THE FORGOTTEN DEAD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2580, 14 August 1909, Page 3

THE FORGOTTEN DEAD.

OLD SOLDIER’S LABOR OF LOVE

Neglected, desolated and devastated, the Symonds street Cemetery, situated almost in the heart of the city, and the resting place of some of New Zealand’s greatest pioneers, soldiers and leaders, is a disgrace, to Auckland, says the Star. Overhead towers the _ Grafton bridge, in course of construction at a cost of some £35,000, standing as a monument to the progress!voness of the city, and the belief of its citizens in the development of the future. Below, on either side', are the shattered, tottering monuments of a forgotten past; grim relies, marking the graves of New Zealand’,s first legislators, governors, clergy and many of the heroes who lost their lives, in the'wars of this country’s history. Along Symonds street the City Council is erecting a very handsome stone wall,surmounted by an iron railing, giving quite an- air of respectability to that part of the cemetery situated on the eastern side of the road. But within all is utter chaos; ruin, and disorder. Fallen headstones lie flat on the graves of those whose memories they are supposed to perpetuate. Some have fallen across the unkept paths, and have been thrown aside, or piled one against the other in heaps. Others are broken, or lost in the mass of undergrowth. Ninety per cent of the graves have, not known the touch of a caring hand for years. Fallen trees lie across the railings, which, in the majority of cases are in a state of sad disrepair, or have almost entirely dissapcared. Of regular paths there arc comparatively none, and numerous tracks lead in all directions over neglected graves and fallen tombstones. A great mass of tangled undergrowth abounds everywhere, hiding graves, and broken stones and .railings. The scene is such as one might expect to find in some ruined and long-forgotten city, but certainly not in the heart of Auckland.

Following the many crosscuts, which icad in and out amongst the neglected graves, one who is curious may find much that is sad though ofttimes of gruesome interest. By parting the undergrowth and scraping away the moss, it is possible to ascertain the resting places of men whose names were once honored and respected, and who deserve to be remembered accordingly. Hero and there it is quite impossible to read the names upon tho moss-eaten stones, but “Knight ot the Legion ot Honor,” “K.C.8.,” and other titles can be made out upon wliat wore once handsome monuments, but are now moss-covered and broken stones. That .section of the cemetery directly facing Symonds Street is the only part of the graveyard betokening any signs of care and attention worth speaking of, and the reason of this is not far to seek. A bent old man of 70, dressed in a semi-military uniform, works amongst the graves. “Say. are you the caretaker?” was asked ot him. “No, I’m net,” was the reply, “but .when the weather is fine 1 spend all the time I can looking alter these little plots. I won’t he here much longer, though, and when I’m gone I don’t kiuYv who will bother about them. These are the graves ot my officers and mess mates—-there are 60 of them together. See,” said the old man, warming to his story, “here is the grave of my old commanding officer, Colonel Austin, who was shot dead in action at Rangiriri, near Mercer. This is the resting-place of Captain Mercer, alter whom the town of Mercer is called. He was killed the same morning, and all these graves mark the burial ground of the sixty officers and men who fell at Itangiriri that day. This little stone, as you sec, is in the memory of a brave midship mite of 19 who was the first man to fall in that mad storming of the Maori stronghold, and that vacant space, where the mounds are overgrown, and on which those boys are playing, contains the graves of nearly 50 of my comrades, all killed in the same fight. There they lie, heroes every man of them, with never a headstone to their memory. Here, also, alongside of Colonel Austin’s grave, lies buried Commander Burnett, a Companion of the Order of the Bath, and a Knight of the Legion of Honor, as the inscription on the headstone shows. He was commander in charge of the Australian station, and it was he who ran his ship Orpheus on to a sandbank on the Manakau bar, and perished with nearly all his men. Ay, sir,” he added, “I’m not the caretaker, and I’m not paid for the little 1 do in keeping in order the graves,.of my old comrades; but when I’m gone I’m afraid they will be neglected and forgotten as the others which surround them.” and Sergt. V. "Williams, veteran soldier of the King, returned to His work amongst the little green mounds.

THE FIRST GOVERNORS. Close to where tho Grafton Bridge takes its first mighty span across the Cemetery Gully' lies the body of the first Governor of New Zealand, Governor Hobson. Near his resting place, is that of the first Lieutenant-Gov-ernor of tho northern province, MajorGeneral Dean Pitt. A little further over is a headstone marking the burial ground of the first minister of St. Paul’s, the Rev. John Clmrton. Another monument betokens that of the late Judge Maning, and yet another that of one of New Zealand’s first Chief Justices, Mr. Sydney Stephen, who died half a century ago. The grave of Major-General Dean Pitt and the Rev. Clmrton show some evidence of attention, but that of Governor Hobson iS uncared for and falling fast into disrepair. The stone-wor'k is cracking up, and empty beer bottles and rubbish surround it- The grave of the late Mr. Justice Stephen was intended to have been marked for many years to come bv a handsome headstone and an iron railing, but the railing has been broken away, and a heavily worn track passes over the- downtrodden grave oi the late Chief Justice. Speaking in public some time ago. liis Excellency Lord Plr.nket made a special plea that the graves of Governor Hobson and others of Auckland’s first citizens should, not be allowed to fall into a state of neglect and disrepair, and it is indeed evident that it -is high time some action was taken to make the Symons' Street cemetery a place of interest,' where the graves of the dead may be remembered and’honored, and not utterly forgotten.