Zealand is a vast territory m the sense of untrodden virgin bush. May-- (( fl be yes, maybe no; who can tell ? One can only hope. . . ,t , '■■ l! II „ „,.,„.,„.,.„„„ „,, ,„„,,.„,„,„.,„.,„„„ I „„„iiiiii]inii iimiimmmmliimiimmmiiimmiiimimmiiiitiimmmmiiimmiiimt iiiiiminim iiiiiiiiuiimiinmi.iiiiiiitirtinimmimimiiiimiimiiimimimiimmiimmiroimm mmiiimi iiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiii>tiMfitiiiiiiiiiniintmnirtiirtiiiiiuiiiifinnnnniinrrtmniiimrm,ifr _i(imtiintrtmmmt»[titrf»iiiii»P = _sm.m".,!Z!m!mS ti»__Mi_*iw_____._iii_iii,iMiiiiiiiiuiniiiuitliHiiiiiitii mini nm minimum imimim.iiiiiimiimimiiimiiimiiimiiim.«mim.iii.iiim:i.ii.mii« imuu.iuumimiiuuiiimmim mmm-

BACK then, goes this grief- stricken old lady, to play with her dreams m the torturous midnight hours. Nothing would convince her that the Tasman heroes, are not alive somewhere. She sees them m dreams, hears them talking to her — and makes the regular pilgrimage to see if. there haye been tidings of her boy. That tragedy of the, air meant more than the loss of her youngest son. to. Mrs. Moncrieff. . It meant the sudden cessation of her means of livelihood, for Lieut. Moncrieff was virtually her sole support. "You\-wMl'^'"a-rrrtight ) when we come over, mother, and I shall see that you have a house," said the young man before leaving on his great attempt to fly the Tasman. . But the Gulf of px*eat Silence has enveloped the aviators and at least one old woman has suffered from a bleed- ... , Strenuous Battle ing heart and a diminished share of the humble necessaries of life. Whilst it may not be particulaiiy pleasant to talk of public subscriptions where, potential recipients are too proud fbr charity, it is nevertheless a fact thap only a slender margin of the money raised by such means will go to the unfortunate mother, now well into the autumn of life after a strenuous battle m bringing up a large family. ' It is said that Mrs. Moncrieff (senior) will receive the interest on the major ; ampunt raised by public subscription," this amounting to something like 15/- per week, and, of course, reverting to the aviator's wife m the event of the elder woman's .death. . There is no need to court ambiguity. That amount, considering all the circumstances, is grossly inadequate, and if the Government cannot place a respectable grant on the estimates to afford this overwrought old lady ,a little comfort m her declining years, it should never raise its political head again." It is because this wtell-nigh hopeless — and certainly ill-timed — venture stood for so much to the country, that she who has given practically her all for the attempt, should receive some consideration, particularly m view of the wanton, nauseating impervioiisness iiiiiiiiiiimitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitHiiiiiiiiHiiiiiliitiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

of the Government at the time of the flight. With every nation m the worldfeverishly clamoring for air supremacy and. prepared to laud those so willing to risk their lives. as pioneers, it should not have been too. much to expect an allegedly sympathetic Government tp throw ' its lot into the'; attainment of the glory for New Zealand and New Zealanders. • ; But then, the present Government is

a pretty slow-moving, color-blind visionary, even functioning at best. Strictly speaking, the public subscription was raised for the wives of the aviators, Lieut. Moncrieff and Capt. Hood. Although there were many who fancied that the boy's widowed mother would receive a benefit commensurate with her financial loss — naturally, there is no pecuniary panacea fpr a mother's lacerated heart at the loss of her "baby" boy — it was fairly specifically stated that the funds' raised imiiimimiiiiiiimitiiimimimiiiiitiiii-iimimitiiimiHiitiiiiiiiii iiiuimiuiimiiimiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiMiii mint milium mimitiiilltlllfllllltftllltllllltllllltllllflllllllltllllllllllMlllUlllllllHlltlHUlll 'lll

' were for the wives of the young aviators only. "lit may be that the younger folk are' better -ab^e to meet the struggle to live jllian Lieut. Moncrieff's mother, who has left behind the freshness and the vigor of youtn which as yet lays before the two other young women. " But certain it is . that all have to live. Mrs. Moncrieff . (senior) has been a widow for 26 years. yMrs. Moncrieff, junior (nee Miss

[ Dorothy Clark) will shortly change her name again and will live with her husband m Rongotai, Wellington. It was probably quite a natural thing to expect that an attractive young woman, plunged so suddenly and tragically into widowhood, should marry again sooner . or later. And although there may be trivial .. speculation as to the wisdom of ta.-ing !. such a step within a reasonable period-, that certainly is nobody's business but those specifically concerned; none but

the confirmed "stickybeak" and scandalmonger would cavil at the proceeding. . In any case, a difficulty exists for the young couple m that, pending proof of L,ieut. Monc.rieff's death— and legally it might be quite a hard, job— the aviator's wife could nqt marry again. But that is by the way. Mrs. Moncrieff had only been married eleven' months at the time of the flight m January of this year. There are no children. So far as the missing men are concerned, it is idle now to conjecture as to their possible fate. But no effort has been spared by private people, to ...locate; them/ ' : The - North Islarid'^has been particularly well worked. Leon Tickle, who set out some time ago, unfortunately took ill after starting from Levin and was forced to return. A friend of -Mrs. Moncrieff . (senior), Mrs.. Watson, took a trained v party into and her region considered likely, while

Students' Search

a southern doctor with two medical students also set but on an exhaustive search, finding- no trace of the airmen, but being very impressed at the dense nature of some of the bush territory. Whether they will ever be located has passed into the realm, of fading speculation, but unless trace of them is found there is one woman who will go on everlastingly believing that they live. • And' that is she who comes to "Truth," . with- appealing eyes and hopeful mien, to ask: "Have they found my boy yet? Tell me; have they- found, my boy?" : .