TRAGEDY FEARED

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 132, 5 June 1923, Page 8

TRAGEDY FEARED

|MAL& BOATS CAUGHT IN ii .. L. STORM J ... :\i ONE STOL MISSING SIOOND LOSS NARROWLY ':} "■•,■ - AVERTED. .' V■ ■ .■ j ■ I* It is feared that 'Wellington Harbour j}aa added another tragedy to the toll 'of fatalities connected with, boating activities. A small boat containing two -£oung 'irienC put out" from'the Petone Soaoh yesterday morning; and apparently got caught in the 'storirf'. which ;£roke later in the morning. Nothing has i*ince been heard of them, and the coast ;3s being searched by the Petone and SSasfboufn'e /police;, las well .as; ;by ■ other 'parties. ' '•*" Strangely enough, while inquiries were made in connection with this ;&atter: this : nipping' it % transpired. that ;two youths, who had gone* out in a punt Jvrhich had capsized in Evans,.Bay, i were picked up by a launch yesterday after--abon after they had clung to the upturned boat for a couple of hours, and were in an exhausted condition. It was at first thought that the two liuppemngs inferred to the one boat and the two young men, but further inquiries elicited the information that the happenings had no connection with, one , another, ■ .and .that one had nearly resulted in tragedy, and.the other may have done so. :';',: OUT IN A 10 FOOT DINGHY. . '5 The boat which left Petone. beach proceeded from the west end, and contained John Alexander Wornall. who resides with his parents in Adelaide street, P.etone, and George Patrick Wade, whose parents residj in Woodville. The fovjier is 18 years of age, and the latter about 21. The boat was a 10ft dinghy, ffihe. intention of the pair Was to'proceed jtpwards Somes Island for the purpose of flshingi' ■ (It was after they had been, 'gone some time that the..,violent .win,, j&d wind storm struck the city . and 'suburbs, and a very heavy' sea was raiser! in the harbour. Sinc-Tthen there' 'h:as been no sign o{ the missing:boat"or; its occupants. The caretaker at the island has thoroughly searched the shores, tmt found'no trace of the missing men ;pr the boat. The police were advised of ;the occurrence last evening, but in the : !inky darkfiess and tvtdrin it ,wapi impos-. elble- for them to do anything,, except search the coast line, and iiope that the boat • would be driven ashore. This 'ttiorning the search was continued, but ;tvithout result. It Was thought that there was a chance of the boat or-the occupants reaching Ward Island, but .■whether they had done so was not ascersainable; early this afternoon. 'i). AN- EXCITING.' RESCUE. '?'Tho names of the two young men who „were rescued were not ascertained. It appears that they 'put off in a small 'frat-bottomed punt from Balena Bay, in IJvans.'Ba'y/j afid .jyhercthe stcifm struck jdiem they;'l weter;-capsized. Soth,- : managed ;,tp" wing™,.tS";the Jboat, End-Sid so for some"two'nburs, ' g'fo'wing 'more and' jfiore exhausted rby the .very cold water 'jattd the buffettirig of-the wavesi"' 'Tie jwind and the -drifti.carried-lihe'mout .it iEvans Bay and past Somes Island. It jjras at this stage that the launch ReSolution, owned by Mr. W. J. H. Tonks, jwas-Ee«n by, : those in ;the water,"-'.about . Half ..a ..mile . away,., hut. the,, capsized .Ijoat was not seen, and'the frantic'calls of the two did not carry in the storm, i&fr., Tonks at the time was taking a small party out to experience launching in a storm. Aa the weather became Rougher the little vessel turned for the Boat Harbour, and it wis after'- this iihat r the overturned puntjwas seen! In jfche meantime another launch had passed fairly close to the upturned boat and Jiad not seen it. ,:....:\' ■fj Mr. Tonks was the t only one outside lon the Eflßolutionji^heipassengers-hav-iiig taken cover-'iaj/ the/ cabin. The ikunch was p.u^'t^ull's.p leed ahead, .and reached the*men"^in-the'.water. In the ifcugh sea' whloh/ was .-'running it was found a'.task'-:of..,th&;; TgreateEt difficulty |b get the . riigrl^ouf Jbf "the water 1, but ihis was finely "' The older "di'.th'e'tWoT^-aged about 19— then collapsed,.Vand'it,was feared .for a time that it would be impossible to revive him.- -Both ; were stripped and Rubbed ..down in' the, cabin, the lady jjassenger3;r'shedding their overcoats, used to enable the two suf-ferers-'ti' regain warmth, and going out thto ■ the storm while the -men worked on the exhausted youths. Oh the two - !JhoWing A .signs'; flf. re,coyering, IJhe., launch ,ityaa. headed -iov the Boat Harbour, where old clothes were procured, and Mr. ..took ; .them .to. ...their,-respective . homes in his car. ' ' The actual spot where the youths' ,were- picked up.-was between Somes Island and Ngauhaurahga. .Had they not Leen seen, and had" they, continued the drift in the direction in which ■ they were making, they- 1 "would- not havo reached the shore some '.three, miles away, for a considerable time, r"and"it is doubt-" ful whether either would have survived. ; - . This afternoon it "was-reported a boat, had been picked up at Day's Bay, but" did not answer to the description of the one missing from Petone-, which was painted white. > ' , ,-..- ;. ■'.