AUCKLAND DROWNING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16317, 18 April 1927, Page 7

AUCKLAND DROWNING

TAKEN BY SURPRISE (Per Pres* Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. A drowning accident involving the loss of three lives occurred off Rangiloto Island shortly after 7 o’clock last evening. Hie victims were : Roy Mathieson, 22, Great North road / Mrs. Longuett, of Devonpoi’t, and Miss Franldand, of Devonport. Harold Walby, a resident of Dominion road, a disabled ex-soldier, is in hospital suffering from shock caused by exposure. Walter Noyes, 21, of Glenmore, and Roy Mathieson, were returning to St. Heliers Bay from Rangitoto at 6.30 p.m. They picked up three marooned excursionists, Harold Walby, Mrs. Longuett, and Miss Franldand, the two latter being sisters. About a mile from the island the dinghy encountered a heavy sea, and was swamped. The occupants clung to tho boat- in the darkness. Mrs. Longuett, Miss Frarklarid, and soon disappeared. The other two cuing to the boat- for half an hour till rescued by Dan Donaldson, who took them to Rangitoto. v ~ . « . Noyes said he and Mr. Mathieson frequently rowed from St. Heliers Bay to Rangitoto in a 7ft dinghy. They had crossed to the islaud during the afternoon, when they agreed -to take tho other three people back to the mainland. The sen was not threatening. The load of live made the small boat low in thb water, but they had proceeded nearly a mile from the shore before a slight chop in the sea made conditions less comfortable. Noylcs and Mathieson were at the oars when a soa was shipped without warning, and the small freeboard was reduced. Another wave swept over the bow, and then the dinghy capsized. All tried to secure a grip on the sides, while the dinghy rolled with each wave.

“Our clothes weighed us down,” Noyes said. “We could sec no sign of help. The man who wc had picked up and I floated off to lighten the weight on the dinghy. He was handicapped by an artificial leg, and our clothing was so heavy that we had to return to the boat. We found difficulty in getting a grip, and as we moved about to keep the boat level the sea tossed it over, and Mathieson and the ladies were gone. I never saw them again. We did not know whether our shouts had been heard. I was suffering from cramp, and the other survivor was exhausted. I was nearly done when I heard- someone calling to us lo keep up. Somehow we did, and we were pulled out of Ihe water in a state of collapse.”