MR JOHN POSTER FRASER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9628, 21 October 1909, Page 6

MR JOHN POSTER FRASER.

The famous explorer author and lecturer, Mr John Foster Fraser, will arrive in Masterton on Wednesday morning, next from Palmerston North, and will be welcomed at the railway station and subsequently entertained by Mr P. L. Hollings, the Mayor. In the evening Mr Fraser will give the first of the two lectures which he proposes to deliver in Masterton at the Town Hall—"Across Siberia and' a Dash through Man • churia"—which is one of the brightest and most fascinating stories in his repertoire. It has been described as "ninety minutes of merriment and pathos," and it is illustrated by one hundred splendid pictures personally taken by Mr Fraser in defiance of the authorities, and often at the preil of his life. The second lecture on Thursday evening will be the humorous and graphic illustrated story, Up-to-Date," which has heen specially revised for the Australasian tour so as to foc.us in one evening's entertainment the very latest impressions of Mr Foster Fraser's travels in America and Canada. Mr C. E. Daniell will take the chair. In referring to the people of New Zealand in tne course of a recent interview, Mr Foster Fraser said:—"The climate here in New Zealand I found much more like that at Home than the climate of Australia. I have knocked about the world a good deal, and in my travels I have studied , thj effect of climate on character. What I have been particularly interested in studying in these islands of Australasia is how the people, removed from the severe climate, say, of Scotland, are going to develop in the much mora congenial climate, somewhat similar to Southern Italy, in this part of the world. I noticed in Australia a certain softening of character, whereas in New Zealand I find very much the same kind of sternness., and determination that marks the people at Home. Therefore, I am quite sure, judging the possibilities in development from that standpoint, the New Zealander, although he has done a great.deal in the past, is likely to continue to do good work in the development of this country. In Australia, where wonders have been done by the old settlers in tarn- 1 ing the wild country, the problem is whether the present generation and future generations,' living in their very pleasant and softer climates, will be able to continue the same work which was done by their immediate forefathers.'' The box plans for the two lectures will be opened at Miss A. E. Rive's, Queen Street, on Monday morning next, at 9 o'clock.