ENDURANCE “STUNTS”

Evening Star, Issue 22085, 19 July 1935, Page 10

ENDURANCE “STUNTS”

REVIVAL IN DUNEDIN A New Zealand endurance record for stringed instrument playing is the latest Dunedin revival of such stunts,” the aspirant bonig Mr Desmond Neilson, 21 years old, a resident of King Edward street, South Dunedin. Since 4 o’clock on .Wednesday afternoon Neilson’s strumming has proceeded in the Green Parrot Restaurant, Octagon. Dunedin has stolen a march on America’s formidable list of “ stunts,” for never before has this one been attempted. At noon to-day, the youthful seeker of a Dominion record had ployed 44 of the intended 80 hours. Surrounded by a violin, a Spanish guitar, and a steel guitar (which accompanies his voice in yodelling numbers, just to break the monotony), Desmond reclined on a wicker settee, and told a'reporter that his immediate wish was for a single feather bed. On a. nearby tabla was an orange. HTa music has as yet made no difference to his diet, though his meals are varied by egg flips and beef tea. No, he is not tired, he asserts, but he certainly looks partly exhausted as his mitten-enclosed fingers quietly run across the strings of his instrument. Resort to massaging has been made, an attendant rubbing his back, stomach, and hands to the sound or vibrating strings. And when his audience is absent during long night hours he strolls up and down the floor to break the monotony. A signboard outside on the street and a periodic broadcast of his music by means of a microphone keep the public posted as to his progress.