FOOLISH PRANK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22688, 29 March 1937, Page 8

FOOLISH PRANK

DISTRESS CALL MADE BOY WITH A TORCH TUG PREPARED FOR SEA INCIDENT AT WAIWERA Distress signals flashed by a torch from the end of the long wharf at Waiwera by a 16-year-old boy during the north-easterly gale last night was responsible for much anxiety among officials of the Auckland Harbour Board and among about SO guests of the hotel at Waiwera. With heavy seas- breaking over the end of the wharf and thick misty rain driven in from the open sea by a strong wind the light appeared to be showing from a position on the seaward side of Tiri Tiri Island. The Alarm Given The alarm was first criren bv one of the guests who saw- the light gire several intermittent flashes and then slov.lv cpell out the. well-known S.O.S. call. After a hurried consultation it W35 decided to communicate immediately with the Queen's "Wharf office of the Harbour Board. An urgent long distance telephone call was put through and preparations were made in Auckland for the immediate de.spat'h of one of the Harbour Board's powerful tugs. In the meantime about 80 guests and residents of Wa-iwera gathered near the foreshore. The liitht was seen on several occasions, but with the heavy rain, the spray and the mist it was impossible to accurately judge its position. Bv walking up and down the wharf and carefully shading the light the bov carried out hf? ruse with great success Proprietor's Discovery It was not until the proprietor of 1 the hotel saw the light from a window in the top storey that any suspicions were aroused. Viewed from high above the ground it could be seen that the light was only a short distance'out to sea. A party then went to., the end.of the wharf and the lad was found full? appreciating ihe concern he had caused. He was taken back to the hotel and it was only when he saw piles- of warm blankets and other emergency measures which had been taken when it was thought that a party might land oa the coast near by, that he. realised the seriousness of his prank. Ihe Hjrbouf Board was notified, but already a number of men had been called from their homes.