MANY DROWNING ACCIDENTS

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 105, 29 January 1924, Page 8

MANY DROWNING ACCIDENTS

yiCTIMS MOSTLY BATHERS DOUBLE FATALITY AT WHAKATANE By Telegraph—Press Association. Whakatane, Januaiw 28. A sad drowning accident occurred at midday yesterday, when Haydn Ansell, aged ten, and Carl Cremer, aged eight, lost their lives. They were out in a boat on tho river near the freezing works, and it is surmised that the boat got adrift, and in their alarm they jumped overboard to get ashore. Neither could swim, and the inevitable happened. No one saw the accident. ■The bodies were recovered . by- the police at 4 o’clock this morning. CONSTABLE DROWNED AT DUNEDIN — h»'L i .1 • Dunedin, January 28. Police Constable' Martin Gordon Smart, a single man, aged 26, who joined the force in December. 1923, and had been continuously stationed in Dunedin, was found in fixe harbour this morning. For the past week he had been on night duty, his beat including the wharvles. 'He was seen at 1.25 a.m. by a night-watchman, when he appeared to be normal, and at 1.45 Sergeant Dunlop, who expected to meet him on the wharf, found no trace of him. The body was found in the water some distance from Victoria Wharf. It is surmised that the deceased tripped and fell into the harbour. : 'THREE-YEAR-OLD BOY’S FATE Tauranga, January 28. 'A three-year-old boy, Lewis Neves, son of Mr. and Mrs. Neves, of Cox Street, ’Heme Bay, Auckland, who are on a visit here, was drowned in the Waitoa, a small river about eight miles from Tauranga, yesterday afternoon. The party was out picnicking, and the lad was playing about with his five-year-old brother, when he was missled. On a search being made, his hat was found floating in the river. 'An uncle, Arthur Padlie, dived and recovered the body, but an hour’s effort failed to resuscitate the boy. MOLYNEUX CLAIMS STILL ANOTHER VICTIM Dunedin, January 28. Leslie Gibson Marwick, a deck hand on the river steamer Clutha, was drowned while bathing in the Molyneux River at Balclutha on Saturday. Tho deceased and John Thompson, another deck hand, were bathing together. The latter, seeing the deceased in trouble, tewed him nearly to tho bank, when Marwick grasped his wrists, and -Thompson had to free himself. Procuring a life belt from a man on the bank, Thompson returned, but-Marwick had sunk. The body has. not yet been recovered. YOUTH DROWNED IN LAKE Hamilton, January 28. A drowning accident occurred at Horseshoe Lake, near Frankton, on Sunday afternoon, when a youth, Robert Leighton, aged 17, a son of Mr. K. Leighton, of Frankton, lost his life. Leighton was swimming with other lads at the lake. He became separated from his companions, who were occupied in launching an old boat. Leighton disappeared without warning. His clothes were found on the lake-side where he undressed, and it was concluded that he was drowned. His body was recovered this morning. MAN DROWNED IN WATER RACE . Hamilton, January 28.. While taking his customary daily bathe in'the water race of the Horahora power-house on Sunday morning, a labourer named Albert Tomlin, about 40 years of age, was drowned. He was alone at the-time, so no one saw him disappear. The body was later recovered. Deceased was . a married man. He lived with his wife and two children near the power-house extension construction works, where be was employed. He was a recent arrival from England. ; BOATING FATALITY Auckland, January 28. Alfred Patrick Doolan, aged 36, a married man, was drowned while crossing the Tamaki Rivter on Saturday evening. He was rowing a friend, Owen Lewis, across to a camp, when he took a spell. An oar fell overboard. and Doolan dived after it. His companion saw him wading ashore, but when this boat drifted to land, he found that Doolan had disappeared. His body was subsequently found in shallow water. CHILD DROWNED IN SHEEP x DIP New Plymouth, January 28. The police received information that Gordon Old, a child about two years old, and the adopted son of a settler named Spence, at Waikawa, north of Awakino, -was drowned in a sheep-dip on Saturday. At the inquest a verdict of accidental death was returned.