FREAK RECORDS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5043, 22 October 1926, Page 3

FREAK RECORDS.

DANCING, FASTING, AND EATING. ■ FIFTY PIES AT A SITTING. In Baltimore lecently a couple, danced for 43 hours in an attempt to establish a record. Tne woman “stuck it out, ’ without appaient coiiapse, but the jnan was removed to a hospital in a state of temporary insanity. Then in Cleveland a woman, determined o<i beating this record, danced cput n-.,-ously for 52 hours 15 minutes. Sue subsequently recovered. The ultimate record, so far, in continuous dancing was put up by M. Nicholas, a French da.ncer, who first

kept going for 125 hours, and huer beat his' own record by continuing for * 126% hours without appearing unauly fatigued, though it was aanonuiKea after that he lost 551 b in weight while accomplishing his feat. He .allowed himself five minutes hour for massage and rv'fiesn- ■ inent, taking eggs, be,cf tea, and meat, but drinkiing nothing but water. Among his partners was his wife, who held the woman’s record at .the time with 25 hours of continuous dancing. This particular craze was Stopped in America by Henry Moorhouse, who, completed 87 hours o£ continuousdancing and dropped de#d of heart 'failure as he walked off the floor. ~-Miss Lily Goodman, with 24 hours flve minutes, holds' the British record; She was ultimately ordered by a doctor to retire, though her pulse was normal. Jolly, a German, underwent a fortythree days’ fast in a case, which was placed in a Berlin restaurant as an advertisement, and so for a brief while established a record. During his "fast” he lost over twp stone in weight, and was supposed to hav© existed on a stock of cigarettes and soda-water, and earned about £6500 r by admission fees, which, some 260.000 people paid to look at him in his glass But very soon after hjs release from the case Jolly was arrested by the Berlin police on a charge of fraud. His manager, it was stated, passed thin sticks , of choclate through the breathing holes in Jolly’s glasp case, and the supposed fasting man consumed as much as ten pound© Qf chocolate during th© time that he was shut in. Then a 23-yearrold German girl, known as “Lonnie,” attempted to set up a world’s record. There wag no doubt of her genuineness, .and she lasted out for the amazing period of 48 days and two hours. At the end of this time she w,as taken to hospital iin a critical condition. At the other end of the seal© a.© the eaters, of whom the present, champion is Mr G. ,W. Leader, a Middlesborough paper merchant. A man of big buld and enormous strength, Mr already won a number of wagers, and recently w,as' booked for a contest on which several hundred© of pounds — changed hands, in addition to the stake of £so' aside between the competitors themselves. In his preyiious match Mr Leader was living up to his name—that is to say, he was definitely leading—when his opponent began to show signs of k flagging. Up to that point they had z only ©aten about a couple of pounds of ham and a score or so of eggs apiece, but the prospect of alj tha ; t was, still to be eaten disheartened Mr Leader’s opponent to such an extent that he retired, leaving nineteen eggs still untouched. Mr Leader, having wOp the contest, felt it was a pity that good food should be wasted. Therefore he took those nineteen ©ggs one by one and polished them off.