THE LEGENDARY MAC.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 9 November 1916, Page 3

THE LEGENDARY MAC.

It lias perhaps caused no surprise that many people believe, or half believe, that Marshal von Maekensen is really General Hector Maedonald, who committed suicide in Paris a year or two after the South 'African War. Immediately after his death, it began to be rumoured that he was not dead at all, and the legend grew up that it was really he who led the Japanese forces at Port Arthur. Now, however, there is a new legend. It is not Maekensen but Brusiloff who is Maedonald. A reporter of the New York Press found a Mrs Taylor, who ig a cousin of Hector Maedonald, and this lady says she is absolutely certain that Brusiloff is Maedonald in disguise. She says the physical resemblance is clear enough, and finds significance in "the queer and extraordinary circumstances connected with the rise of the Russian commander." One would suppose that even a child of ordinary intelligence would recognise the absurdity of these stories, remarks the Christchurch Press, but still, many grown-ups believe them.