PHYSICAL ENDURANCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2277, 17 May 1921, Page 2

PHYSICAL ENDURANCE.

FOXTON lias achieved notoriety during tlie past few years with its conflagrations and other incidents. We would rather have added somethin”- to the scroll of fame. That however, may come later. Our latest claim to notoriety is the fact that the world's continuous piano playing record lias been broken in Foxton. We cannot claim the re-cord-breaker as a resident, but he selected Foxton probably because it' had been previously starred in the piano line. The performance was a marvellous feat of physical and mental endurance, apart from so much harmony going to waste, but whether the feat will add anything to science is for others to say. We understand that Mr A. Steele desired to try himself out in order to qualify for the Daily Mail prize of £IO,OOO for a piano-playing endurance feat, to be held in London. The Daily Mail may lie working in the interests of science, but in any ease those taking part will risk their lives or mentality for the pitun. Speaking generally, some men crave notoriety, and, in order to attain it will willingly sacrifice their lives without ho)>e of finaneial gain; others, in order to earn a quick competency, take risks and liy in the face of Providence; some provide thrills because it pays. All the time it is gambling with death, and the grim reaper in nine cases out of ten gathers in the stakes. When risks are taken, however, in the cause of science, or for some noble purpose, we acclaim a hero, but when it is a matter of risking or sacrificing life in order to cater for sensationalism or notoriety, for which there is no justification, then the law, for humanity's sake, should step in and protect, individuals against their mental abnormalities. We are, of course, speaking generally, and do not make any reflection upon Mr Steele’s wonderful performance, because the financial gain of his long, wearisome and self-imposed task would not provide many sleeping draughts to make up for his lost lullabys, and he may be prompted by a higher motive. Anyhow, to the layman it appears a waste of energy and a violation of natural law.