MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 81, 5 April 1919, Page 2

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES

(United Press Association)

DUNEDIN,' April 4. ■ I'd _ the coarse of the inquiry into the disappearance of ■ tho #fcfcaer : -MohW Irpm the Maori, it was stated that a returned soldier named Mason reported to the purser on January 27th that a man named Burn* had leaped overboard. The RJniion hie sjhowd sthait Majsoai; made (the report about midnight, and that the purser reported the matter to -Captain Cameron, who’.at, once turned the ship rouhd and then interviewed Mason. Others Were also . djntervieAvpd. The captain had a doubt about the story, and, as the night was ctorjf apd the wind fresh from the south and the sea choppy, the ship -was put on her course rtgain. With’ so mVny passengers, it was hard to dud whether one 'had gone. 'twu or three, passenger's who were on deck at the time saw nothing. To the captain, _ Mason said the lost man was wearing an overcoat, and to the police at Lyttelton, he said, the mah had no overcoat. Prom these and other discrepancies it .-was thought that Mason. 1 , who was suffering from shell shock, might have - imagined the story. Subsequently ,however, a suitcase bearing. the initials “B.BT was found in a cabin. There had been no request to the military for an inquiry. The Court adjourned till next Wednesday,