Two Dunedin Girls Shelter in Empty Whare

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 145, 22 June 1939, Page 3

Two Dunedin Girls Shelter in Empty Whare

DISCOVERY BY SEARCH PARTY DUNEDIN, June IS. A somewhat uncomfortable night was spent by two young girls who set out at three o’clock on Saturday afternoon to climb to the top of tho Flagstaff. Their failure to return home by a late hour caused considerable anxiety in their homes, and they were reported to the police as missing shortly before two o’clock this morning. No real fears for the girls’ safety need have been entertained, however, as, having lost their way in some gorsc as darkness was falling, they very wisely took shelter for the night in an empty whare, where they were found about oue o ’clock this morning by a search party. The two girls were Margaret Anne O’Connell, aged 20, of St. Hilda, and Patience Sutherland, aged 17, also of St. Hilda. While'they were vralking on the mountain darkness fell suddenly and with it the temperature. They were lucky at this juncture to come upon an empty hut. The girls gained an entry by breaking a window and made themselves as comfortable as they could for tho night by lighting a fire and making toast with some bread they found in a cupboard. They were able to gain some sleep and when they were found in tho morning seemed none the worse for their experience.