Labour weekend, 1926
Newspaper chillers, thrillers and fillers in the run-up to Labour Day 1926.
Readers who opened Palmerston North’s morning newspaper, the Manawatu¯ Daily Times, on Thursday October 21, 1926, must have felt a ‘‘glad-that’s-notme’’ shudder as they read not one, but two racy cable stories about snakes.
Under the headline ‘‘Dancer’s Wish: Snake as bed companion’’, the first article ran: ‘‘Theodore Engalitcheff [a Russian nobleman] lived in a beautiful Neuilly apartment in Paris with his wife Bertha Petrovna, an artist who thought her inspiration for the portrayal of mystic dances should come from snakes.
‘‘She bought a small boa constrictor and practised her dances according to the motions of the snake’s body. For some months the husband did not object. But as the boa constrictor grew in size and temper, the husband began to find its presence somewhat irksome.
‘‘He so told his wife, who replied that if he did not like her sweet little baby boa constrictor, he could go elsewhere for his bread and butter.
‘‘The Russian nobleman had no visible means of support at that time, so he decided to support the presence of ‘‘Lulu’’, the serpent. But [then] Bertha Petrovna was told by the proprietor of the apartment to move out and take the snake with her.
‘‘The husband quickly obeyed the summons, but Bertha and Lulu stayed behind.’’
Meanwhile, Lulu the snake had crawled into a hole somewhere in the apartment. Bertha told the landlord that she would willingly move, except that Lulu could not be found, and might come out after she’d gone, just as ‘‘new tenants were just about to retire for the night’’.
Frightened, the landlord let her stay.
Meanwhile, Theodore brought a divorce action against his wife, on the grounds she cared more for the snake than for him.
‘‘When she introduced the boa constrictor, which is seven-feet long, as our bed companion,’’ he said, ‘‘I bolted and made for the next bar’’.
‘‘The judge granted the divorce and admonished the wife to turn her pet reptile over to the Jardin Zoologique.’’
The story concluded: ‘‘I’d rather die, said the amazing Bertha Petrovna, as she walked out of the courtroom.’’
Just as dramatic was the second story, ‘‘Thrilling Struggle’’, which could have been subtitled ‘‘Snakes on a Train’’.
From London, it reported ‘‘the return of Mr F Mitchell-hedges, the famous explorer, from Nicaragua with a collection of Central American animals.’’
A guard entering the railway van containing the collection saw that an 18ft constrictor had escaped.
‘‘Mr Mitchell-hedges called for volunteers, entered the van and threw his coat over the head of the snake... a newspaperman seized its tail, but the snake wriggled violently and hissed viciously at the explorer. Both men leaped on the snake, dragged it on to the platform and bundled it into the cage containing two other constrictors.’’
A recently-published memoir mentioned by the Times was: ‘‘Secret and Confidential’’, by Brigadier-general Waters. In this book, the brigadier revealed that, in Queen Victoria’s time, when he was attached to the suite of Grand Duke Sergius of Russia, Buckingham Palace had a shortage of bed sheets, ‘‘the supply being most limited. My bed did not have a table, a chest of drawers serving instead. It was a most uncomfortable house, even for a small number of guests’’.
On the subject of royalty, Feilding people, according to the Times of October 23, were anxiously hoping that the Duke and Duchess of York would visit the town on their New Zealand tour in a few months, not least since Feilding, within the Manchester Block, had an important connection with the Duke of Manchester.
The royal couple would indeed visit Feilding, in March 1927.
Here in Palmerston North, the weather was overcast and breezy, with rain on the way, but the town’s general mood on the run-up to Labour Day weekend 1926 was cheery.
People were whistling or singing the latest hit song, ‘‘Bye Bye Blackbird’’, and looking forward to their day off on Monday October 25 – to be celebrated as usual with sporting events.
Among the attractions planned for the long weekend were a motor sports day at the Foxton racecourse from 12.30pm (admission two shillings; cars one shilling) with refreshments, Larkin’s Orchestra and the presentation of four silver cups.
Among the advertising pages was this advice from GF Framjee, licensed radio and photographic dealer of 13 George St: ‘‘Tuck a folding VPK’’ (vest pocket Kodak) in your pocket, or carry a convenient box camera to record the day’s events... only from us can you get expert tuition free. All models stocked at prices from 10 shillings and sixpence.’’
Music lovers could look forward to a concert on Labour Day night in the Opera House, performed by the Palmerston North Orchestral Society.
Or they could head over to the Soldiers’ Club on the corner of George and Cuba streets, for a dance running from 8pm to 1am, with supper ‘‘served in the Continental buffet style on the balcony’’.
Would-be girl dancers with second thoughts about their very short new ‘‘bob’’ haircuts might have liked an October 23 Times filler that read: ‘‘To enable Australian girls to un-bob their hair, thousands of wigs have been imported. The artificial locks can be made to match the natural ones so perfectly that no-one will be able to tell ‘which is switch’’’.
And people coming from out of town for the holiday weekend would have been pleased to note: ‘‘Information has been received from the Public Works Department that the Gorge Rd is now continuously open for light traffic. ‘‘It is hoped to have the road clear for heavy loads within the next few days’’.