“TWENTY-FIVE MOTHERS.”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2861, 21 March 1925, Page 2

“TWENTY-FIVE MOTHERS.”

TilK KAMK OK XKl’lA. Nepal lias no fewer than 25 mothers. Id uncles and over 11)0 cousins. Kor ilie fortnight preceding the arrival of the All Blacks at •A'cllington, there had been a gradual trek of Maoris ospeeiullyMTom Hawke's liny, the home province of Sepia and l’aewai. to the capital to take part in the welcome to the Ali Blacks. Many of them, desiring to :et a ••grandstand'’ view of the landing ceremonies, applied at the olliee of the secretary of the New Zealand Rugby Union for passes of admission (,o the enclosure at Pipilea Wharf. The following is a sample of the conversation that ensued: — The Maori: I wish to have a pass for the Tahiti and the official stand. The Secretary: Name please? The Maori: lam the father of (It urge Nepia. There were a large number of Moari women, fully -5 in number, who claimed to be Nepia s mother. “1 wonder who the real father, and how 1 shall know him, soliliijuifecd the secretary. The inevitable happened. The real father came to town from Nuhaka, Hawke s Bay, which llic Maoris claim, is the crudleland of New Zealand football.

Beta Nepia, father of the famous toll-hack, is an extremely youthful mail, well set up, like his 19-yeiu-old son. The similarity between them is so great that during the procession through the streets Nopia's father had his hand pumped hundreds of times ami received congratulations on his prowess at lvugby.