STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 3

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

New Zealander

"ARJKFXTXO (Tndin). W PUN NY," mused the blue- ,, ° yed , y \ un « man, easing a pillow under h.s arm.- how N ew /r.il.inders seem to run into one world'." m d C ° rnerS ° f «he i «Kre,d. because he expressed a sentiment frequently aired by mysHr. J u. wiii ilini ,, 11*" • t IJ!lnp,,rs . to "ivc , l i 1 /"•»■«> »«"the • 1 "t the Dnrjeelin- 11,,,. , 11... nf ''"forced inaction " l,( I" tin; open made Ivn ill . J | W lif " in ' j,,, ,' ,;'' - r,,a<l N '" w Z0a1a,,,! 1 '■ 1,1 l ""° "■•toros.t for him.

I"'i I "'i.ii ||| rcrent |y | t „, a ' V st" ' • ~n independent " ' '''^ ( ' «'t III" n hufTo,. I i I ■ 1 ' 1 ' " 1 1 I il>i'f. The ,a fv tU '° rn ~. I.- , l" lr, y. fdinnrisMl, \ , I|" W S °"'° 4,1 native 1 ?• ..".V li'tt ISiiill,,,,- the 7" m - ( flt ,l 1" en,l of A„„„ st , ; 1 1 'V, , nt lln rftok, the I 1 1 1 1 I <>\\ n oi Ntkkiirn.

' "k they decided to work '," , 7 s '"' '! >ns Pn route, theao Hi, d tor tnan-ulation on the J, "; n,r - V - i« mountainous I tin CX rcme, l.einjr fhe borderland of l 1 !a vii a rid has never heen properly «ur\ eyed. Hence it was necessary "l" wl "'v"yors to elimh, usually tnn,H,U trackless jungle, „p several

Two days toil by (he European sur\cvors and 20 of the porters saw the summit, ot Iwidong. 12,089 feet, reached. Ilcie in view „f tho surpassing heaiitv ' i malaya ri snows, tfc-v camped m - hf - About two o'clock in the morning, however, a violent electrical flurm hrnkc.

Sine for the Minding fbn'ie; of mng and the revcrlierating timbre" of 1,1 Hiimder, the ramp slept peacefully. Suddenly, there was a blaze of Ji;rJir jhkl a siuirp rrport. "Are you all right, sahib?" cried a porter from a tent close by that occupied hy Lieutenant William*.

Hearing no reply, the porter dashed to his master's tent. By so doing he pjobahly saved the young New Zealander s lite. 1 ■ nconscioim and hadlv burned about the left shoulder and upper arm, with his rubber-inflated mattress in ribbons and his sleeping banon fire, he had been struck by lightning »n<l wjih jri bad shu-po. Willi all haste and consideration for (lie condition of the injured man, the party set off down the tortuous descent. For the greater portion of the way William* remained unconscious, but

hen he <] i<t regain consciousness lie 57 I" 0 ""><•* i»i. »m, At this dismal little outpost, happily £31"' !he a;mv- Von u t,, tt W,,Ohvi,h '"" l servin 4i , present time he is wis n \ the Survey of l,„l i;l . Hp ' year. " Av » l * wl fl "'"»gh this what I saw of Sikkim," he! country' 1 Hut ! ,V '|-T"* * Wo,,d<>rf "' | expedition had just bcgnuT' " llK ' ll - lhe J r\ 1 . ->

On A Mountain-Top

: By.. Denis N. Ussher

("iiptdin S;ims. R.F,.. t.w.k over from I-ieutenant Williams after his injurv, but he experienced trouble with his poiters. After t h<- episode, the superstitions inherent in their I simp.e li\es, they now believed the j party had incurred the wrath of some i invisible demon. On flimsv pretexts 'some of them left the expedition and , it was necessary to send out \-> more ; 11-0..1 Darjeelin- The delav thus oeeaI slotted has held up proceeding .„„1 t ho | wink. most of which it was hoped to I eoinplete durinj; the three months of the j year praeticalde for surveying, will now I have to bo continued at a' later date.

