FIVE DROWNED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18924, 28 January 1936, Page 9

FIVE DROWNED

BOATING TRAGEDY TWO CHILDREN RESCUED ACCIDENT NEAR AUCKLAND PAM ELY P ARTY' S ORDEAL (Vnr Pr«3fi Association.) AUCKLAND, last night. Five people were drowned in a boating tragedy at Weymouth on the upper reaches of Manu'kau harbour, three miles from Manurewa, this afternoon. Two, children, who were clinging to a flat bottom boat, in which the party of seven had been crossing the channel, were saved by a 16-year-old girl, Mary Recce, of Weymouth, who heard their screams for help and rowed out against, the wind and tide.

The victims were: — Edwin Studd, aged 54, fanner, of Sykes avenue, Weymouth. Mrs Vera Studd, his wife, aged, 38. Martin Day, aged 41, single, labourer, of Brown's road, Honiai,'who was Mrs Studd's brother. William George Stewart, aged 'JG, married, labourer, of Russell road, Manurewa, a brother-in-law

of Mrs Studd, who is survived 'by his widow and two young children. Allan 'turner, aged seven, son of Mr and Mrs Turner, Point Chevalier

Those who were saved were: — Ronald Turner, aged nine, brother of Allan Turner. Keith Pollock, aged 12, son of Mr and Mrs 11. Pollock, of Hunua.

The bodies of Mr and Mrs Studd and Stewart were recovered later. Parties failed to find either Day or Allan Turner, and further searches will be made in the morning.

Swift .tragedy overtook the boat, which.vyas heavily laden with its occupants' and a quantity of firewood, when it encountered the rip caused by wind and tide. As far as is known, there were no witnesses of the fatal capsize, and the. two children who survived were too dazed to give a coherent account of what had occurred. One said that a wave suddenly overturned the boat, throwing the "occupants- into the water to be swept away bv the spring tide, which was running out fast down the narrow channel. GIRL'S GALLANT RESCUE

An expedition to Wattle Farm, about half a mile from Sykes avenue, where Mr and Mrs Studd lived, was undertaken by seven people early in the afternoon. They were seen crossing the channel when it was noticed that the iboat appeared very heavily laden. It was the party's intention to gather a load of manuka at Wattle Farm and a considerable quantity was found drifting near the 'boat. After the tragedy, screams, carried by the south-west wind for nearly it mile, were heard by a neighbor of .Mr and Mrs Studd, Mrs Reece, who was in the orchard at her homo ftt about 3.3 f) o'clock in the afternoon. She called one of her daughters, Mary Reece, wlrn'was'in the house, and they both ran to the 'beach, fearing that the party they, had seen earlier on the way to Wattle Farm had encountered trouble on the return trip.

• A 16ft. iboat was launched by Mrs Recce and her daughter, and the girl commenced to battle with wind and tide to reach the smaller boat, which was drifting almost submerged in the middle of the channel. Two boy. l could be seen clinging to the bottom of the boat. "It took me all my time to catch up with the overturned boat, so fast was it drifting," Mary Recce said later, " I pulled out about half a mile. It ivns very rough, with a strong wind, but 1 managed to get my boat alongside theirs and pulled the two boys to safety. They were almost exhausted and sank down in the bottom of the boat. There was no sign of the others, only two hats and two paddles." The boys were (brought ashore and cared for by neighbors. Three of the bodies were found later when the tide had dropped, and the search was continued until late at night, for the remaining'two.'