Mt. Egmont Tragedy

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19840, 14 May 1927, Page 7

Mt. Egmont Tragedy

BAINES’ BODY FOUND Taylor’s Condition Reported to be Very Low ALLEN’S MAGNIFICENT CONDUCT (Per Press Association.] NEW PLYMOUTH, May 13. Another fatality has been added to the Mt. Egmont tragedy, the body of Noel Baines, aged 35, a master at Wanganui Collegiate School, being found at 11 o'clock this morning by a party on the mountain.* An authentic description of the tragic slide and subsequent events reveals the heroism of the boy Dennis Allen, his conduct being described as magnificent. It has now been established that the party started to slide when about 700 feet from the top of the mountain. They slipped 500 feet and came to a rest on a ledge. Allen was the only one conscious, the others all being badly hurt. Allen tried to get an answer from the other men, but, meeting with no response even after turning Baines’ head up, ho decided to go for help. Owing to the course he took and the subsequent final position of the bodies, it is evident that the other throe did not slip another 400 feet for at least twenty-five minutes after Allen had left. Allen eventually reached the house almost in a state of collapse after a terrible journey down Kapuni Gorge, and his first thought was for the other men. Allen's condition is now satisfactory but Taylor’s condition is very low. He is suffering extremely from exposure.