SURF BATHING TRAGEDY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1932, Page 8

SURF BATHING TRAGEDY

LOSS OF TWO LIVES . GALLANT RESCUE EFFORTS. DANGEROUS CURRENTS. A • Sunday school picnic ■ at Scarborough a New South Wales south coast seaside resort, had a tragic ending on the afternoon of October 1, when two members of the party were drowned. One of them lost his life while making gallant efforts to save other members of the party, who had been trapped in a dangerous channel. Those drowned were:— John Stanton, aged 22, and James Tomlinson, aged. 16, both. of •Wentworthville. Miss Rita Tomlinson, aged 20, a sister of James Tomlinson, suffered from the effects of immersion and shock, and Geoffrey Harper, aged 19, was sent to hospital, also suffering from the effects of immersion and shock.

The party, which left Wentworthville in charge of Mr. Tomlinson, senr., in a motor-lorry, comprised five Sunday school teachers and 16 scholars of the Wentworthville Anglican Church. It arrived at Scarborough about 11 o’clock, and after tents had been pitched and lunch had been taken, several members of the party decided to' bathe in the surf on Wondarra beach.

It was not long before Leo. Stubbs, aged 14, got into difficulties in a deep channel. Mr. Stanton immediately went •to his rescue. Mr. Stanton, however, found the current too strong. Meanwhile Stubbs had reached a sandbank, and he tried to pull Mr. Stanton to safety, but was again drawn into the channel. Stubbs, almost exhausted, released his hold of Mr. Stanton, and managed to swim ashore. About the same time young' Tomlinson was making a desperate struggle to get out of the treacherous waters. Noticing Tomlinson’s plight, Geoffrey Harper went to his assistance, and they managed to reach another sandbank. The waves, however, broke over them. Harper had. equipped himself with a long cord, which "had been brought by the party in case of accidents. Harper tied the cord to the shoulder strap of Tomlinson’s costume, intending to swim for the shore aiid tow his comrade back. He lost his grip of the cord, and was almost exhausted when Mervyn Ross and Charles Smith, two local residents, plunged into the surf and dragged him ashore. Neither Mr. Stanton nor Tomlinson could be seen. They had apparently been carried out to sea by the undertow. GIRL CAUGHT IN CURRENT. In the meantime Miss Tomlinson had been caught in the current, and it seemed that she would share the fate of her brother, when a particularly heavy swell carried her shoreward. Miss Atwill, who lives opposite the beach, rescued Miss Tomlinson, and applied resuscitation. Dr. Osborne, of. Scarborough, hurried to the beach, and after treating Stubbs, Harper and Mies Tomlinson, ordered Harper’s removal to hospital. Mr. Tomlinson,' who had collapsed when he saw his son carried out, was also treated by Dr. Osborne. Interviewed, Mr. Harper described his desperate attempts to" save James Tomlinson. “We were all in swimming,” he said, “when one of the boys got Into the current. Jim Tomlinson went out after him and got into difficulties. [ followed him with about 50 yards of rope, but soon found that it was too short. I called out to those on shore to let go their end, and swam on. When I reached Tomlinson he was floating face downwards, but I was able to get him to a sandbank just off the shore.

“As I was unable to swim any further. with Tomlingon, I tied the rope to the shoulder strap of his bathing costume and tried to swim to the shore, pulling him behind me. Then I was caught in a whirlpool, and lost the rope. I tried to find it, but could not, and then, being almost exhausted, I struggled toward the shore, where someone helped me out. I cannot remember much after that.”

Sydney Saywell, a local resident, said that when he saw a lad in difficulties he and Mervyn Ross and Victor Phyllis and his brother dashed ll into the water, and, gathering him up, brought him ashore. It was Harper. Although blue with cold the boy was plucky. The first thing he said was, “Go and rescue my mates.”

“We looked round,” said Saywell, “but they had disappeared. My brother took Harper to the hospital in his sidecar. He was a plucky lad.” Both the deceased were keen church workers. They were Sunday school teachers at St. Paul’s, Wentworthville. The spot where the tragedy occurred is known to local residents as a particularly dangerous one. It is near a headland known as Longnose Point, past which treacherous currents flow into a deep channel. It has been the scene of a number of bathing fatalities.