LORD AND LADY GALWAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1940, Page 9

LORD AND LADY GALWAY

$ VISIT TO ROTORUA. MEETING HOUSE OPENED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) ROTORUA, November 18. The Governor-General, Lord Galway, and Lady Galway paid a farewell visit to the Rotorua district during the weekend. His Excellency participated in the final function of the Centennial programme when he officially opened a carved meeting house at Whakarewarewa. The gathering was also attended by the Minister of Native Affairs, Mr. Langstone, Sir Apirana Ngata, member for Eastern Maori, and Mrs. P. Fraser, wife of the Prime Minister. On their arrival their Excellencies were presented with a loyal address by the mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, together with a carved Maori casket inlaid with paua shell. Replying to the address his Excellency expressed confidence that the Empire had now turned the corner and that victory would crown its efforts.

He said that New Zealand had been particularly fortunate in the appointment of Sir Cyril Newall as his successor, for Sir Cyril would be able to give first-hand advice to the War Council.

Later in the day, in the presence' of a large gathering of Maoris and Europeans, his Excellency opened the meet-ing-house and inspected the guard of honours provided by the Hauraki Regiment,’ together with a contingent of Maori ex-servicemen and members of the Second Expeditionary Force. In accordance with Maori custom a woman must be the first to cross the threshold of a meeting-house after the, tapu has been removed, and this honour was reserved for their Excellencies’ eldest daughter, the Hon. Mary Monckton. During the ceremony a loyal address from the Arawa tribe was presented to his Excellency for transmission to the King, and Mr. H. Tai Mitchell, chairman of the Arawa Trust Board, presented Lord Galway with a cheque for £lOOO, half of which is a straightout gift to the National Patriotic Funds and the remainder an interest-free loan to the Government.