TRAMPERS AND CRITICISM

* (To the Editor.) Sir,—We are sorry to have to reopen this discussion, but two letters that appeared in the Wellington Press about a week ago. have just been brought to our notice, and as they, were written by a responsible man, who used ■ his official position 'as president of the Federated Mountain Clubs in support of his contentions, and as editorial judgment (and as a result public opinion) is quite rightly based on remarks coming from such an authoritative source, we feel that to keep silent in face of his criticism would be unfair not only to trampers- in general, but also to the public who' so generously responded when it was known that aid was needed. First of all w,e must express our great admiration and deep appreciation for the excellent staff work done by Mr. Vosseler in organising the Wellington search parties and;in co-ordinating their: efforts with those of the Masterton search party committee. We must also thank'him for the way he reassured the public as to the probable safety of our qparty. We feel it was only his long continued and varied experience ac a tramper that enabled him so effectively to do these things. The public also knew this and rightly had confidence in his assurance that seasoned, experienced trampers such as he knew were in our party do not easily succumb even in the most difficult of weather conditions. We have no doubt that Mr. Vosseler based his criticism of our tramping tactics on some of the erroneous and gelf-contradictory Press reports that appeared in New Zealand dailies. In justice to Mr. Vosseler we feel that* few more of the actual facts of the case should be made known to him. Mr. Vosseler made specific mention of the following points: The party selected the worst possible route; the Mangatarera Valley should have been' chosen; bright fires should have been kept going by night and heavy smoke fires by day; directions should have beeu left at our camps; and we should have noticed the smoke from the fire at Sayer's Hut at Totara Flats. ' - Mr. ,o'Keefe's accident was not of such a nature as to necessitate our leaving the ridge; it merely delayed ws a couple of hours. It-was not a question of selecting any route;'we were "going to -Holdsworth. But after an hoWr's going through increasingly heavy" mist and rain,-we found ourselves descending on the west side; this was where we had left the high ridge leading to Holdsworth; night was coming on, the gale increasing in violence; so we carried cm to the bush, which was reached after nightfall; we "camped" on a precipitous wooded slope intending to ' retrace our steps the following morning. At daybreak conditions had definitely altered for the worse, and as the .night had proved that we could remain on the valley side only in a sitting position, the one possible course was the alternative route to Holdsworth, via Francis Creek. Though we traversed the shingle beaches of the Upper Waiohine-iti at a ragid rate we soon found that the incessant rain made it impossible not only to ford the river but also to pick Francis Creek from among the other smaller creeks that had by now assumed swollen proportions. We were therefore trapped. . .:.■' ' ■ As Mr. Vosseler evidently expected us to light huge fires, we would remind him of Dr. Kidson's weather report for April: "New Zealand experienced a severe spell o£ westerly weather. From the 14th to the 27th there was scarcely a day without strong and squally winds, from a westerly quarter. They were especially boisterous in' the ranges, the night of the 18th to 19th and the 23rd being the roughest period. On the 23rd a very deep depression crossed the Dominion and the strong southerly winds which followed it brought a severe cold snap. On this day and the next there was heavy snow in the ranges and many places experienced hail showers. The' whole period was a very wet one for districts with .a westerly aspect. Thunderstorms occurred in some parts of the country on the 18th,- 10th, and 21st to 23rd." This report should be Mifllcient; but one or two additional facts are ap-1 pnrently necessary. Often owing to the heavy rain, sometimes because of the hail or snow, there were days when, even with the assistnnce of candles and chemical fuel, we could not light a fire big enough to heat a cup of water. After slie had discarded her sleeping bag, Miss Williams carried dead beccli in her pack; the men carried beech twigs with them and resorted to the old bushmen's dodge of sleeping on branches at night so that a fire might eventually be made. This will indicate the efforts we made to light fires and the difficulties under which we were working. We did not leave directions as to our movements because of the absolute futility of the procedure; we knew that searchers could not possibly locate bur camp sites in the bush, situated as they were in depressions to protect us from the weather or under .fallen trees, or in creek beds. At Totara Flats we made a big blaze—our first opportunity—knowing that search parties should be near. Our camf> was ball an hour upstream from Sayer's Hut, which 'we must have passed; about 8.30 tho next morning. As we had j noticed footprints and cattle vre were keenly on the alert examining both" sides of the river not only for signs of the' searchers, but also for some indication as,| to the track used by the cattle to reach:

the flats. Our detailed examination in cleai* weather -of our surroundings revealed no clue as to the of the searchers. We certainly saw no smoke. If Mr. Vossclcr would like any more detail ye are willing to give it to him, but we earnestly desire that it should not be done publicly. There has been too much misrepresentation, recrimination, and controversial argument already. It is fitting that we should be tried at the bar of public opinion, but we wish it to be an informed public opinion. We have not consulted Mr. O'Keefe about this letter, as we do not want to retard his recovery any further by inflicting the unnecessary pain that Mr. Yosseler's letter would cause.—We are, etc., K. HILL. W. B. SUTCH. M. M. WILLIAMS. (To tho Editor.) Sir,—Dr. W. B. Sulch, Palmerstqn North, one of the "missing" tranipers, in a lengthy statement published in "The • Post" of 3rd irnst., says: "An hour after the party had arrived in Masterton a somewhat lengLhy explanation and appreciation from the party of trampers was written out, and given to a Press representative, who gave assurance that the statement would receive full consideration and space in the columns of the daily Press." As the pressman referred to, I would | like the opportunity to stale that no i written statement was given to myself ■ or any other • Press representative in Masterton by Dr. Sutcli or any other member of his party. While giving the details of the party's experiences arid circumstances of their return, Dr. Sutch expressed a desire to thank, through the Press, search organisations and others who had assisted. After naming _ the tramping clubs, committees, and individuals concerned "Dr. Sutch suggested that I might write out a letter and sign it with the names of hi» party, I gave no assurance that I would carry out his ' wishes in the direction stated in the previous paragraph, but gave him to understand that the party's appreciation of ■ what had been done would be given adequate prominence in the report for the Masterton paper I represented. This ,was done-in the following day's issue of the i paper. Will Dr. Sutch withdraw the statement referred to in this letter? —I am, etc., REPORTER.