A TALL YARN

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 2991, 28 January 1926, Page 3

A TALL YARN

TOSCHA SEIDEL’S VISIT TO OTAKI.

The following clipped from an English paper, “Answers,” will be read with interest by local residents, especially those who were present at the “Raukawa’ when this violinist performed there:— “Marriage is still regarded, even in these modern times, as a happy institution, but it can be overdone. This is the view of Toscha Seidel, the Russian violinist, who lias lately been delighting us with his playing. Not long ago, when in New Zealand, he played to a tribe of Maoris, and they were so impressed that they made him, on the spot, a hereditary cheiftain of Raukawa —a tribe numbering six thousand —and invested him with the God of Luck amulet. But they also tried to press twelve wives upon him! This final lavish gift he declined as tactfully as he could. The amulet he wears on his heart, but the wives he merely retains in his memory. “It was rot her embarrassing,” says Toscha Seidel, ‘because they were twelve of the most beautiful girls in the whole tribe, and included the chief’s own daughter. I do not want one wife, let alone twelve. My dear mother is sufficient for me for years to come.’ ” Imagination must have got the better of our over-seas friend. — Otaki Mail.