OVER HUKA FALLS

Evening Post, Issue 17, 20 July 1936, Page 10

OVER HUKA FALLS

MAN SWEPT FROM LEDGE

DEATH PRESUMED

(By Telegraph—Press Association.)

ROTORUA, This Day

Swept from a rocky ledge while endeavouring to fill a kerosene tin with water. Arthur Hodgson, of Rotorua, aged about 28, a married man with two children, is believed to have lost his life after being carried over the famous Huka Falls near Taupo on Saturday.

Although there were n_o eye-witnesses of the actual happening it is understood that Hodgson attempted to fill the tin from the fast-running waters about 200 yards above the fall by kneeling on a ledge about a foot above the level of the rapids, and that the- force of the current caused him to lose his grip.

Hodgson was employed on a contract for the erection of a new power-house to supply electricity to the Wairakei Hotel. The foreman of the work, W. Cunningham, and another employee, T. Leonard, when crossing the bridge a moment after the tragedy, saw the unfortunate man struggling to reach the bank, but his efforts were unsuccessful and he was swept over the main fall, the two men being powerless to assist.

An extensive search was immediately commenced. The Taupo and Rotorua police assisted a number of men, but although Hodgson's hat and coat were found two miles below the fall no trace of the body had been seen up to early this morning.