Delirious Boy's Strange Adventure

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 189, 12 August 1936, Page 4

Delirious Boy's Strange Adventure

Jumps Through Glass Of Window and Disappears

ALL-NIGHT SEARCH BY LARGE PARTY Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Last Night. Delirious with lutiucnza, Milton John Double, the nine-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. L. Double, of Avondale, jumped through tuo glass of a window at about 11.3 Uon Monday night and in spite of an extensive searcu oy neiguoours and the police was not found until 6.30 this morning, when he was discovered asleep under a hedge. Ho was subsequently admitted to tho Auckland Hospital suffering from pneumonia. The boy returned home from school on Monday afternoon suffering from influenza and was put to bed, but Mrs. Double did not consider his condition serious. He showed no signs of delirium, but at 11.30 Mr. and Mrs. Double were aroused by loud noises in the bathroom, “it sounded like two men fighting, but then 1 heard a crash of glass anu the sound of familiar footsteps which 1 recognised as those of Milton running round to the front of the house,” said Mrs. Double. The boy had evidently left his bed without disturbing his older brother who was sleeping iu the same room, gone through to the back of the house and had made a noise in the bathroom when climbing on to the ledge by the window. In breaking the window, which is about six feet from the ground, ho cut his arm slightly. The neighbours were aroused and within a short time between 20 and 30 people were engaged in a search for the missing boy. Owing to tho difficult nature of the country which had many trees with dense undergrowth, glasshouses and orchards, little progress could be made. Arrangements were made with tho Auckland Electric Bower Board to have the street lights switched on, and in y.ddition one of the board’s trucks fitted with a powerful spotlight combed the loads in the district. Several'residents used their cars, some covering over 50 miles iu the night, and the polico patrol assisted until about 4.30. Toward dawn it was realised that nothing could be done in the dark and tho search was halted until daylight. At 6.30 the boy was found only a few hundreds yards from his home sleeping under a hedge where he was covered by long grass. He might have been passed unnoticed many times during the night. When ho left home he was wearing only pyjamas, but he apparently entered :t shed on a neighbour’s property, climbed on to a bench and took a pair of old trousers which no was wearing -when found. After examination by a doctor he was taken to tho hospital in an ambulance. His condition to-night was reported to bo not serious.