MISSING.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 134, 8 June 1929, Page 11

MISSING.

AUCKLAND LAUNCH.

TWO MEN ON BOARD

FISHERMEN FAIL TO RETURN,

AWAY OVER A MONTH,

Two Auckland fishermen, Messrs. Con Mallioros, aged 45,' and C. Singer, .of the same age, with their launch Whitu, are reported missing. Both are single. The launch left Auckland on May 9, and since then/has not been seen. It was thought tha't the vessel may have been sheltering at one of the islands in the gulf, but now a* good deal of anxiety has arisen,,, and it is feared by friends that the men are lost.

Usually/the two men on a fishing trip took enough stores for about a week, although' they could supplement it, as a rule, with fish caught on the voyage. The/missing men, although not under contract, supplied fish to J. Gabriel and Sons' an Auckland firm. It was their hab.it to stay away about two weeks, fishing from the Great Barrier northwards. Occasionally they went south towards the Bay of Plenty. ;

- Friends of the missing men fear that some accident has overtaken them. Some think that the men were after hapuka. and in that case they would probably be visiting the rocky shores of some of the islands well out in the gulf. One opinion is that they may have got stranded, and are even now on one of the islands. "I'll Give it a Go." A day before the launch left Auckland, the owner, Mr. Con Mallioros, had influenza, and said that he would not attempt the trip. He added that he would cancel his stores. Next day, however, unknown to his friend, Mr. Gabriel, he said he would "give it a go," and a start was made.

Mr. Mallioros has been fishing out of Auckland for over 20 years, and is well known on the Auckland waterfront as a skilled laimohinan who would not take any unnecessary risks. Last winter, fishing in the Bay of Plenty, he was away for three weeks —his longest trip— but he wrote to Auckland stating that the launch was safe at Tauranga.

News that the launch is missing has been broadcasted, and look-out is being kept at various points ■ along the coast. Other fishing launches have also been asked to report, and the men of the Northern Company steamers have been asked to keep their eyes open.

"I told them not to go," said Mr. Gabriel this morning. He said that when they left, the weather was quite good, but they must have run into the heavy storms of the following week. "It looks bad to me," he said. "I did ray best to persuade Con not to go when he was not feeling well, but he slipped away without my knowledge."

The Whitu is 3.5 ft in length, with a 25-h.p. engine. She is painted green.