THE LATE TRACEY HALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 7 January 1899, Page 4

THE LATE TRACEY HALL.

The search for the body of the late :|?' Mr Traeey Hall vas continued yester- ?]% clay without success. The police hay- Jg, ing suspended dragging -operatid|Hß| this morning the First Lieutenant of S^j H.M.s. Tauranga. proceeded to take |4 means to dislodge the body' by aid of "gji gun ifbtton. It appears that soundings #5. of the Lake were taken some years -|j back by oilicers of a visiting man-of- ,'_J/| war and it was discovered then that ?.| the Lake was 3(i."> fee; deep in tho jfj centre. It was further revealed that "ji there were ledges of rock around tha '„'$ Lake crater. Old residents of Lhka ,g.| Takapuna state there is an ground current which runs from tha *«| Lake to the sea, and that it- comes ONflßj close to the wharf and near Mr '^1 Thornes' residence. This current «'"; would naturally have a tendency to ; draw the body down lo the bottom oi ,;' the Lake, which is rugged and . olcanic, so that the body may never be \ recovered. ; Wt An unnecessary scare has arisen over ' :,'-j tlie purity of the Lake water supply. Iv ; some instances it is staved that visi- 'j tors were so afraid this week of the $ contamination of the water that tins •' left the district. There is really no 1 need for any concern over the matter as will be seen from tlie appended. i,i| letter on the subject which Mr Oliver I Mays obtained from Dr. Roberts:— s-?§ Devonport, January 6th, 1890. —The \ Editor Auckland 'Star.' —Dear Sir.-- B Your medical correspondent's warn- "r ing to the consumers of water from ji| Lake Takapuna, although nO doubt j given with the best of intentions, is, t , believe, calculated to produce a totally ,''.« unnecessary scare. There can be a 1 '! solutely. no comparison, as a wat. jj j supply, between a volume of watel Ii containing the body of one nnfort._? \ nate individual and another volume of !i water, contaminated by an old plague #. pit. It would be much more reasonable to compare the Lake in its present state to an ordinary house tain-: containing the body of a fly, and "L-.,fj think that any objection to the use r P the 'waiter must, be one of sentimenj rather than of sanitation.—Sincerely ~ yours, EDWARD E. ROBERTS. M.U. and C,M. ■ '....«$ Dr. Roberton, who has known the ,; Lake from liis boyhood, when asked by Mr Mays for an opinion said: a know the facts in connection with tliu unfor.tunate accident- to -Mr Trace' Hall. I am also aware that there ta good deal of vegetable decomposition going on at the borders of the Lake: that the droppings from shags aiij other sea birds fall into the water, and ~ that a large quantity of eels die air 1 ' become decomposed in the lake, "let , nobody regards these facts as affecting the pur,ity of the water. Should even Mr Hall's body not be recovered, - ' the effect- on the water would be absolutely harmless, for the dilution worn', be so enormous as to render the ill effects inappreciable. Those people, however, who feel afraid of the. results should boil the water before using it. lam going to have a good drink of the | Lake water this afternoon at Devonport, and shall continue to drink the water during my stay there, and shall not boil it either.' Dr. Leger Erson, in reply to the . same question said: 'I quite agree with # Dr. Roberts and Dr. Roberton in tins matter. The effect of the decomposition of one human body in such nil enormous volume of water, even it <& took place, would be infinitesimal nnd could not be expressed by any decimals I could use. The scare is en- , tirely unwarranted, and it was almost cruel to start it, _ ... .:.hA'. -