FEATURE: Ceylon Daily News Coverage of the First Day of Independence | Page 1081 | Daily News

FEATURE: Ceylon Daily News Coverage of the First Day of Independence

The following extract is reproduced from Ceylon Daily News of February 5, 1949

The climax to Ceylon’s first Independence anniversary celebrations was reached yesterday evening when four of the island’s outstanding athletes drawn from the four major communities completed the last lap of the marathon relay.

They came, dead on time, bearing with them the scrolls containing messages which will lie buried for centuries under the lonely memorial in Torrington Square where Ceylon’s first Dominion Parliament was inaugurated last year.

It was a fitting climax to a historic occasion and unlike the Greek marathon runner, Pheidippides who died at the gates of Athens in the conveying of his message in 490 B.C. The four marathon runners in Ceylon brought their messages and handed them to four girls, also drawn from the major communities, who in turn handed them to the “Father of the Nation,” Mr. D. S. Senanayake to be deposited in the foundation of the Memorial.

Spirit of Independence

There was hardly anyone in Ceylon yesterday who did not share the spirit of independence from morning large crowds were out attending religious services parades and other ceremonies in connection with the celebration and when darkness fell thousands thronged the city...


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