EGMONT TRAGEDY

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 June 1927, Page 5

EGMONT TRAGEDY

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. (Per Preus Association.) HAhVERA, June 24. The inquest on the death of F. H. Latham and Noel Arthur Baines, on jMoiint Egmont early in May, was held before Mr A. E. Andreson, J.P., Kapohga, Acting-Coroner. Messrs AV. R. •Butler, R. AV. *J. McNeill, M. H. Kendall and A. Mugridge comprised the jury. Mr AV. A. Izard appeared for the relatives of the deceased, and Sergt •Henry conducted the proceedings. Sergt. Henry outlined the occur: rence, following which William Dennis Allen was put in the box. AVitness related how he and the other members of ,the party had set out to make the asceht. They had hoped to return to DaWson Falls the same evening. The party had travelled light, taking only one knapsack. They found steps made by a previous party, and found no difficulty in following them. Everything was in order, but Baines was out of training. They reached the summit without mishap. After a spell of 20 minutes they commenced the descent. ■None of the party felt nervous about coming down, although it was realised tha it would be harder. Taylor was .the first to go down. He was followed ;by Baines, Alien, and Latham in that order. Afer about 40 minutes in descending an accident occurred, Baines missing his footing. “We were able to hold his weight, but -Air Taylor fell over backwards,” said witness, who described how the party slipped until it reached a. bump on the ledge of the Coulior, down which they slid. As soon as the party stopped, witness got up and cut the rope round his body. The rope was somewhat twisted round the other tharee. All were practically unconscious, although none lay perfectly where the scrub was up to his shoula big wound in his forehead. Witness got no reply from him. Taylor raised himself on his elbow and tried, without success, to say something. Baines was lying with his head down the slope. AVitness picked him up, and turned his head so that he lay with his head uphill. He realised (he could do nothing, so he started off for the Mountain House. Following steps in the ice for some distance, and sliding the rest, he crossed the plateau be tween Fantham's Peak and the Main Peak, and commenced going down the ridge from the former. By this time a mist had come up nearly to Fantham Peak, and he could not find the track. He crossed from one ridge to the other, but by the time he reached \vheer the scrub was up to his shoulders, he had not found the track. It was then dark. He managed to make his way down Kapuni Gorge, which he located by the sound of water. He travelled along the river bed until he struck Wilson’s Pool, where he knew the track crossed the liver, lie then followed the track to the Mountain House, reaching the latter about 7.45. He was too.late to give Guide Murphy any directions, as the guide already had started out for the summit. He did not think Latham was dead when witness left for the hostel.

To Mr Izard, witness said lie had cut the rope once. There was no place that he could have taken the others to. They were lying on the most level place. James Patrick Murphy, custodian of the hostel, said he had informed Latham of the mountain ice and snow, and advised them that if it were hard not to attempt to climb the peak, but to stop at Fantham. Latham agreed to this. Next morning the party left in fine weather. It was fine until one o’clock, when a mist arrived. There being no return of the party at six o’clock, he, and his assistant set out for the summit; finding blood marks on the snow, but no trace.of the missing men. A search party was soon got out, and the missing men were found at three o’clock in the morning. The body of Latham was 200 feet above Fan.lham’s Peak. There was no sign of Baines. Six hundred feet up, witness found traces of the first slide. Taylor and Latham were roped together. Baines crawled from the loop rope. On Friday morning Baines was found down the Pnncho Gorge. To Mr Henry : Witness said there were plenty of ice axes at the hostel, but on the day of the accident he lent two to the party. To the jury : Witness said he had no authority to prohibit climbing in bad weather. Latham must have lost his axe, or he would have been able to pull the party up. Dr Sinclair gave evidence as to finding the bodies. In his opinion, Baines bled to death. Evidence was given,by James Edwin Bannister and Constable O’Donoghue. The verdict was one of accidental death, no blame being attachable to anyone, the verdict commending all the searchers.