Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Monday 19 January 1903, page 4


RETURN OF MR. R. KYFFIN THOMAS.

THE WAR MEMORIAL

Mr. R. Kyffin Thomas, one of the pro- prietors of The Register, and Prcsident of' the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia., returned to Adelaide by the mail

steamer Arcadia on Sunday after an absence of 11 months from the state on a visit to Great Britain. Though his visit was pri-manly of a private nature, Mr. Thomas identified himself with many matters of imp-portance to South Australians. While in London he was asked by the committee of the Patriotic Fund in Adelaide to make enquiries regarding the best means of ob--taining a memorial to the South Australian soldiers who had fallen in South Africa. The Agent-General, whose advice he sought, placed him in communication with Capt. Adrian Jones, a sculptor and painter in water colours, who is noted for his talent as a delineator of horses and soldiers. Capt. Jones put his ideas for a memorial into tlie form of a sketch, which was sent to the committee in Adelaide, and immediately proceeded with the preparation of a small clay model. This was submitted for the approval of the Agent-General (Mr. H. A. Grainger), Sir Edwin Smith, Mr. J. Harvey Finlayson, Mr. A. W. Ware, and Mr Thomas, to whom Mr. Briton Riviere and Sir Hamo Thornycroft — two distinguish-ed members of the Royal Academy— at the suggestion of Lord Tennyson, gave their valuable advice. The result was that the model was accepted, and Capt. Jones im-mediately proceeded with the preparation of the full-size clay model. When Mr. Thomas left London in November they had made great progress, and satisfied all who had the opportunity of seeing it, that the memorial would be a very striking and beautiful addition to the attractions of Ade-laide. Tlie artist's work will soon be finish-ed, but tlie bronze founders will take about six months in doing their part of the work, and the statue will not be shipped until near the end of the year. Its appearance is already familiar to tbe public through the photographs of the preliminary model which have appeared in The Adelaide Ob-server. Mr. Thomas was fortunate in ob-taining two notable presentations to the Art Gallery in Adelaide. Mr. Carmichael Thomas, the managing director of The Graphic and The Daily Graphic, was kind enough to say that he might select a num-ber of pictures from The Graphic Gallery, which contains a valuable collection o£ works of art, which have been reproduced in the well-known paper of which Mr. Carmichael Thomas is the head. Mr. Grainger, Mr. Finlayson, and Mr. R, Kyffin Thomas made a selection, and 17 pictures were sent to the Agent-General to be for-warded to South Australia. Mr. Frank Lloyd, principal proprietor of Tbe Daily Chronicle— a paper which shows great in-terest in Australian affairs, and publishes a column of 'Greater Britain' news daily, offered Mr. Thomas a number of line draw-ings, which will be very valuable to art students who wish to perfect themselves in the art of newspaper illustrations. MrNeil Turner, Mr. Lloyd's confidential manager, assisted in the selection of the drawings, where were sent to the Agent-General, and should soon arrive in. the state. Like all South Australians, Mr.'Thomas speaks in most appreciative terms of the courtesy and kindness shown by the Agents General to all his fellow-colonists whom he meets. He also acknowledges the courtesy extended to him by the Royal Geographical Society.