BODY RECOVERED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 194, 15 August 1944, Page 4

BODY RECOVERED

CAR LOCATED IN RIVER ASSISTANCE OF DIVER WELL-KNOWN SETTLER’S FATE With the assistance of a diver from New A'lyniouln, a motor-car wmeir plunged into tne lra..ganui liner on saturuay aicernoon, uoout a quarter of a miro above tne I’ixuriKi.r store, was recovered late yej.e.’uay aiternoon by a ponce party wonuiig on Ooaru ure padule-^.earner wamrar.e. After uiiiicuLy, the car was taircn across the river and nauleu asnore, the bocy of tile driver, nir. lionert WilLam Orton, rar.ner, aged bv, oe.ng located near tne back seal. Mr. Orton, who had a farm on the Kaiwnaiki Road, left home snortiy after noon on Saturday to obtain supplies at Upokongaro, and was last seen alive oy tne storekeeper, Mr. L. J. Williams, shortly after-one o’clock. Later in tne a.ternoon wuee.raarKS were discovered which indicated inat a car had left the road and plunge., into tiie river at a point wiieie tnere was a drop of nearly 50 feet. The police searen, begun on Saturday evening and continued ail day Sunday, was resumed yesterday morning. A buoy had been placed to mar k the spot wnere it was believed the car lay, but it was appreciated mat without the assistance of a diver tne vehicle could not be salvaged and tne body recovered. The services oi Mr. W. Allan, a New Plymoutn Harbour Board diver, and his assistant, Mr. C. Gardner, were obtained. They we.e motored to Wanganui by DetectiveSergeant H. A. Hay, bringing with them a Giving suit and accessories, but the pumping apparatus was made available by the Wanganui Harbour Board. A police party consisting of Constables H. H. Hudson, A. A. Fraser, S. F. Best and M. J. Fleming, were at. the scene of the accident early yesterday morning, and after the arrival al vVan.ganui or the diver and his equipment were followed by the Waimarie. When making his second descent the diver located the car upside down, wedged in a ledge of papa 30 feet below the surface, and close to the position previously marked by a buoy. In spite of being required to work in inky blackness and under considerable difficulty, the diver succeeded in securing a chain tackle to the car. Three wire ropes were attached to tne Waimarie’s derrick in the bows, and with the aid of the vessel’s steam winch the car, a tive-seater of the closed-in type, was lifted 15 feet above the river bed. As the ear had been located about 60 feet out from tiie shore, and at a point where the bank shelves steeply, it was considered more practicable to attempt the final lift on the other side of the river, where there was a s.opin.g sand bank. With this end in view the Waimarie was manoeuvred slowly to the opposite bank, a further lift of about 12 feet being made while the vessel was being turned. When this operation was completed one wheel was showing above the surface. Finally, with the aid of a wire pulley attached to a tree hign on the bank, and with the combined efforts of the Waimarie’s winch and two breakdown trucks which arrived from the city, the car was hauled partly up the bank. The turret top was found to be badly dented in and the lefthand side severely damaged, fn addition, the windscreen was shattered and side windows were broken. Marks on the narrow road indicated that the car had struck a papa bank before crashing through the undergrowth on the other side and plunging into the river, the drop including a projecting ledge 30 feet below the road. The salvage operations occupied a full day yesterday. The Urst lift was made at about 4.15 p.m., but by the time the vessel had been manoeuvred across the river and the body recovered another two hours hat! elapsed. Because of the difficult nature of the work considerable care was necessary. The body was brought to the city last evening, the Waimarie arriving at 7.30. Tributes to the excellent work of the diver and his assistant were paid last night by the police, who also expressed appreciation of the help given oy the staffs of Wanganui River Services, Ltd., and the Wanganiu Harbour Board.

Before returning to New Plymouth with Detective-Sergeant Hay, lormerly stationed in Wanganui, the diver said that because of the discoloured nature of the river and the depth at. which he was working there was no visibility beyond a few leet from the surface. An inquest will be opened this morning by the coroner, Mr. S. M. Dixon, when evidence of identification will be taken.