DINGHY TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 91, 19 April 1927, Page 5

DINGHY TRAGEDY.

CRIES OF VICTIMS HEARD.

BELIEVED NOT TO BE GENUINE

ONE SURVIVOR LEAVES HOSPITAL.

A vigilant watch is being maintained for the bodies of the three victims of the liarbour tragedy, but it i< anticipated that they will not be lound fur several days. It is said that the cries of the five people who were emptied into the water when the ,ft dinghv capsized on Sunday night were heard fifteen minutes before Mr. Sam Donaldson reached the water-logged boat. Fortunately Mr. Donaldson realised that the appeals for assistance which drifted over the water were genuine, and acted without hesitation, but others in the \ icinitv merely shrugged tlieir shoulders and said '"Somebody trying to fool u<:'' At other times boating parties have 1 '>en known to call loudly for help when nothing was amiss, and would-be rescuers have been the subject of ill-natured banter. Had help been forthcoming on Snndav night as soon as the cries were raised it is possible that all l.ve people would have been saved, since the three who were lost did not sink till a short time before Mr. Donaldson came on the scene. No doubt this incident will serve as a lesson to practical j.ikers with a distorted sen>e of humour, mid also bring it home to boatmen that it is better to be "•had" than to ignore what may be the calls of exhausted pe..p]e struirgling for life.

Mr. Harold Warby, the returned soldier, who with Mr. Walter N.ves was picked up after half-an hour in the water, was discharged from hospital to-dav! having recovered from the ill effects of his experience.