ALMOST ENGULFED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19057, 9 July 1924, Page 9

ALMOST ENGULFED

ENTURE IN THE DARK. (T PASSED IN THE OPEN. Olli- ESCAPE FROM DEATH. the blocking of the main road ,e railway at the beginning of jas meant to the settlers in the ■Umomona district is vividly lilts-

trated in the following anecdote, sent, by a Whnngamomona correspondent of! a New Plymouth paper: — “The road over the Whangamomona Saddle is in such bad condition that settlers prefer scrambling through the partly-cleared railway tunnel to traversing it. “In essaying to catch the early train on a recent Monday morning, a resident had a most unenviable experience. He set out for Pohokura on the Satur-

day afternoon, at about four o’clock, which was leaving it rather late. All went well until he reached the opposite side of the tunnel. In making his way through the cutting by the dim. light of a lantern, he stepped on what •appeared to be solid earth. Down he went iu mud and water, sinking to his coat pockets, and continuing to sink. Poitunately, he was able to clutch an overhanging branch, and after a groat struggle he managed to clamber out. He had now no light, and his matches were wet, so he was forced to stay in a precarious position, unable to go backwards or forwards, throughout the night—a freezing night—for no less than 134 hours. However, all’s well that ends well, and he is no worse for the experience.

“His own summary of the matter was that so thankful to escape with his life from the hole into which he fell that he did not feel the extreme discomfort of his position. He later ascertained that the hole was from 12 to 14 feet deep.”