FOOTPRINTS AS CLUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20969, 4 September 1931, Page 10

FOOTPRINTS AS CLUE.

' TRACKS OF MR. ADDIS. DISCOVERY IN CREEK BED. ABOVE MAKATOTE JUNCTION. NARROWING down the search. [BT TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL REPORTER.] THE CHATEAU. Thursday. The puzzle how to locate the place where Mr. Addis says he left Mr. Stanton on that Monday afternoon is exercising the minds of the search parties. The discovery to-day of footprints in the sandy bed of a creek above the junction of the two main branches of the Makatote, coupled with the information already given by Mr. Addis, would appear to bring the solution a little nearer. The discovery was made by a party led by Messrs. Selby and W. Bcever, who went up the Mahuia and down the Makatote streams. The party camped on Wednesday night on the mountain and this morning came down a small stream not marked on the maps, which is a tributary of the north branch of the Makatote. Olear Imprints Seen. "We had two lots of men of seven each combing both banks of this stream," said Mr., Beever. "One of the chaps called us down to see some tracks in the river bed in a sand patch beside a fallen log which bridged the water. I saw four marks of a man's foot. They were just the marks a man in a weak state would make when crossing a stream. We went on down the stream and about two miles further on we again found tracks on the edge of the water. In one case there was no doubt about it whatever. It was clearly the imprint of a man's boot. "I presume they were made by Mr. Addis. I have no doubt, taking what I have seen with what Mr. Addis has described, that Mr. Addis and Mr. Stanton followed the bed of ■ this creek from the place where they left the girls to a spot within half an hour's walk of the fork of the two branches of the Makatote where the base camp is now established. Only Route Possible.

"As a matter of fact I am convinced that was the only course they could take at the pace they did without a slasher. They could not climb the bank on either side because they would exhaust themselves in going 600 yards. You have to go practically on your hands and knees and use a lot of Btrength to get through that thick undergrowth. I am convinced that they did not get more than 40 feet from that creek. If they did they would have to get back to the creek because they would be unable to burst through the scrub in their condition. " Now after leaving Mr. Stanton, Mr. Addis camped for the night not more than half a mile further on and the next morning he would be unable to do more than two miles at the most before he was found just south of the forks. Work back from that and you will find the place near the creek where Mr. Stanton lay when Mr. Addis left him. » Behind a' Tree. " Mr. Addis says he dragged him behind a tree and sheltered him with some branches. That would be on the left side of the creek, and that is why Mr. Stanton has not been found. We have combed all that country but have failed to see him because we have been looking at it from the creek instead of from behind the tree. I am convinced that if you sent six men a yard apart up the bank of that creek you would find him." Mr. Beever said he was amazed at the privations that Mr. Addis endured while struggling through the bush. " What kind of night must he have spent in that, cold without a fire?" he asked, " and what he took on the next day was the worst of all. It would knock any ordinary man out wfyo had had no food for days." Mr. Mulligan's party, which went over the Hauhungatahi above the bush line, is satisfied that Mr. Stanton is not in the high country. Somewhere on the left back of the Makatote they saw footsteps which might have belonged to Mr. Addis or Mr. Stanton. Parties will investigate the theory of Messrs. Beever and Selby to-morrow.' RESCUED RETURN HOME. MR. BELL ALONE REMAINS. GOOD RECOVERY OF MR. ADDIS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] THE CHATEAU. Thursday. All the members of the rescued party, with the exception of Mi - . Graham Bell, have returned to their homes. The last to leave was Mr. Addis, who lias made a remarkable recovery. He still walks with a limp, due to frostbite in th© feet, requires assistance when walking, but otherwise he says he is feeling fine. Mr. Bell took part in (he search for Mr. Stanton to-day. \ REMARKABLE SCENES. TREK TO THE BASE CAMP. ARRIVAL BY TRAIN AND CAR. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Thursday. Remarkable scenes- were witnessed at Petersen's mill, a few miles below the Makatote railway viaduct, in the early hours of this morning when several hundred men assembled and went into the bush to join in the search for Mr. Stanton.

At 3.45 a.m. the Auckland express stopped just south of the viaduct and dropped 167 men from Taumarunui. Shortly afterwards a goods train arrived bringing men from Ohakune and Raetihi. Motor-cars—about 100 of them —brought further men. It was a wonderful examplo of the spirit and sympathy of the King Country people and their desire to assist to the utmost.

Food was taken to the base camp where large fires were lit and benzine tins of hot tea were available throughout the day for the searchers as they arrived wet, cold and weary. THE QUESTION OF COST. STATEMENT BY MR. COBBE. [BY TELEGRArH.; —PRESS ASSOCIATION.'] THE CHATEAU. Thursday. Referring to the cost of the search for the lost climbers, Mr. R. Cobbe, manager of the Chateau, said that so "far no arrangements had been made. He had authorised certain expenses, notably those entailing the establishment of the base camp at Makatote. The searches were bound to involve a tremendous amount of money and he felt that the Government would have to "come to light." Further questioned, Mr. Cobbe said the matter as to who was to pay the wages of the bushrnen and others engaged in the searches had not so far been raised.