Medals and awards

WELCOME BY THE HIGHLAND RIFLES TO TROOPERS BEATH AND FRASER.

Troopers A.M. BEATH and P.O. FRASER, former members of the Highland Rifles, who returned from South Africa by the Tongariro last Wednesday, were entertained by their old comrades at the Excelsior Hotel last evening. The corps was very strongly represented, and there were also a number of ex-members present to do honour to the occasion. A capital repast was provided by Host McKenzie. and as the evening progressed this was done ample justice to. Both Trooper BEATH and Trooper FRASER were loudly applauded on their entry to the room, and prior to the proceedings beginning the pipes were played by two members of the Dunedin Pipe Band.

Lieutenant Dempster, who occupied the chair in the absence of Captain Stoneham, proposed the toast of "The King".

Lieutenant Barclay, of the Sydney Scottish Rifles, who was among the guests, proposed the toast of "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers", and in doing so said they were all proud of what the army had done in South Africa. This was the first war in which the volunteers had come so prominently to the front, and he was quite sure the praise they had won had been fully deserved, and it made them very proud to know that they were of the same stock as the men who had fought so valiantly over there.

The toast, which was honoured with a great deal of enthusiasm, was responded to by ex-Lieutenant McCallum, who said he looked forward to the time when there would not be such a distinction made between the volunteer and the Imperial soldier. It had been shown what sort of quality the volunteer possessed, and he considered the way the volunteers had stood by the Empire was something wonderful. — (Applause).

The Chairman said the toast that fell to his lot to propose was one that gave him an exceeding amount of pleasure, and one that he was sure all would drink with gusto. Probably the occasion of their meeting was unique in the annals of volunteering in Dunedin. It was true they had met and feted another who had been through the war in South Africa, but on the present occasion the awfulness of war was brought heme to them when they saw their comrade, BEATH, who left them some 16 or 17 months ago in full bodily vigour, now return bearing too evident traces of having been in the thick of the fighting in upholding the honour, integrity, and prestige of the British Empire. But he (the chairman) was sure their friend was solaced by the thought that his loss had been sustained in fighting in the cause of the greatest Empire the world had known. It must not be supposed that he (the chairman) was forgetting their comrade, Trooper FRASER, whom fortune had smiled upon, insofar as freedom from wounds was concerned. He had been through the thick of it, but his lines, so to speak, had been cast in more pleasant places, and he came back to them in all the manly vigour in which he left them; in fact, he (the chairman) thought both he and Trooper BEATH were looking uncommonly well. Their two comrades in leaving their homes, with all their attendant comforts, and with the certain knowledge that they would have to undergo all the hardships and all the perils of active warfare, made one of the greatest sacrifices it was possible for any man to make, and it is to recognise that sacrifice that they had met that evening to show the returned men, to the best of their ability, that they were conscious of the honour they had brought on the Highland Rifles. They were proud of them as sons of the Empire, but more especially as members of the Dunedin Highland Rifles. As to the services rendered by the second contingent, of which their comrades were members, he had the authority of Colonel Robin for saying that it was owing to the excellent work done and their rapid marching through the western districts of Cape Colony, around Carnarvon and Victoria West, that a huge rebellion, which was quite ripe, was nipped in the bud; a rebellion which, had it been allowed to eventuate, might have changed the whole course of events and been far-reaching in effect that the British position in South Africa might possibly not have been in the comparatively satisfactory condition it now was.

Trooper BEATH, who was received with loud cheers, thanked those present for the reception they had accorded him, and proceeded to describe the places he had been at since he left Capetown. In referring to the Klip River engagement, he mentioned that it was there that Colonel Robin was so conspicuous for his bravery. He also referred to Diamond Hill, Barbeton, Rustenberg, and finally to the Rhenoster Kop engagement, where he was wounded. The attack there was made at daylight, and in the line of fire over 25 New Zealanders went down. They were 27 ½ hours under fire, and he was, after being wounded, taken to the hospital at Pretoria, where he met with very good treatment.

Trooper FRASER, who was also received with cheers, said he was very pleased to meet his old comrades. He and Trooper BEATH had been together from the start to the finish, and when BEATH got wounded he would have liked to have attended him, but it was impossible. BEATH's statement was his — whatever he said he (Trooper FRASER) said too, and whatever he did he (Trooper FRASER) did also. It was a fine thing the way the fellows met them (the returned troopers) at the Tongariro. — (A Voice: "You deserved it"). Some night those present would hear him talk — he would then give them big lectures on this Boer war. — (Loud laughter and applause). BEATH, concluded Trooper Fraser, is done; be is no good at all. All the same, he is a good fellow, and when he is at a loss he has a friend, and he's got to come to him — that's FRASER. — (Loud applause).

Quartermaster-sergeant Moncrieff proposed "Absent Friends", in replying to which Piper Henderson said as long as there was a Highland corps in Dunedin Trooper BEATH would have a friend — (cheers) — and whatever they could do for him would not be done for clarity, but because it was his due. — (Renewed cheering). They were very pleased to see Trooper FRASER also, and glad to think he had come home whole. He referred to Troopers GILLIES and NICHOL (sixth contingent) and Corporal ASHTON (seventh contingent), members of the Highland Rifles, who were still absent in South Africa.

The Chairman said that when they knew their comrades, Troopers BEATH and FRASER, were coming back they decided to make them some presentation, to recognise the way they had upheld the reputation of New Zealand as a whole, and the Highland Rifles in particular. They had decided to give them a gold medal each, which he would have much pleasure in handing over. When Captain Stoneham came back he would put it to him that they must elect Trooper BEATH an honorary life member of the corps. (Prolonged cheering). He (the chairman) could also take it upon himself to say that they would present Trooper BEATH with his full dress uniform, and he could come on parade with them. — (Loud applause). He then presented the medals, which bore the inscription: "To Private A.M. Beath (or P.O. Fraser) by his comrades in the D.H.R., on his return from South Africa. 14/5/1901".