DROWNING FATALITY

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 52

DROWNING FATALITY

COMEDY TURNED TO TRAGEDY. CHRISTCHURCH, January 1. A drowning tragedy took place at Lyttelton to-day. Dmling the *p TO o T ' ee6 °* i tha regatta a orew of six had been en- i gaged from the s.e. Morayshire by the Regatta Committee to act as a darktown crew. The crew consisted, of M. Keelan (fireman], James Kenny (storekeeper), W. ! Rowlands, A. 8., J. Lake, A. 8., R. Wargin (ordinary seaman), and 0 Connor (ordinary seaman). Their antics had amused the crowd all day. At about 3 o’clock, just after the explosion, they were floating along within 12ft of No. 2 wharf, watched by a crowd of many hundreds. Suddenly O’Connor espied a hat floating in the water, and he wanted to dive in for it, but Keelan said : “Don t go in the water ; you can't swim, and we can pick it up from the bow of the boat. O’Connor, however, replied that he could swim all right, and that the act would amuse the crowd. He accordingly jumped overboard. He bad not gone far when Keelan saw him showing signs of distress. Keelan shouted out to Rowlands ; “This man is going down, hang on to him till 1 get my. boots off.’’ Rowlands jumped overboard to 0 Connors assistance, and someone threw an oar to the struggling man. By the time Keelan was ready Rowlands was also in trouble, and when Keelan caught hold of O’Connor, who was now in a very bad way, having been under the water for some minutes, Rowlands caught Keelan round the neck and pulled the three of them under, and Keelan did the only possible thing he could. He ebook both men off, and then clutched hold of O’Connor again. Bv this time Keelan was beginning to feel the effects of his immersion in the water, cramp making itself manifest. The boat with the other three men had in the meantime drifted away, and having but one oar left was unable to do anything. All the while the crowd on the wharf thinking it was but a good joke, and nr,t realising that comedy had turned to tragedy, laughed heartily. Fortunately justT at this time the crews of two racing boats realised tbe seriousness of tbe situation, and came up just in time to save Keelan and O’Connor, but Rowlands had disappeared. Keelan very quickly recovered, but O’Connor was in a bad way, having been undter* water for seven minutes. If it bad not been for tbe strenuous efforts of Messrs. W. R. Stevens, a member of the Christchurch Railway Ambulance Division, P. Rhind, and R. H. Veitch he must have succumbed. Finally, however, after about threequarters of an hour’s effort he pulled round. He was taken to the British Hotel, and it was stated that despite the utmost search no doctor could be found in the port. In the meantime Mr W. Woods, secretary to the Regatta Committee,’ secured 'the services of a motor Jooat, and two police constables after hours of dragging recovered Rowland’s body-at 7 p.m., close off the end of No. 2 wharf. The body was taken to the Lyttelton morgue. It is stated that Rowlands was a good swimmer, but caught cramp, as also did Keelan. O’Connor is a poor swimmer. The men had been in and out of the water all day, and that apparently accounts for their easily getting cramp.