TWO HOURS IN SEA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19099, 21 August 1936, Page 2

TWO HOURS IN SEA

DRAMATIC RESCUE

PISIHNQ PARTY’S CROP.AT.

WATERLOGGED BOAT

SYDNEY. Aug. $.

Thvr-o member? of a falling expedinon, iji.’hiding a man aged <- spenr three hours clinging to rt v,a logged boat in the sea below the> mere \Vashed ashore on a rocky head land at Tuross Heads, near Moruya. nn Saturdav night. Four men', one of whom had a broken ankle, risked their live? m a "o> h »g surf to bring the occupants of the boat to the shore. They succeeded onh after ja tremendous struggle. The* rescued men were so fold as a result of their long immersion that thev -were unable—ta ..move. 1 rescuers lmd to give them first-aid treatitient before they began a diama lie race with the tide. The occupants of the launch were Messrs. A. W. Duririch. of Victoria road.‘Bellevue Hill; H. Y. Christmas, dentist, of Wollongong (son-mlav to Alr. Biinrich); ,T. Miller, to luto.-', and fired Howell, the proprietor oi the RESCUER INJURED

Mr. Henry Robertson, proprietor of a boalding-house at Tuross Lakes, v ho joined in the rescue, and afterwards walked until he collapsed, will undergo an X-ray examination in hospital io-dav to determine the extent of the injuries m his leg and ankle Several bone* in the ankle are holiered to lie fractured. • - . Air. William Colbran, a resident ot Tuross Lakes,, wa3. a.rjjftis home on the liorth’ern sld* 'of tho lake?, vrhon ho saw the boat turn over. .Ho watched through field glasses for a time, and then I saw that a strong wind uas carrying the boat and the three men /clinging to.ix to .the heads on the southern side. He realised that the boat; must be smashed to pieces in the' “fierce surf and its occupants drowned, unless help was sent to them at once. He left word with his brother, Mr. Alfred Colbran, and then set out in a-boat without waiting for assistance: He picked up Afr. Howell, and the rwn plunged into the bush in the • hope-of reaching the heads before the boat-was driven ashore there.

Meanwhile, another rescue party, consisting of Air. Alfred Colbran, Afr. Charles Murray, Afr. Fred Sutton, and Afr. Henry Robertson, set out in another boai. They took with them a longjpiecc of rope. RESCUER BREAKS..ANKLE

Mr-. Charles Murray, who took the principal part in the rescue, last night gave;;a dramatic account of it. “It was a race against time, and we nearly lost,” he said. “We landed and Nut* across country which was terribly roekv. AVe * had almost reached the point to which the boat was when Robertson fell aboub 12-ft down a kind of crevasse. We Sauled him up with a rope, and found that his ankle was injured. He shouted, ‘Leave me alone. I’ll fpllow.’ We lmd to' go on, so we left him, but when*we looked back we saw that he Was “coming .after us,' sometimes' hobbling, .and-,some times on hands and knees* “Wo came on to the rocky shore just as the boat was. drifting in through the surf. William Colbran and Howell were already there, but they could do nothing-W-they had rio 7 rope.

liijr -waver were smashing- tlwn on the rocks, and ■it ,-was. .obvious That the three in the boat could not live a minute after the boat entered the surf and hit tiie rocks, which were stnndingront* lilcortperth 'for about- 40 yards front the shore

“I took one end of the rope and went into , the . surf. I am a fairly strong swimmer, but'sometimes it was almost hopeless. The water was cold. I was repeatedly thrown against rocks, and the rope hampered me.. In the end I managed to reach a little island of rock, just as the boat was swingingin towards it. I threw the rope to Dunrich, 'who .was clinging to the stern. (Somehow, he got it round .Mr. Miller, and also tied it to the boat. The others on the shore then pulled them in. THREATENED BY TIDE

“Getting .the men out of the boat was the hardest part of the job. They had been thetc* for so long that they were quite stiff and scarcely able to move. Mr. Miller had -somehow become. entangled with a dishing line, which was wrapped round and round his feet.

“Robertson had arrived, and in spite 'of his injured ankle, he earn? into the surf to help us. We needed his help, too. Eventually, we got Mr. Miller out. The others, being younger, were easier. All three men were in the last stages of exhaustion. Tt seemed incredible that they could have hung on for so long. They could not move find their skin was like rubber. We did the only thing we could think of which was to light a large tire and rub them down. Some of us had left dry clothes on the rocks before we entered the surf, and we shared what we Md. “It was some time before we could move any ~oi ■ the men, and then we had another ugly difficulty. The tide was threatening to cut ns off. The difficulty lay in "getting across the narrow gorge into which Robertson had fallen. After a terrific struggle we did get Mr. Miller over, lit another fire for him, and went back for the others.

. “One member of the party went back to the lakes, nnd later came back with warm rlothes-and spirits. They were wonderful, fey this lime, it was well after’o. o’clock at night. “The rest of the journey was comparatively easy. Robertson had become our principal casualty. lie had shown such wonderful spirit that we did not realise until tjie end the full extent of his injuries.” -Other members of the party said! that 'the rescuers .would never havcsuceeeded but. for Murray’s bravery. .(SURVIVOR’S STOUT ’ Mr. .Dnnrich said last night that the water was bitterly cold. “Our hands were stiff, making ou r hold on .the boat very insecure,” b e added. “The waves repeatedly tun jed the boat over and over. We first, clung to the keel and then to w’Aatev er part on which we could get a grip. Howell swam ashore with (the idlest of getting help. He was almost ex hansted before he reached the beach, where he , was - actually washed up !. <v the waves. He was too weak to stand, arid lay prone on the sand fo r some time. Mr. Miller, who is ab out 70 years of age, also attempted t p swiip

for the shore, 'blit he could make little progress against the swift current. He turned back after swimming about 100 yards, and it. was only our words of encouragement that really saved hint. We drifted for nearly two hours out to sea, and then, fortunately for ns, we drifted towards a. rocky point. ”