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THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE
INSPECTOR BESLEY.
Port Augusta, May 10.
The funeral of the late Inspector B.
C. Besley, Inspector of Police, took
place on Thursday at the Port Augusta
Cemetery. In the morning at 10
o'clock the coffin was taken to the
Cathedral, where high mass was cele-
brated, and at 2.30 p.m. the funeral
procession started for the Port Augusta
Cemetery in the following order :—
Police Band ; foot and mounted police,
numbering fifty-four, and two black
trackers ; Inspectors Hunt and Shaw ;
Commissioner of Police (Mr. W. J.
Peterswald), hearse ; late Inspector's
charger, with boots reversed, led by a
black tracker ; chief mourners—
Messrs. C. Besley (son), J. Besley
(brother), and Inspector Field
(brother-in-law) ; chaplins, Revs.
Messrs. Doyle (2) and Cleary ; proces-
sion of children from Sisters of Mercy
School, numbering 100 ; Civil servants'
procession ; general public on foot ;
vehicles, Port Augusta, Davenport,
Port Augusta West, and Woolun-
dunga District Councils, and Quorn
Corporation all being represented ;
forty traps and buggies carrying local
residents and friends. Messrs. T.
Burgoyne and A. Poynton, M.P.'s, also
attended. The Minister of Crown
Lands and party expressed their regret
at not being able to be present at the
funeral, their arrangements not allow-
ing of a change of programme. The
Police Band played the "Dead
March" on the way out to the ceme-
tery. On arrival there the police sur-
rounded the grave, and the friends of
the deceased were allowed to assemble
within the cordon. The Rev. Fathers
Doyle, of Port Augusta ; Doyle, of
Carrieton ; and Cleary, of Quorn, offic-
iated at the grave. After the burial
service bad been read the Police Band
played "Go bury thy sorrow." The
funeral was the most largely attended
that has been known here, the cortége
being half a mile in length. Friends
of the deceased from all parts of
North came to it, and it is estimated
that 1,200 persons followed the remains
to the cemetery. The death of In-
spector Besley, although expected, has
taken away the most generally beloved
officer in the North, and great sym-
pathy is expressed for his family.
Following is a copy of a letter
written by Inspector Besley to the
Commissioner of Police :—"Dear
Peterswald—Thank you so much for
your many thoughtful enquiries during
my illness. You were always thought-
ful, kind, and good to me, and may
God bless you and yours, for it is the
farewell prayer of a dying and loyal
officer. I very deeply sympathise with
you in your petty trouble. Kindly
remember me to enquiring friends.
Am low and weak now, and the lamp
must soon flicker out, but I am re-
signed, and am passing away peace-
fully, thanks to our holy religion."—
Register.
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