MET COUSINS FOR FIRST TIME

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 15

MET COUSINS FOR FIRST TIME

American Couple On N.Z. Tour An American and his wife, now on a 35-day tour of New Zealand, stopped at Hawera on their way to the South Island to visit relatives they had'never seen before. The tourists are Mr and Mrs E. V. Higby, of New Britain, Connecticut, who came to New Zealand to “round off a tour of all leading countries in the world.” At Hawera they visited the Hunter family—second cousins of Mrs Higby—whom they first communicated with through relatives in Canada. “They gave us a real New Zealand reception,” said Mr Higby “It was wonderful.”

Mr Higby is a retired general superintendent of the Stanley Tool Company of New Britain. He spent 40 years with the firm. His main interest is the Young Men’s Christian Association. He is a member of the International Committee of his local Y.M.C.A. which he said had about the second-best building in the United States.

Mr Higby has visited the main Y.M.C.A. hostels in New Zealand. In Wellington he was met by the national chairman of the Y.M.C.A. (Mr G. Briggs). Mr Higby was impressed by the new Y.M.C.A. gymnasium in Auckland. “It compares favourably with any in the United States,” he said. The tour, organised by the Tourist Bureau, will take Mr and Mrs Higby to all main centres and tourist attractions.