NARROW ESCAPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 306, 28 December 1939, Page 10

NARROW ESCAPE.

WHEN BOAT OVERTURNED. BROTHERS' HARD SWIM. (From Our Correspondent.) ' WAIHI, Wednesday. Three brothers, residents of Waihi Beach, Messrs. Roger, Patrick and Owen Pope, whose ages range from 22 to 26, were nearly drowned at Waihi Beach on Christmas Day. They set out in a small boat fitted with an outboard motor and sails. The sea was calm when they left, but before they commenced the return journey the wind had risen and a heavy swell met them. The men were unable to make a landing at Waihi Beach and set their course for Bowentown. The bar was found to be impassable and when 300 yards from the shore their craft upset and the three occupants were thrown into the water, j The Pope brothers are strong swimmers and they immediately made for the shore. The strong under-current made their task an extremely difficult one, but they gained their objective in an exhausted condition. Two of them were severely cut and bruised by the rocks, against which they were dashed by the heavy seas. After the three young men had been given first aid by visitors who saw them land, they recovered, and except for the effect of their clash with the rocks thay were none the worse for their adventure. The boat was driven into the Bowentown harbour, where it was recovered on the following day.