BOATING ACCIDENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 265, 8 November 1937, Page 8

BOATING ACCIDENT

Naval Reservist Drowned CAPSIZE OF WHALER IN WELLINGTON HARBOUR l Per Press Association. ) WELLINGTON, Nov. 7. One naval reservist was drowned and four others had narrow escapes when a gusty wind on the harbour this atternoon capsized a whaler in which they were sailing. The drowned man was Signalman James Wood Jarvis, aged 17, an employee of the New Zealand Railway workshops. Other occupants o£ the boat were Lieutenant Peter Phipps, bank teller of the National Bank, Wellington, able seaman R. J. Lansdown, ordinary seaman Ernest Chisholm, and ordinary seaman J. B. Quinn. The whaler, under the command ol Lieut. Phipps, left the Ferry Wnarf at 12.15 p.m., and apparently made a course to Somes Island. On the return trip, while between Somes Island and Pipitea Wharl, the boat capsized about 3.30 p.m. She was carrying a storm sail and jib.

There were no boats in the vicinity at the time ol the accident, and their plight was not noticed until nearly 6 p.m., when Mr. T. Williams, returning from Ward Island in his 20ft. launch Spindthrift, was attracted by the crew's waving from the water. He hove to and succeeded in getting the four survivors aboard. Alter being landed at Evans Bay they were taken to hospital by the Free Ambulance. Lansdown and Chisholm were later able to return to their homes. “The survivors are extremely lucky to be alive. Another few minutes in the water and they would have been gone," said a member of the Evans Bay Yacht and Motor Club. “They were absolutely exhausted when we carried them from the launch into the clubhouse, and terribly bruised and numbed." It is thought Jarvis became entangled in a rope when the craft rolled over, and it is believed his lifejacket came off. Trapped un'.er the boat, he was unable to rise to the surface. The crew were in the water for two hours and a-half before any sign of rescue came. “It was the smoothest piece of seamanship for a sea like that that I have seen for many years,” a witness said of the rescue. “Few, I am sure, could have got away with it.” “What makes it all the more remarkable is that his propeller became fouled in a length of rope,” said another eye-witness. It is believed that the victim’s life could have been saved had several spectators ashore in cars realised the position and warned the neighbouring yachting clubs. There were at least a dozen cars parked along the roadside, and the occupants w;atched the tragedy from start to finish. COLLISION WITH CAR MOTOR-CYCLIST SERIOUSLY HURT WELL-KNOWN FOOTBALLER [ Per Press Association. ] AUCKLAND, Nov. 7. When a motor-cycle which he was riding collided with a motor-car at Onehunga on Saturday afternoon a well-known Auckland Rugby football player, Herbert Charles Wiklund, suffered severe injuries to the head. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital, where he was admitted with a fractured skull. His condition is reported to be serious. Wiklund, who is a single man ageu 24, is employed by the Railways Department at Otahuhu workshops. He has played Rugby for the Manukau team for several years and also has represented Auckland as a forward.