Rebuilt Since The Bihar Earthquake.

For the portions of Sikkim more difficult of access, it is hoped next year to employ the photo-theodolite, or pliotogrammeter, as (iernians term it. Dr. Wein used this method in 19.'il during the second <icrman Himalayan expedition under Dr. Paul Bauer for surveying the Zemu (Ilacier. which lies in Sikkim, to the ea>t of Kinchenjuna. The method has been used chiefly by Canadian r.iil (■ermaii surveyors. j Lieutenant William's remark about the smallness of the world caused me to reflect. Recently in Calcutta I was roaming about the Kidderpore Docks I where rows of ships from the seven seas Stretch to right and left on both sides of the uncleanly Hughli. Most of them bore unfamiliar Oriental names. I There was one, the City of Shanghai, which pi ompted mc to pause and clamber iup the gangplank. In his cabin, ducki enclosed legs resting languidly on a settee (a most desirable pastime during la late summer Sunday afternoon in | Calcutta) was Captain' W. L. Butler, j Many New Xealanders will remember

him as the skipper who brought the disabled City of Shanghai into Auckland on the morning of July 31 last year, after his ship had fractured her propeller shaft near a dangerous Pacific atoll three weeks earlier. That should | fro down in maritime history as a fine effort, for throughout the vessel was in danger of going to Davy Jones. Now the skipper was back in familial haunts. 1 lie voyage to Xew Zealand was an odd one sandwiched in between 0 trips out from England through the >- Suez Canal to Bay of Bengal ports. He r. told me that Captain Phillip of the Citv 3 of (ilasgow, the vessel which convoyed :i the City of Shanghai into Auckland, was e now on the Bombay run, in the City of > Agra. 1 j A hill hospital and the grime bespat--11 tered Kiddipore Docks were two places where I met people with New Zealand t associations. The third was at a garden 0 party at Government House in Dars jeeling. f J hese Junctions occur once, or s twice at the most, each year, when the. ii Governor of Bengal is in residence. Oil fi this occasion Sir Robert Reid, the Govt ernor of Assam, was the host. He is '• relieving Lord Brahournc as Governor i, of Bengal, Lord Brahourue beimr ill r Simla as acting-Yiccroy in liis absence - abroad of Lord Linlithgow. 1 : Long Memorie* About four o'clock In the afternoon, r the guests arrived at Government House, either walking or in rickshas, as motor cars are of little use on the poor roads about the hill station. Standing nonchalantly about the gates were a pair of uniformed European police sergeants, revolvers at hips ready for emeigencv (the police have long memories and have not forgotten an attempt on the lite of a former Governor) and plain-clothes Indians of the C.I.D. (.lmrka guards sprang smartlv to the salute as the guests entered the broad lawns fronting Government House. The band played and visitors strolled about chatting here and there with Prime Ministers from other States, rajahs, belltoppered Indian princelings, nawabs, quaintly robed lamas from Tibetan TiioriHstories and cabinot TIIOII heralded by the National Anthem, the Governor and his lady arrived in the grounds and all sat down to aft< •moon tea. Later their Excellencies mingled with their guests and the ceremony was over. It was at this function that T met the Very Rev. Dr. J. A. Graham. C.T.E., honorary superintendent of St. Andrew's Colonial Homes, Kalimpong. I saw him last in Auckland—returned after an absence of 27 years—as he leaned over the rail of the Monterey as she steamed up the Waitemata. Then, with a boyish enthusiasm that belied his venerable years, be had discussed a plan to settle some of tlie boys and girls from the homes in New Zealand. Now he had returned from his mission with his enthusiasm undiminished. Vivid in his memory was the kindliness with which his plan had been received and he was looking forward to the day when boys and girls from the arid plains of India might settle in the beautilful little country "down under".