JUST A JOKE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 858, 30 December 1929, Page 1

JUST A JOKE

“ Indian Chief ” Story Denied by Bowlers RUMOUR SPREAD IN CANADA “Just a practical joke that has gone a little-too far.” With this and similar remarks, members of the Canadian bowling .team which arrived at Auckland on the Aorangi yesterday laughingly denied the story that one of their number was a Red Indian chief. One or two, on the other hand, were inclined to he a little touchy on the subject. “It’s just a silly canard that arose out of joking remarks passed at Vancouver,” said Dr. W. Krupp, captain of the team. “Each member of the team was given a nick-name, and Mr. Jack Flahiff, the member concerned, was called ‘Prince’.

“The Vancouver papers got the story, and the rumour spread on the boat. It is quite wrong. Mr. Flahiff is a white man like ourselves.” “I hope,” he added, “that the story will not spread further.” Despite Dr. Krupp’s hopes, the story has been solemnly reprinted in Auckland, the history and qualifications of Mr. Flahiff being traced with a wealth of detail that is amazing if it be true that the entire tale is a shipboard fabrication.

Mr. Jack Flahiff is described as the “foremost Indian of Canada,” and a “chief of the Mohawk tribe.” The story continues:—“He is a good bowler, but has slight difficulty with the English tongue. Mr. Flahiff is a nephew of the famed Sitting Bull. He lives -with his family in a spacious residence in Paris, Ontario, and this is the first occasion on which he has been out of North America. Mr. Flahiff, who is approaching 60 years of age, is the mouthpiece and arbiter of his people. He frequently travels between Canada and the United States on diplomatic business, and he is widely informed on tribal matters, and the control of Indian reserves and territories. One would not know him from a European among his bow-ling companions.”