MISSING CLIMBERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21911, 21 September 1934, Page 11

MISSING CLIMBERS

TWO YOUNG ENGLISHMEN MYSTERY OF THE ALPS GENEVA, tkpi. 19 Guides are actively searching tha Mont Blanc region for two young Englishmen, Mr. Hoyland, a son of Mr. John S. Hoyland, lecturer in history at Woodbrooke Settlement, Birmingham, and Mr. Paul Wand, son of the Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr. J. W. C. Wand.

The party originally was composed of four Oxonians. Two returned safely to headquarters, but Messrs. Hoyland and Wand have been missing since August 25, when they camped on Mont Anvert, opposite Mer de Glace. It is believed they attempted an ascent of one of" the peaks by Valferret and possibly dropped into Italy.

Inquiries are Iteing made at Turin, but the guides at Chamonix are pessimistic regarding the men's fate.

Mr. Wand was a member of the Oxford University Mountaineering Club and had arranged to follow the Archbishop to Brisbane in 1935. The deserted camp of the missing climbers was discovered at a height of 6000 feet by an officer of the United States Consulate at Munich, and a search wa« begun when this fact was reported at Chamonix 10 days later. Apparently Messrs. Hoyland and Wand had told their fellow-Oxoniana that they proposed to continue into Switzerland as long as their money lasted. «

Guides of three countries are now engaged in the search. Mr. Hoyland, who is 19 years old, had the reputation of being among the six best rockclimbers in England. Mr. F. S. Smythe, of Mount Everest and Kamet fame, is assisting Mr. Hoyland, sen., in the search. Dr. Wand was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane on January 1, 1934. His son, Paul, matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1932, and had hoped eventually to go to Australia.