“TRUE SPORTS.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18752, 4 January 1923, Page 2

“TRUE SPORTS.”

CONSUL-GENERAL’S TRIBUTE. “ Now Zealanders am thorough sportsmen, whether they win or lose," said the American Consul-General (Mr Wilbur), in the course of a brief speech at the welcome to the American athletes tendered by Wellington citizens at the Town Hall. Turning to the newcomers, ho said: “My young friends and follow-Americans,—l have lived among them for two years, and I want to tell you that, no matter what you may have already learned or gathered while you wore on the- voyage, you -will meet here men in the finest sense of the word. In my 20 years in the eonsular service, during which I have travelled in many countries, I have never lived in n country where men and women not only excelled in hospitality and kindness, hut made it a very sorrowful undertaking to part with them and their country. I have endeavoured' to build up friendly relations between New Zealand and America, not because of my official position, but because of the inborn, natural hospitality of these folk, which, with the richness of the country’s soil and the opportunities offered, makes up a combination that one could not expect to meet elsewhere.”