CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9400, 5 January 1894, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

j THE LATE ACCIDENT AT ST. | HELIERS BAY. TO THE EDITOR. 'j m Sir, have been awaiting some intimation (j in the newspapers of recognition by the l Auckland Humane Society (I believe this 3 city possesses such a body) of the gallant I efforts of the young men William George, of 3 Parnell, aud Robert Crawford, the St. j Hellers Bay coach-driver, to save the little , boy Holt, who was unfortunately drowned at j St. Heliers Bay last week. Brave acts should not be suffered to sink j unmarked into oblivion, if only for the sake j of preserving alive that spirit of dauntless . valour which without thought of self gives fc of its utmost to save a fellow-creature from 3 death. I That the poor child's life was not saved was no fault of his intrepid would-be saviours. , The young men themselves have the satisfaction of knowing that as soon as the boy's P drowning condition came to their knowledge, , they failed in nothing that could contribute 1 bo his rescue, but to this reward should accrue ' also that general recognition of which plucky, ' unselfish deeds are worthy. * lam only a visitor in Auckland, and do * not know the young men of whom I write, * beyond having spoken to the yatchsman George after the event; but I was a witness 7 of a part of the incidents of the fatality, and the snare George and Crawford bore in them, ' and 1 wish to give my testimony to their devoted conduct, and then leave it to those who * award the laurels to humane deeds to decide 8 whether Mich acts do not merit the same » acknowledgment as if the unsparing exertions had been crowned with success. What I did not see myself, I gathered en the spot at the time of the accident. The youth, Vercoe, who not being able to swim, had tried to save the boy by extending his foot and then his rod for the child to e catch hold of, finding that the drowning lad, i was floating away with the tide, which was i just on the turn outwards, run up the a ladder to the pier and gave the alarm. But a in the meanwhile valuable time had been . lost. The yachtsman, George, himself only a 0 slim youth of about 15 or 16 years of age, was .- on the pier. Hearing the alarm and looking - out over the water he could see the child r being carried out to sea. Without a s moment's hesitation he jumped standing into i the water, though he knew sharks were e about, and a large one had been seen close 1 to the pier the day before. He overtook the 1 boy about half-way between the pier and the i next point of land beyond St. Heliers— , considerable distance out. Seizing the little s lad and holding him up. though weighted . with his own clothes and those of his burthen, which, said young George afterwards, " kept pulling me dorm," he shouted for a boat to come to his aid, as the tide was too strong * for him to swim against with the child. But, 3 said he in the conversation referred to above, 1 "it was the sharks I was afraid of." Yet, be it noticed, not for one moment did 3 he let go his hold of the boy or try to save '• himself without him, as he might well have e been excused for doing, realising so strongly °' as he did his great danger from those 3 monsters of the deep. He thought he saw » signs of life in the child and continued to °, hold him up and call for a boat. r The first dingy that those who responded '' to His cries put _ out got swamped, then jj another one was tried, but there were no oars ° to bo found, they being always removed from ® the boats. At last a piece of board was torn » up from somewhere and made to serve as & '•' paddle. With all this delay and inadequate > equipment, it mav be imagined how long a time elapsed before young George and his unconscious burden were reached and got into the dingy by Macdonald, who had r paddled it out to the rescue—some 15 or 20 e minutes. 3 Then another difficulty arose. With the e outflow of the tide they could not get the boat e back again to shore without oars. The piece j of wood which had served as a propeller with a the tide, was of no use whatever against it, e and the dingy was slow ly drifting away. e At this moment the St. Heliers Bay coach 3 drove into the village. Crawford, the driver, ~ hearing the critical state of affairs, grasped 1} the situation at once, lef this coach, ran up the > pier, stripped, seized an oar, which had been ■'. found iu the meantime, and jumped straight into the water, braving the sharks as young George had done, and was half-way between i the pier and the drifting dingy, swimming i rapidly, when the steamboat from Auckland appeared on the scene o.vd went out to the j assistance of all, though by the time it reached I the boat Crawford was in it with the oar, and nothing was left to be done but to take the c little lad on board and on to town for medical „ aid to supplement the efforts that those in " the dingy were making to resuscitate life in the apparently dead body of the child, all which efforts however most sadly proved un--7 availing. The boy was delicate and had been J too long in the water, though "if the dingy * had only arrived sooner," young George said, "I think he could have been saved." "He was such a pretty little fellow," he continued regretfully. "I saw him going up the pier » just before the accident; he stopped to ask !" me-if I had got any fish." 1 Before many of the passengers on the 1 steamboat had reached the shore the gallant coach driver had dressed and was on his coach, and nearly out of sight on his way 1 back to Auckland, having time to make up J which he had lost in his brave efforts to aid in saving the child's life. Young George, only a lad himself, was considerably exhausted for some time after » his long durance in the water, and the strain of * holding the boy up against the tide, and the 1 sinking weight of the clothes of both; but he * did not seem to regard his efforts as anything ? beyond -ordinary, though that was not the 6 opinion of many of the witnesses, one of ' whom walked about in the neighbourhood of 3 the pier long afterwards uttering his admira3. tion aloud, the refrain being always, " Well, 1 well, he had ought to be give something, if ib 3 was only a bit o' coloured ribbon to wear, r just to acknowledge what he done." 3 >' ? "Coloured ribbon" is somewhat perish--1 able, but the sentiment I fully endorse in " regard to both the young men, who made 1 such resolute and disinterested exertions to 8 savethe life of a little child, whom neither of " them, I believe, had seen before that morn--3 ing. .Of the authors of such deeds, it seems 3 to me, that Auckland may well be proud.— 3 I am, etc., Mary H. Alexander. ' January 4. '