MARATHON CRAZE IN CANADA

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27999, 20 June 1956, Page 6

MARATHON CRAZE IN CANADA

Judge Has Last Word With “Prisonathon” OTTAWA. The last of Canada’s prolonged craze for marathon contests, the “prisonathon,” has come from a Montreal judge. First came the “rockathons,” rocking chair endurance congests designed to while away the long winters. These were followed by

“pingpongathons,” team affairs in which a pair of players attempted to keep the ball going back and forth across the net for as long as possible, and then the “pianothon,” a tedious affair in which the musician kept on playing until his own strength and his hearers’ nerves were worn out. It was this latter type of marathon which drew the anger of Mr Justice Armand Cloutier, of Montreal. The defendant was a singer, Paul Denis, who was found guilty of obtaining money by false pretences .from Mrs Bernadette Neveu, a widow, of 1770 Prefontaine street, Montreal. According to Mrs Neveu. Denis had big ideas for her son, Jean Louis Neveu, a 19-year-otd - pianist and accordion p’ayer. He proposed to organise a “pianothon” in which young Neveu should be the central figure, while he himself sang to the accompaniment of piano and saxophones. For various expenses, for which he was unable to account satisfactorily to the court. Denis extracted 350 dollars from the pianist’s mother. Denis was found guilty and remanded for sentence. When, in the course of evidence, the word “pianothon” cropped up, Judge Cloutier demanded to know what it meant. Mr Ovide Leclerc, the clerk of the Court, explained that it was a type of marathon contest. When it came to summing up, Mr Justice Armand Cloutier observed: “Well, may be we could not organise a ‘pianothon,’ either. But we can organise a ‘prisonathon’ right here: and we won’t miss.” Denis was given three weeks in which to restore the money, failing which it would be “prisonathon” for him.