Wellington’s Fare well

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1021, 11 July 1930, Page 7

Wellington’s Fare well

CITIZENS THRONG STREETS

Great Statesman’s Funeral

SOLEMN CEREMONY IN RAIN

THE SUN'S Special Reporter PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Today. IN the rapidly gathering gloom of a winter afternoon, the citizens of \V ellington assembled in thousands to pay their final tribute to Sir Joseph Ward. As liis body was borne in solemn procession through the thronged streets the band played majestic funeral music and troops marched slowly with reversed arms, followed by a stream of motorears over a mile long bearing the representatives of all those who had come into contact with the dead statesman. The funeral was the largest seen in Wellington since that of the late Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, and tool? over 40 minutes to pass one point.

TtHERE was something iucredibly 1 solemn about the ceremony yesterday, for even after the constant file of citizens who went into the main entrance of Parliament Buildings with its sombre drapings of purple and black and its serried pile of wreaths round the catafalque bearing the casket the massed sympathy of the people was more than evident. Barebeaded. they stood in the driving rain, and the silence as the gun-carriage bearing the coffin passed was broken only by the clop-clop of the slowwalking horses of the mounted police and the gun-carriage. At Parliament Buildings there were thousands gathered to see the funeral procession start, and there was a hush as men bared their heads at the approach of the pall bearers from the main door. The coffin was draped with the Union Jack and on it were placed the wreath of the Ward family and the Maori mat presented on behalf of the South Island Maoris by Mr. T. Makitanara, M.P. By the casket there slowly walked down the steps members of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, and then came members of Sir Joseph's family. The other members of the fuueral procession had taken their places in various motorcars which were waiting. CORTEGE MOVES OFF The coffin was placed on a guncarriage and, headed by two motorcycle traffic inspectors, two mounted policemen and the band of the First Battalion of the Wellington Regiment, he procession moved off. Immediatelv the slow-marching bandsmen struck up the sad opening notes of the Dead March in "Saul,'’ and all along the route appropriate funeral music was played. Behind the band was the military escort marching slowly with arms reversed. This was drawn from the New Zealand Signal Corps under Major Lambie. There followed a car hearing Major A. H. Bathurst, representing the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and Mr. A. C. Day, representing his Excellency’s personal staff. The bereaved family was next, and then came the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The cars in order then contained ex-Prime Ministers tnd Privy Councillors, the Chief Justice, the Hon. Sir Michael Myers, and Judges of the Supreme Court, the Speakers of the Legislative Council, and the House of Representatives, the Mayor of Wellington, Mr. F. G. A. Troup, the four officers commanding the Naval and Military Forces, Consuls, representatives of religious denominations, magistrates, heads of departments, private secretaries, the Press, local bodies, the executive of the United Party, representatives of banking, commercial, legal, educational, and other institutions, and private cars.

cession had gone past. This took about 40 minutes. The people occupied all the points of vantage and along the whole route of the procession there was not one shop open. The Public Service, in addition, had been given a holiday from 3 p.m. out of respect for Sir Joseph, and all the blinds on the old Government buildings, as well as those of Parliament House facing Molesworth Street, were drawn. NIGHT DRAWS ON

Slowly the cavalcade advanced through the streets and the silence was almost unbroken along the route except for the sound of the hoofs of the horses, the jingling harness, and the measured tread of the marching men. It was a solemn occasion, made more solemn as night drew on. After an hour the funeral neared the Lyttelton ferry wharf, heralded by the strains of the Dead March. Lamplight struck gleams of gold from the silver instruments of the band, and the sound of a sireu blowing five o’clock, one hour after the funeral, struck almost startlingly on the ear. On the wharf itself the escort stood drawn up in two ranks with arms reversed, the band at its side. Before the coffin was taken from the guncarriage the horses were unlimbered.

As the coffin was taken off there cut across the air the sharp command, “Present arms!” The escort came to the present and then the salute was given, “Eyes left!” As the guard stood immobile and the mourners waited the casket was taken over to a winch that was ready to take it inboard. Before the coffin stood the members of the family and the Cabinet in silence with heads bare, as were those of the official party gathered on the wharf. The slings were adjusted, aud slowly the coffin was hoisted. As it went aboard the escort turned its eyes to the front and sloped arms. The band and the escort, the gun-carriage and the lorries with the wreaths moved off, and Wellington had said an eternal farewell to Sir Joseph Ward.

SOMBRE SCENE It wax one of the most distinguished and representative gatherings ever seen in Wellington, and spoke amply for the respect and enduring affection that the people had for the great Statesman. Altogether there were over 200 cars, and the procession was over a mile long. Ju3t behind the gun-car-riage there slowly progressed two purple-and-black-draped lorries laden with wreaths from all over the Dominion, forming a bright and beautiful array which contrasted strongly with the sombre hues of the sky and the prevailing sober tone of the dressing of the gathering. The flowers literally scented the streets as the lorries went past, and made a space of fragrance and beauty for those looking on.

Despite the driving rain aud the strong sou’-wester which sent grey clouds scurrying across the sky and made the flags of all nations flying at half-mast stretch stiffly out, crowds thronged the streets and stood in respectful silence until the whole pro-