SAVED BY A SNEEZE

Southland Times, Issue 19277, 23 June 1924, Page 5

SAVED BY A SNEEZE

ADRIFT IN BOAT. RESCUED IN THE DARK. (Sun SpeciaL) BRISBANE, June 11. A sneeze saved a man's life at Maroochydore. He was floundering in the sea two miles from shore, when in the darkness, rescuers heard him sneeze. The alarm had been raised that a man in a rowing-boat was capsized on the bar at the mouth of the Maroochy river, in the fast-gathering darkness, with the tide running out like a mill-race. Fortunately, L. D. Murtagh’s motor launch was berthed at the wharf in front of the hoted, and Eric Iggins, L. D. Murtagh, and Bob Murtagh, started on a threemile trip to save the man’s life. The tide was falling, and the boat touched the bottom several times.

When they crossed the bar, neither man nor boat was visible. After cruising about for some time, the rescuers heard a man sneezing. He had drifted about two miles out to sea. The man was Jim Cotter, sanitary contractor. According to Cotter’s ?wn story, he went out snapper-fishing in the morning, and had a good catch. On approaching the breakers, he lashed himself and the bags of fish to the seat of the boat. When he got among the breakers they rolled him about like a cork. He eventually found himself clear of the breakers, and right side up. After he was taken aboard and had stopped sneezing, the first- question he asked was if a chaff-bag with some fish in it had been picked up. When the party started on the return trip, with tho waterlogged boat in tow, a big breaker caused them to part company with Cotter’s boat, and it was carried out to sea.