BURIAL OF LATE PREMIER AT BASTION POINT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1940, Page 5

BURIAL OF LATE PREMIER AT BASTION POINT

Memorable Scene Beside Auckland Harbour MEMBERS OF GREAT ASSEMBLAGE WATCH IN SILENCE TRIBUTES FROM LAND AND SEA (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, March 31. In the golden sunshine of a late summer afternoon the mortal remains of Mr Savage were laid to rest today in a vault at Fort Bastion overlooking the blue, peaceful sea. The flashing bayonets and the service uniforms of the armed escort, the interludes of native ceremonial and the burial service carried out in accordance with the ancient rites of the Roman CatholicChurch all combined to make the occasion one of impressive solemnity. The' humble spirit of the man whose memory was being honoured found its true reflection in the hushed, reverent crowd of at least 200,000 who lined the route of the funeral procession and thronged the green slopes around the burial ground. When the funeral train arrived at Auckland this afternoon (he coffin was placed on a gun carriage. Preceded-by an armed escort the funeral procession wound its eight-mile journey to Fort Bastion. The coffin was then borne 1o the catafalque where the burial service was conducted by Bishop Liston. Afterward it was raised for the last time to be carried through an avenue of wreaths into the dim quiet of the burial chamber.