The tragic fate of Lieut. Keith Anderson and his companion, Mr R. H. Hitchcock, who went to the rescue of the Southern Cross, has stirred to the depths the feelings of every Australian.

Once every little while some Arctic waste,
   Some arid desert yields a fateful tale
Charged first with bitterness that all men taste
   When tidings come of venturers' who fail --
Who fail, and failing die, their goal unwon,
Their dream unrealised, their task undone.

Yet do they fail? Is bitterness alone --
   Is grief and vain regret our only dower?
Now in the desert has a seed been sown
   That soon shall burgeon to a splendid flower --
The bloom eternal of a nation's pride
   In men who dared and died as such men died.

Here is another altar, where men kneel
   To glean new greatness for a nation's soul.
And, as the passing-bell gives out its peal,
   Fate's hand moves on to add unto the roll --
While the Te Deum sounds its deep "Amen" --
The glorious roll of gallant gentlemen.

"C.J. Dennis"
Herald, 22 April 1929, p1