A WOMAN'S ORDEAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19857, 30 January 1928, Page 8

A WOMAN'S ORDEAL.

FALL OVER STEEP. BANK. MANY HOURS ON ROCKS, DISCOVERY AFTER A SEARCH. £by telegraph.—own cob respondent. ]' 4 CHRISTCHURCH, Saturday. Bruised and scratched and suffering from the shock of a fall down a steep bank, Mrs. E. Hempstalk, a Lyttelton woman, aged 73, lay on the rocks 800 yards from the Diamond Harbour Jetty from about 5.30 last evening until one o'clock this morning, while search parties scoured the neighbourhood. Mrs. Hempstalk, who lives at Salt's Gully, Lyttelton, spent the afternoon at Diamond Harbour with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. R. Hempstalk, and in her anxiety not to miss the ferry launch to Lyttelton at 5.30 p.m., the elder woman was hurrying along some distance in front of the younger. She got off the beaten track and, slipping on the pine needles, was precipitated over a steep bank, receiving several cuts and bruises. The shock of the fall was so great as to render her incapable of calling for help. When the younger woman reached the jetty she was surprised to find that Mrs. Hempstalk was missing. She ran back to look for her, but an hour's search was fruitless and by this time the 6.30 p.m. boat, the Jast that evening, had left for Lyttelton. Mr. Hempstalk was communicated with by telephone from Godley House and after procuring a special boat and a search party of about a dozen- people he set out for Diamond Harbour. On arrival the party was joined by about 20 residents of Diamond Harbour. A search over a radius of a mile or more failed to find the missing woman and she was not discovered until one o'clock this morning, when the son of Mr. Paine, of Godley House, found her lying on the rocks. On arrival at Lyttelton, Mrs. Hempstalk was given medical attention and was progressing satisfactorily this morning. Frank Coffey, a Lyttelton man, who was a member of the search party, fell over a declivity about 10ft. high, in the darkness and received a deep gash in the back of his head. He also had to have medical attention and is confined to his bed to-day.