DOMINION IS PATRIOTIC

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21530, 18 December 1939, Page 12

DOMINION IS PATRIOTIC

American Visitor’s Comment Praise For Fishing In Country “I am pleased to see how patriotic ail people in New Zealand seem to be in backing up the Mother Country in the war,” said Mr Frederick W. Pickard, vice-president of E. I. du Pont and Co., Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America, who is visiting Timaru, in an interview with a representative of “The Timaru Herald” last night. “New Zealand certainly had a fine record in the last war and I hope that it will not have such a difficult time in this war,” he said. “The fine efforts of New Zealanders and Australians in 1914-1918 are recognised everywhere.’’ Mr Pickard, who was in America when war broke out, said there was no marked reaction to the news in the United States. "War was expected and it came,” he said. “It is a pity it had to come and we all feel that way. The only thing now is to win it.” The purpose of Mr Pickard’s visit to New Zealand was not to study the country under war conditions, although he admitted he was very interested to observe its patriotic attitude. He has been in the country for two months on a fishing tour, in the course of which he has been to between 25 and 30 different lakes and rivers. He is an authority on fishing. He has tried his skill in almost every country in the world, and has written books on the subject. Regret that he had not fished the South Canterbury rivers under better conditons than have been provided under drought conditions was expressed by Mr Pickard, who said he felt he would have obtained outstanding sport. As it was he had caught 11 fish yesterday and a dozen the day before. The fish were not in the best trim just now, but he thought they would be wonderful sport later in the season. He felt that over the two islands New Zealand fishing at the proper time of the season would have no peer in the world. "Your fish are like your flowers—they both seem to grow bigger here than anywhere else,” he continued. He praised the scenery, although he had been disappointed in the flat stony river-beds of the South Island. The lakes, he considered, were equal to the Italian lakes which were generally recognised as the most beautiful in the world. “By the way, fishing is not my business," he added, “it is merely pleasure. I used to be in the newspaper game once—until I reformed.”