"Honor to Whom Honor is Due"

NZ Truth, Issue 985, 11 October 1924, Page 1

"Honor to Whom Honor is Due"

"Truth"' has already bestowed upon Montecino all the credit jr that may be due to him for his display of misplaced' determina- & tion. Some people have been heard to say they admired his grit, b We have no desire to detract from whatever merits Monte- s cino may' have displayed. At the same time, credit should also |j be given those who assisted him. I There were those who pummelled and punched him; those W who shouted, pleaded with, and cajoled him m their hopeless r endeavor to assist him to complete his self-imposed and impbs- | sible task. (We are generous enough to assume it was a self- % imposed task.) J . ' | Then there were those who banged tins with a spoon g alongside his ears, or exploded inflated paper bags, and adopted S other methods of stalling off Nature's demands., » Nor must we omit the kindly help of those who assisted his >S wearied hands back to the keys of the piano and tried to make f. the numbed brain induce the aching fingers to produce something | even remotely approaching music or tune. fe Again, there was his challenge. "Truth" had said he slept p during his "endurance test" m a shop on Lambton Quay. Mon- S tecino replied on his poster that he did not sleep. And said he E Would prove it. ' sj On the occasion of his Lambton Quay effort he had no such § issue at stake. Yet he succeeded— if his own claim is to be b accepted — m playing the piano continuously for 100 hours 10 i minutes! . X How painful must have been the pummelling and the punch- £ ing on ihat occasion; "how deafening the banging of tin pans § and the detonating effects of the explosion of inflated paper bags! I We .are unable to describe ALL the grim horrors of that' i Lambton Quay test because, "Truth's" volunteer staff did not >i attend it. And we are glad they didn't. All of this "committee of prominent business men" who r voluntarily undertook the task of " supervision of Montecino's effort last week (30 hours after it had -started) were appalled I and shocked with what they saw during their watch (m turn) f of about 55 hours. ' f It is too terrible to think of what the misguided Montecino p must have suffered if he lasted out 100 hours 10 minutes under s similar conditions; But we have departed from our heading: f, "HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE." I On the morning 1 of Friday, the day when medical advice was $• sought and the doctor had given warning of the serious condition I of Montecino and of the possible consequences if he persisted F the "record-breaker" was greatly bucked up by the arrival of >- his legal adviser. , This gentleman, an athlete of some distinction fc m days not long gone by, was able, by reason of his persona* I experience, to give valuable advice of a nature pertaining m oro I to the physical than the legal. His advice was followed and >S its effects were soon apparent. Montecino appeared to take a l< new lease of life. Hot fomentations and further stimulating $ .methods set him off afresh. f . To the carrying out of the advice of the legal gentleman I must be attributed m some degree the prolongation of the Mon ! tecino effort until Saturday morning. "Honorto whom honor | is due." , « We do not suggest that similar advice was available or was 5 given m the Lambton Quay effort. I Which makes the performance of .100 hours 10 'minutes on I that occasion even more remarkable. c