Sir Peter and Lady Buck To Visit NZ

Visit NZ In January

From a Special Correspondent WITHIN a few weeks of the decision of the University of New Zealand to confer an honorary Doctorate of Literature upon Sir Apirana Ngata, comes news from Honolulu of the award by the University of Hawaii of the same honour to Sir Peter Buck. He already held an honorary doctorate in science from the University of New Zealand.

Sir Peter and Lady Buck are due in New Zealand in January, at the Pacific Science Congress. Extensive preparations are be ing made by Maori communities to wel come them.

Ngati Porou tribe of the East Coast are restoring the old meeting-house near Rua toria which has associations for Sir Peter.

It was there, when a schoolboy at Te Aute College, he was called upon by the Ngati Porou elders to reply to their wel come, and Te Rangihiroa (as Sir Peter is known to his Maori people), had to ack nowledge that he could not do so in Maori.

Then he determined to master the lan guage and customs of his mother’s people, and he became a master of both.

It is possible that the KCMG which was awarded to Sir Peter will be personally bestowed upon him by the King during the Royal visit in March.