AUSTRIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2253, 12 September 1914, Page 9

AUSTRIA AND NEW ZEALAND

A BROKEN CHORD OF SYMPATHY. .-- . . ' (To the Editor.) Sir,—The writer of the article under these headinga, in which ho refers 'sympathetically to the work and association of the late Professor von Hochsfetter •and the late Sir Julius von Haast, might, had he known the facts, have added a paragraph' that' would have given additional point to his headline'. Since the meeting of the scientific men in 1857, the. friendship then initiated has always been maintained between I the members of their two families. It has .'long been the wish o£ the children of the late Professor von Hoclistetter to' see that country with which their father's name is so honourably associated. The meeting here of the British Association and, the , invitation to the eminent Berlin anthropologist, Professor >on Luschan, to come here as New Zealand's guest, seemed "to afford the 'opportunity, for Mrs. Lnschan is a daughter- of Professor von Hoohstetter. ■They were looking forward eagerly to their visit to New Zealand. The Government hads arranged to afford Professor von Luschan every opportunity to study the Maoris, and his anthropometrical investigations, in which he would have been assisted by his wife, would have been of great value to this country, and would have been a..fittiiig continuation of the work of the pioneer of more than half a century ago. /But while they were on their way to Australia, where they are at present, the war broke out, and now the Government : finds itself _ reluctantly _ oompelled to forbid their landing in this country. And so the daughter of Professor von Hochstetter, after being invited to this country as a guest, finds herself warned off it as an enemy. That is one of the ironies of this waTl—l am,' etc., H. F. VON" HAAST. September 11, 1914.