A NARROW ESCAPE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 36, 22 November 1937, Page 4

A NARROW ESCAPE.

A PARACHUTIST’S DESCENT. “FATHER CHRISTMAS” JARRED. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, November 21. Jumping out of an aeroplane when it was only 1000 feet above the Auckland Domain on Saturday morning, a well-known parachutist, Mr G. W. Sellars, had a narrow escape from serious injury when he was able to sway his parachute just in time to avoid crashing through the glass roof of part of the Winter Garden. As it was, he landed heavily in a small garden plot beside a concrete path, and jarred himself considerably. The jump was arranged as part of a “Father Christmas” 'gift distribution for children, and had been organised by a prominent Auckland firm. Mr Sellars was to land on the outer domain as Father Christmas, and was then to help in the distribution of toys on the ground. He was taken up in an aeroplane piloted by Flight-Lieutenant Allan, and made his jump when the ’plane was only 1000 feet up, in order to give the children an additional thrill. The aeroplane wa9 so low that the spectators, of whom there were several thousands on nearby banks, were able to distinguish the parachutist’s form very clearly as he stood on the wing before jumping off. There was a fairly strong south-west-erly wind at 1000 feet, and this immediately blew Mi: Sellars from the direction he intended to take. Then, as he came down to the shelter of the surrounding trees, the still air caused him to drop more quickly and he landed very heavily. While the parachute was falling, Mr Sellars could be seen vigorously attempting to counteract the effect of the wind and so to land on level ground. He obviously saw the danger of falling into the Winter Garden, and fought to swing the parachute away from it. Until he was within a few yards of the roof, however, it seemed almost certain that lie was going to fall on the glass, and it was only on the last few seconds that he was able to avoid it. He then disappeared from the view of the spectators and fell into the garden patch between the two hot-houses.

Only a few moments before two gardeners had been bedding plants there, and by the time Mr Sellars had disentangled himself from his parachute and hundreds of children and adults had dashed up to see what had happened, the garden was almost wrecked. Mr Sellars meanwhile had found that has Father Christmas beard had been twisted awry by the fall, and he limped into shelter to fix it before returning to help with the gift distribution—which he did, in spite of his nerveracking experience.