AN ARDUOUS QUEST.

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

AN ARDUOUS QUEST.

DAYLIGHT TO DA£K. WORK 'OF THE SEARCHERS. HVE HUNDRED AVAILABLE. PENETRATING THE BUSH. FEATS OF ENDURANCE. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] THE CHATEAU, Thursday. A long, tiring and fruitless search Was made for Mr. Warwick Stanton on the' bush slopes of Euapehu to-day. A huge army of men numbering nearly 500 combed the almost inaccessible country of the upper reaches of the Makatote from daylight to - <Lark .under . inconceivably difficult and ■ arduous' Conditions. ' The net result was the discovery .of a number of human footprints which may be those of Mr. Stantun, but, which might as likely be those of Mr. Harold Addis, wfco was found in . the Makatote Valley on Tuesday. ■. Much 1 as those engaged in the rescue work would like to hope for the best it in impossible to conceal the despondency that prevails in most reliable quarters. When the men came out of the bush this evening with nothing significant to reportno one who knows the -country in which "the search is being pursued believed there ;was much hope for Mr. Stanton. To " travel through the cruel tangle of bush and across the almost perpendicular cliffs that close in the Makatote River is a task that knocks out the strongest bushmen armed with slashers. A man weakened by starvation', incessant toil, intense cold, and constantly wet clothes which he could npt possibly dry would be physically exhausted in a few hours. The thought that a man could survive such awful privations for days is almost inconceivable. Days Without Food. During the time Mr. Stanton has been imssing he has been exposed to incessant cold at an altitude of not less than 4000 ft. He has had no food unless he has managed to subsist on fern roots, and with the exception of a few hours on Mondaymorning, when the'clouds cleared, he has been exposed to frequent showers of snow, eleet and rain. When Mr. Addis left him on Monday afternoon he was in a utate of collapse and had to be dragged to' a? place of shelter. In spite of the belief that he possibly recovered and dragged himself further down the gorge, "no .traces of his wandering further have; been discovered as a result <if the last three days' searches.

Organised Parties. The conduct of to-day's search was transferred from the Chateau to Peterson's Mill, near the Makatote viaduct. As a result of the wireless appeal 500 men arrived'at • daybreak from centres between Ohakune and Taumarunui and were ihrown into the bush in organised parties ttt various points along the main road and railway line. There was a large proportipn of experienced bushmen. Parties went in from the bridge over l,he Mahuia and Makatote, from Erua and From other points under the Hauhungatabi. Mountain. To serve as a base for the main operations a camp was established at the fork of two branches of the Makatote. six miles up through the bush from the viaduct. Here about 200 men, assembled at nine o'clock and were sent out in various directions to icomb the country. /Nineteen Remain at Camp. Magnificent work was done by five parties of bushmen under Messrs Peter--ißon, Mulligan, Selby, Blythe and ManBering respectively. Mr. Peterson's party went up the Mahuia and after skirting Ithe eastef-n slopes of Hauhungatahi came down the Makatote, a remarkable feat of endurance. The others covered an extensive range of country up and down lithe Makatote and its upper tributaries. The parties returned to the main road at dusk, and were conveyed home by train and motor-car. The majority of the irhen who slept out in the bush last night withdrew thifi evening and only 19 men will stay out to-night. They will sleep .at the' base camp and will resume the search in tho morning supplemented by further parties of bushmen who will go pp themouniain to-morrow.