CHILDREN LOST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22821, 31 August 1937, Page 8

CHILDREN LOST

NIGHT SPENT IN BUSH ORDEAL ON MOUNT EGMONT SLEPT WITH HEADS UNDER LOG FOUND WAY ,OUT IN MORNING [BY TELEQRAFH —AWS CORRESPONDENT! NEW PLYMOUTH, Monday Tfo young children spent last night in the bush on the southern slopes of Mount Egmont. A search throughout the night was unavailing, hut shortly after daybreak this Jiiorning the child-' rcn walked out into the open, little tlie worse for their experience, except that the younger one had contracted a cold. The children- were Donald, aged' 5, | and Olive. May, aged 10, son and | daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 0. M. Corbett° of Neil Road, Eltham. They were spending the school holidays with their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Dale, of Mangawhero Road. They were, in a paddock close to the edge of the mountain reserve, where Mr. Dale was stumping. After they were missed, a neighbour recalled having seen two children near the radius line. Search Parties' Efforts A search party was speedily organised, but no trace was found. Constable B. Warren, of Manaia, was notified, and he then organised a party of about a dozen, led by himself and Mr. Corbett. Tracks were found in the bush with freshly-broken fern fronds beside the footprints, which suggested that the children were trying to mark their path. An all-night search proved unavailing, and the searchers left the bush at about two o'clock this morning. A further party of seven took up the search at an early hour this morning. Mr. Brian Haybittle, of Hawera, one of the searchers, arrived at the., spot just as the children left the bush, so that they were speedily cared for. A keen northerly wind increased the anxiety, as the children were not clad to withstand severe weather. 1 Cheerful and Talkative Trails found suggested that the children were bearing to the left, and Mr. Haybittle skirted the base of the mountain. He had just travelled up Auroa Road to commence a search from that point when he found the children as he stepped out of his car. The children appeared to be cheerful and talkative, in spite of'the long trying night and their cold and damp clothes. To a question where they spent the night, Olive replied that they slept in the bush with theii - heads under a log. Olive said that she realised that they must not walk toward the mountain, but they had not followed any track or stream to the road. "We just kept on walking," she said. It is not known how far the children walked during the night, as the broken nature of th» ground would prevent a regular course.