EXPLORER'S DEATH

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 308, 29 December 1944, Page 4

EXPLORER'S DEATH

SPECTACULAR CAREER

MINISTER AND DOCTOR

O.C. SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18. Death ended the varied and spectacular career of Dr. Arthur Torrance, 57, British explorer, minister and doctor, whose world wanderings brought him fame and fortune two decades ago and more lately legal difficulties still pending at the time of his fatal heart attack in Huntington Park, in Southern California. Until a few hours before his death the explorer had appeared in good health, although occasionally complaining of a heart disturbance that he did not consfder serious, said his brother. Born in Blackpool, England, Dr. Torrance had a career that listed him in "Who's Who" for many years. Los Angeles knew him well as a student and part-time instructor at the University of Southern California 30 years ago, where he was also a track and football star. Before coming to California he was a student at Rugby, England, and later at the University of London. As a chaplain in World War 1., he had two ships sink under him, and in one sea disaster was credited with saving the personnel by laughing and joking as the ship settled into the water. The crew stepped to lifeboats without panic.

In 1922 he was leader of an expedition to Africa to investigate sleeping sickness. He was in the forefront of the medical group that discovered that the sickness was caused by the bite of the tsetse fiv, and was an intimate of the famed Dark Continent explorer, Trader Horn. Dr. Torrance's research next led him to Borneo to investigate leprosy in 1924. From there he went to the Polynesian Archipelago, to Cochin China, Burma and Siam. and, as late as 1934, headed the Red Cross mission to Ethiopia. Many Times Reported Dead Many times in his travels the stocky, handsome explorer had been reported killed, drowned in cloudbursts, slain by natives, or victim of a tropical disease he sought to isolate and conquer. Although once a minister, he preferred medicine and research as a career after obtaining the certificate of doctor of tropical medicine and health in the London School of Tropical Medicine in 1924. His last public appearances were tragic ones. In 1941 he married Mrs. Adah C. Loveland, wealthy 67-year-old Virginia widow, who was killed in an accident on their honeymoon in Mexico. Questioned at length, Dr. Torrance eventually was convicted of 'negligence" in connection with his wife's death and sentenced to two years in prison. The sentence was never served, however, because he was released under a 1000-dollar bond and permitted to return to Los Angeles, where only a few months ago he was accused of fraud in connection with the cashing of an 800dollar cheque while on the ill-fated honeymoon.

He was to face trial in the Federal Court in Los Angeles on January 16, while Mexican authorities were clamouring for him to return to Mexico immediately to serve his prison' sentence there or forfeit his 1000-dollar bond.