GALLANT RESCUES BY NATIVE LADS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LIV, Issue 9025, 3 November 1925, Page 5

GALLANT RESCUES BY NATIVE LADS

ViMKAHK-S SAVED after STKEN nous STRUGGLE. \ native picnic at Pauepane on <iuicla- v last had a tragic ending. men)be >• of the party was drownj aS ilir result of a boat capsizißg and only the splendid gallery of two Maori lads preventj P). flier loss of lilt*. The hcro- • jjj o i‘ ihe.-e lads was typical of jj,. i, v si :raditions of the native ( , and is well worthy of inves-p.-afieii and due recognition by iht- pro;") authorities. It appears put eigi)' persons left liaugiwaea : üBl a ffr dinner to go to Paneall(.| uhe’ll is separated from K,ued ,v;l( ' a by the Otapu Chanutp v.'liifh is nearly a miie in vimlth at full tide and in places verv deep. The natives, with the except ion of the man who was drowned, were all young people, rau f dne in age from nine to twenty years. The party crossed the channel in a small dinghy about gft 6in long, making two trips. They left on the return journey to Rangiwaea about six o’clock, the wbcle party of eight crowding into the small boat. The tide was then making and whs about threequarters in. The wind was blowju,/ against the tide, thus making a choppy sea. When the boat was about half-way across certain, of the occupants became apprehensive of the seaworthiness of the small craft. Two of the occupants agreed to get out in order to lighten the load and; ou these, two doing so the boat turned over and filled, but did not sink. The native, Tuiawhio Patera, was noticed swimming for the shore, but failed to reach it and sank. Two girls, twelve years and eighteen years old, respectively, held on to the boat, A native lad named Hipixinl Morehu, aged seventeen years, after .some difficulty, managed to discard all his clothing, and took tho rope attached to the craft in his teeth, thus towing it with the two girls clinging to it. As may well iae imagined the lad’s task in the lumpy sea called for great courage and strength but he stuck to it tenaciously and after half-an-hour’s strenuous battling he managed to reach shallow water, he himself being thoroughly exhausted. A stalwart native, named William Wright, who was on shore, was apprised of the accident and ran down (o the shore, waded out Ecr some distance and went to the aid of Hipirini Morehu, getting him and tho two girls safely ashore. The girls were greatly exhausted after their trying ordeal, and one of them vomited considsrably. Another of the occupants : of tho boat, a lad of fifteen years, named Tenson Tawhiti, displayed great heroism in saving his young brother, Tivva Tawhiti, nine years of age. Tenson swam with one arm, holding his younger brother up with the other, and eventually got to tho shore in a very exhausted state after swimming for a considerable distance. Two other girls who were in the boat were good Swimmers and reached safety after a long swim. The conduct of the lads, Hipirini Morehu and Tenson Tawhiti, is deserving of the highest commendation. It -seems that Hipirini Morehu, in addition to the magnificent part he played in the rescue, also directed other members of the party as to what to do as soon as the boat capsized, mid altogether this boy seems to mwe used his intelligence in the hour of peril) in a way that few adults would have. The valour of two boys is + he outstanding mature of the sad occurrence and naturally (be 'natives are proud of the bravery that was displayed by _ as -fs named. Tho boys are sons of well-known Matakana nahves. who in former days were oofablo athletes, and bad a repuwjon on local football fields as 'idliaip exponents of the Rugby fho s!ory of the hoys’ hero- ’ ;v ‘ v fur many a day not' '* f ' > m (he mu ive settlements at I Island but with the j '’‘‘■opeam r f (bis district. Cons!: l ' !.• (.'iilTord proceeded to * 'tukana Lhuid care.' yesterday 'tt he’* <'d da. native? in the I’m- iR,. }„,V ii p av _ Tho mioris 'cn'M-ed the locality and ‘Vfuvnt be.iebos on foot, on horse- 1 ■ ,uid in hoars, ’'nit up to a ! ’V" boar vcpfcrd-n- afternoon, t Con.a-dir C" : '” -d left on j pyionim ♦ • Ta” l ;’- fbe hodv "mi not ' - re-va. l‘. ' J die father of several of j ’ds of the l>oat, came | im> Mt( akana to Tauranya ;J la 'p DnUnj the island I,fJ, d T a.in,. Up (o that time |