MAN AND BOY MISSING

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27851, 27 December 1955, Page 8

MAN AND BOY MISSING

Death By Drowning Feared SWEPT FROM HORSE IN RIVER (New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, December 26. A man and a boy are believed to have been drowned in the lower Hoilyford Valley about 5.30 p.m. on Christmas Day. They are. David Gunn, aged 68, a station owner of Martins Bay/and one of the best-known men of the Southland and Otago back country. Warren William Shaw, aged 12, a son of Mr and Mrs J. Shaw, of Seacliff Village.

They are thought to have been crossing the Hollyford river on horseback when the horse stepped into a holi. and they were swept away by the rapid-flowing river. There were four . persons in the party, which was packing stores to one of the huts on the tourist tracks operated by Mr Gunn. When Mr Gunn's companions saw the accident, one left for the nearest jiut and drove a jeep to Te Anau, arriving in the early hours of this morning. Word was sent to Invercargill, a search party was organised quickly, and men under Sergeant E. H. Clark, of the Invercargill police, left for the area.

Late to-night the search party reached Hidden Falls hut. three hours and a half tramp from the end of the lower Hollyford Valley road. There, the party camped for the night and expects to reach the scene of the accident early tomorrow morning, setting up a base camp at Pyke Hut. four hours further down the valley. Mr J. Shaw, the boy’s father, left Seacliff immediately on receipt of the news and joined the search party. The search party, which consists of members of the Southland Search and Rescue Organisation, is equipped with radio and has set up a base station on the divide between the Eglinton and Hollyford Valleys. Tourist Development Mr Gunn is probably best remembered for the development of tourist tracks in the country between the Eglinton and Hoilyford Valleys and Martins Bay and Big Bay. and between these bays and Lake Wakatipu. He did not open the tracks, but made them available to tourists by erecting huts and providing guides and horses for the longer journeys. He made a remarkable journey in the 1936-37 holiday season t) summon help for the five occupants of an aircraft which crashed at Big Bay on December 30, 1936. He made the trip from Big Bay to the Public Works establishment at Camp on foot, in 21 hours. Experienced trampers took between three and four days on the same journey. A stone plaque in a cairn at Marian Camp commemorates his journey, which was recognised as a magnificent feat of endurance. In addition to his tourist business, Mr Gunn had a cattle run with between 500 and 600 head of cattle at Martins Bay. He took over the run originally from members of the McKenzie family. Most years he brought a mob of cattle down to Southland for sale, a drive of 180 miles.

Mr Gunn was the victim’ of a serious accident in September, 1950. when he fell over a 300 ft cliff in the Darran Range. He landed on a ledge only 12 feet below the brink, dazed and bruised and suffering considerable pain. He spent the night on the ledge before he was discovered.

Mr Gunn is survived by his wife, one son. Mr Murray Gunn, of Invercargill. and two daughters. Mrs I. Findlay, of Christchurch, and Mrs I. Parlane, of Tawa Flat.

TWO BROTHERS KILLED

CAR SKIDS OVER BANK (New Zealand Press Association) NAPIER, December 24. Two brothers were killed and another man injured when a car plunged over a bank of the Takapau-Ormond-ville road in Central Hawke’s Bay at 11.50 p.m. on Friday. The men killed were: Maurice Martin Mouat, aged 31 years, single, of Takapau, and Sidney Raymond Mouat, single, aged 36, also of Takapau. The injured man is Mr Ivan Smith, married, with a family of young children, of Takapau. He suffered severe bruises to the head. The car was cornering on a down grade when the lights on the vehicle failed. The driver applied the brakes, but the vehicle skidded over a 60ft bank and rolled over four times. The men were thrown out through the faerie hood. The Mouat brothers operated a transport business from Takapau.

MAN KILLED IN COLLISION

FAMILY INJURED (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND. December 26. A man has died and three members of his family are in the Whangarei Hospital as the result of a collision between two cars at Maungatapore. near Whangarei. on Saturday. The man who died was Clive Willis Dent, aged 51. a carpenter. of Kara, near Whangarei. He was admitted to hospital with head injuries, and died yesterday. His wife, Mrs Barbara Dent, aged 43. suffered a fractured skull, and their two children. Peter, aged eight, and Len. aged six, suffered concussion and lacerations. .Miss Gwen Flynn, aged 23. of 341 rhe Terrace. Wellington, was admitted to hospital with concussion and a fractured left hand. The Dent family was in one car and Miss Flynn was a passenger in a car driven by Mr Maurice Adrian Wright, of Tokoroa. Mr Wright was not injured.

MAN DROWNED IN WAIKATO RIVER

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND. December 26. A man was drowned in the Waikato river at Mercer shortly after 6 p.m on Friday. He was: Patrick O’Shea, aged 24. who was em ployed in cable-laying for the Post and Telegraph’ Department on the Great South road between Pokeno and Mercer. The body was not recovered until 8 a.m. today. Mr O’Shea was an Irishman and had been in New Zealand for only two months.

MOTORCYCLIST DIES OF INJURIES

A motor-cyclist, Jack Gcbbie, aged 22, of Woodend, died in the Christchurch Public Hospital on Saturday morning from injuries he suffered when he fell from his motor-cycle at Ohoka on Friday night.