STANTON STILL MISSING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 290, 3 September 1931, Page 11

STANTON STILL MISSING

To-day’s Intensive Effort 300 MEN ASSEMBLING Exceptionally Wild Country SLENDER HOPE OF LIFE Dominion Special Service. The Chateau, September 2. Search parties totalling 100 men unsuccessfully combed the Maltatote Gorge up to the Forks, nine miles from the railway line, to-day in the search for Warwick Stanton, the missing member of the party of climbers which was overtaken by a blizzard on Mount Ruapehu on Saturday. Fifty men are remaining in the bush all night. Elaborate arrangements have been made to continue the search to-mor-row. Every man between Taumarunui and Ohakune willing to join in the search has been asked to assemble at ■ the Makatote Viaduct at dawn to-morrow bringing with him food and a change of clothing. Arrangements have been made tor the Auckland express, which reaches the National Park at 3.45, to pick up men from Ohakune and put them down at Makatote. A goods train Is bringing further men up from Ohakune. Every sawmill between these two towns has promised men, and at least 300 searchers are assured. Portion of The Chateau staff is going down by the Auckland express and will establish a base camp and field kitchen at Petersen’s mill.

Slender Hope of Life.

The chances now appear to be against Stanton’s being found alive. He has been out now 122 hours and was in a state of collapse when left by Addis at 3.30 p.m. on Monday. Up to this time he had been the fittest member of the party. His nervous

power, however, appears to have been his driving force and not his physical strength, and it appears that his nerves must have broken down at this time. His collapse may., have only been temporary and he may have recovered after a spelt Hope of this is held out in view of the remarkably fit condition in which the other members of the party were found. -

The Makatote Gorge,' where the gearchers are concentrated, is the wildest section of the National Park. Rocky walls rise sheer from the stream to a height of 150 to 200 feet In places it is impossible to get down to the stream. The party which found Addis heard him crying out from the opposite bank, and tried unsuccessfully for an hour and a half to get across to him. Eventually they had to go two miles further upstream before they could cross. The bush is so dense and lawyer and undergrowth so matted that it is only possible to move through it by cutting a path with slashers. The difficulties facing the searchers may well be imagined, especially if Stanton is too weak to answer their cooees. If he is dead it may be weeks before his body is found. HUMAN ENDURANCE Starvation’s Slow Process CASES OF TENACITY The fact that Warwick Stanton, the ®nly member of the party still missing, had spent foui; nights in the open up to yesterday has raised speculation on the extent of human endurance in the face of exposure and starvation. It is unlikely that Stanton had any food after the light rations shared by .the party on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Starvation is a slower process than most people think, and even when coupled with severe exposure, there are many instances of people surviving for remarkable periods. The tragic death of Captain Scott in the Antarctic in 1912 is perhaps the best known. The party of three were exhausted and enfeebled, b'ut even after they had been reduced to this state they survived another seven days after eating the last of their food. Scott’s diary shows that there was no fuel during this period. The only shelter was a small tent, and temperatures were as low as 70 degrees below zero. In New Guinea in 1911 an exploring party led by Staniforth Smith lost its provisions in a river, and the members had no food for five and a half days. On the last day of this fast they travelled 20 miles to the haven of a native village. On another occasion the party marched seven days, the only food being a few handfuls of soup powder, and a few tins of cocoa. These privations were, of course, endured in tropical conditions, and the additional hardship of icy weather was not experienced. Most remarkable was the adventure of an English nurse, Mrs. M. Warburton, in British Columbia five years ago. Although 4G years of age, she was a lover of long outdoor tramps, and she set out on a 70-mile trail between the towns of Hope and Princeton. Expecting to make the journey in three days, she carried a pack containing half a pound of bacon, a quarter of a pound of chocolate, two ounces of almonds, four cakes of rye crisp, and cheese and raisins. She missed the track and wandered for 23 days. Her provisions, with the ex- ' ccption of the raisins and the almonds, were lost while she was fording a stream. A blizzard raged for three days. After the fifteenth day she rationed herself to 12 raisins a day until she was found. Two young Wellington trumpets, Messrs. R. Diedrich and D. Scan'on, were almost given up for lost, in April, 1927, when they were missing in. the Tararuas for a fortnight. Although never subjected to starvation, they had to ration their provisions and at one period an onion was the only food they had for two days. They were fortunate in finding food supplies left by a search party, and eventually they walked into Levin.