THE WORST FEARED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21431, 4 September 1931, Page 9

THE WORST FEARED

STANTON NOT FOUND CONTINUATION OF SEARCH AREA NARROWED DOWN iPOT DESCRIBED BY COMPANION ■ ' 1 ! (Pm Dotted Press Association.) THE CHATEAU, September 3. Practically no hope is now entertained of finding Warwick Stanton alive. He has been lost for six days and five nights, and the bushmen declare that it would be a miracle if he was found •live. The region in which it is known that lie must be has been narrowed down to •u area of a few miles, and as there are 600 men searching it to-day it is improbable that if he were alive he would not have heard the cooces of some of them and have answered. The leaders of the search parties came into the Chateau to-night and saw Addis. He has completely recovered, and was able to give them , a clear and definite •„ description of where he left Stanton. As a result of this information it is hoped to find this spot early to-morrow. Cdntiiiuing, Addis said that after ■ leaving, the girls with Graham and Harris., he and Stanton followed, a stream which has since been ascertained to be a tributary of the Makatote. All day they waded down through the icy water. 'At 3.30 pan. Stanton collapsed. Addis ‘ said he had fallen over three times, and was utterly exhausted. ' Addis, although loth to do so. decided that he would have to .leave Stanton and try to get Kelp .for the sake of the girls. He helped his companion out of the stream and took him a few yards into the bush bn the left bank, where there ‘ was a log covered with lawyer and other vegetation. He left Stanton, in a hollow 1 on the far side of this log from the \ river, and he would not be visible from the river. ...... This point .had not previously been known to the searchers, who were under ‘i the impression that .Stanton had been left under a log facing the stream, and have accordingly been looking for him by wading down through the stream. Addis was definitely able to describe the location of this spot. He stated that ,! half an hour -after he left Stanton he . vai so exhausted himself that he lay down-for the night. On the following 1 .morning he waded downstream for two hours until he came to some forks where .. the water was running very fast. These forks are where the base camp was established last night. He crossed here and proceeded for , some ' distance down the * left bank of the Makatote, where he •••■ met a party of searchers. According to his story, when he left Stanton two and a-half hours’ journey upstream from the. forks, ■ Addis cbuld X not; in his weak condition, - have walked ’ very fast, and the bushmen consider from " 'this that he must have left Stanton two ‘.. miles upstream from the forks. The party intends working up this ~j bank to-morrow morning, the men deploying and walking a few yards from each other beating the bush, and in this ‘ way it is considered they cannot miss . the spot. .. The' opinion has been /txpressd that Stanton recovered after aj jell and when the sun broke through the clouds at 8.30 on the following morning, which was the first time the sun had been seen since the party ‘ was lost, he would pick bearings and try tq get back to the snowline again. Addis considers, however, that" Stanton was in such a state that he could not recover. There is a feeling that he died during the night, and that , when the party finds the lawyer-covered log on the, left bank of. the stream they will find bis body under it. BUSHMEN RALLY TO SEARCH FINE SPIRIT OF SYMPATHY TRACES OF MISSING MAN DISCOVERED. (Per United Press Association.) THE CHATEAU, September 3. Remarkable scenes were witnessed at Petersen’s mill, a few chains below the ' Makatote railway viaduct, in the early hours of this morning, when several hundred men assembled and went into the hush to join in the search for 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. Gars, about 100 of them, • brought further men. It was a won.derful example of the spirit and sympathy of the King Country people and their desire to assist to the utmost. A base camp was established at the forks eight miles up the gorge, and food was carried up there. Large fires were lit, and benzine tins of bot tea were available throughout the day for the searchers as they arrived, wet, cold, and weary. With such a large number of men operating in the little-known bush it was impossible to prevent overlapping. Cases of parties working over one another’s tracks did occur, but the bush from the viaduct up to the forks was scoured thoroughly. Above the forks parties of experienced bushmen chiefly operateH. Those organising the search have decided that these ... parties of local' bushmen have more chance of finding Stanton than anyone. Accordingly, the volunteers who were out to-day have been allowed to return to their homes to-night, and only the bushmen will be out searching to-morrow. Many of these bushmen have, been out practically since Sunday, and even their iron strength is giving out. One party led by Mr Berry, of Horopito, which came out of the bush tonight, brought a clue with it. These nieu followed the Mahuia Stream up t until they reached the spot where (. Graham and Harris and the girls were found. They picked up Addis’s and

Stanton’s tracks, and from there traced them down the tributary of the Makatote until they came to a steep bluff which jutted out into the stream. They could not pass around it, and had to go above the waterfalls, and when they picked up the trails again on the other side there was only one set of footprints. It was then late in the afternoon, and as the party had to get out of the bush _ tonight no further search was possible. The party will travel into this bluff again to-morrow morning to investigate fully. Nineteen men are remaining in the Makatote Gorge to-night.