... as does St Andrew
The traditional festival of St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was observed to some extent in town yesterday, the banks being closed and the Stock Exchange having no call over.
Don’t stop me now
At 2.30pm on Thursday last "Jim" Montecino, who claims to be the world’s champion endurance pianist, set himself out to break the record of 110 hours 33 minutes of continuous piano playing, which was accomplished by him in Wellington some time ago. He commenced his onerous task in the Olympic Skating Rink in the presence of a small number of outsiders and opened up with jazz music, occasionally singing to his accompaniment. All that night and the next he played without any visible alteration, but on Saturday evening he appeared to relax slightly, though he still played jazz music, with occasional accompaniments by other jazz players. A large crowd watched him on Sunday night when his playing was decidedly spasmodic, and at midnight a jazz orchestra opened fire and one or two couples commenced to dance. Gradually, however, the crowd faded away, until only a few disinterested persons remained. At 5am Montecino showed evident signs of exhaustion and large "double-banger" crackers which were let off frequently failed to rouse him from a deepening state of lethargy. He had lost all interest in his surroundings and his playing had degenerated into a strumming, with his fingers just moving up and down the keyboard. In spite of continuous massaging and thumping it was impossible to arouse him from a semi-conscious condition into which he relapsed and finally, at 6.14am, in the presence of a sergeant of police, a constable, an Otago Daily Times reporter, and one or two outsiders, he was lifted off his stool and carried on to a mattress. He was subsequently taken across the street to Jackson’s Private Hotel. At the time of his collapse his pulse registered only 34, and for 10 minutes after he had been removed from the piano his fingers were moving up and down automatically. His period at the piano was 87 hours 44 minutes, or 22 hours 49 minutes under the record claimed by him.
Four and two-legged enemies
Except in the immediate neighbourhood of the settlements, the birds of Stewart Island are just as plentiful as they ever were. This pleasing state of affairs (states the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society) arises from the smallness of the population, the difficult nature of the country, the primeval character of the vegetation, and the absence of naturalised ferrets, weasels and stoats. But the birds are not without their enemies. Wild cats are common in many parts of the lowland regions, and rats — the most deadly enemy of indigenous birds — are abundant. Also, visitors from the mainland, in wanton so-called "sport," work havoc amongst the sea-birds, shooting them from boats; nor are those of the land unmolested, notwithstanding most are protected by law. — ODT, 2.12.1924
Compiled by Peter Dowden
