FIGHT FOR LIFE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 11934, 23 March 1914, Page 2

FIGHT FOR LIFE.

BATTLE IN THE BREAKERS

THEILLING EESCUE STOEY

I Two hours in the treacherous grip of ! tho undertow; a rescue as the result of

almost superhuman exertions on the part of a courageous band of life-sav-ers; and a sensational journey back to tho safety of the shore, is the thrilling story that Konald Starkey (14) and William. Overton (1G), of Brookvale, will be able to tell with interest to the listener iv the years to conic.

.Dee Why beach, a popular surfing resort, about four miles from Manly, was the scene of a startling occurrence of this kind on Sunday week. At 11.1)0 a.in. a large concourse of bathers and picnickers had gathered on the sands, which were being lapped by a rolling surf that enticed many into its curling softness, and there was no appearance iof any remarkable undertow. A iiuinI her of bathers were sporting playfully in the water, when suddenly the current gathered a dozen or so of them and Jswept them like so many corks towards the open sea. For some time the predicament of the bathers was not noticed, but presently someone directed attention to the fact that several of them were in apparent dilliculty. The first of the bathers to realise his danger was .lames Emery, and he raised his hand in token of distress. Fortunately the members of the Dee Why Life-saving Club were drilling on the, beach,,and Mill. Anderson slipped into a belt and took a line out. Emery and several others were brought ashore after a stubborn struggle; but before the line could be run out a second, time five persons in' a bunch had been carried a long way beyond the reaching distance of the line. Efforts at Eescue. Mr A. Darley, another of the (dub, pluckily buckled on a second belt, to which was attached a greater length of line, and also endeavoured to reach tho two lads —Kowley Starkey and William Overtoil. Mr 11. Anderson, who had previously returned, likewise entered the water and followed Darley, who first reached the lads and supported them till his club mate arrived. Each of the rescuers in turn held them while the other rested, and after having sufficiently recovered from the effects of his great swim, Anderson essayed the return trip. The homeward journey was of course worse than the outward trip, and although ho clung to the boys till he was well-nigh exhausted, Anderson was eventually compelled to release his hold. The line was not out to its fullest extent, and Darley himself had to be assisted in. Meanwhile Anderson was making for the rocks; ami to the excited onlookers it seemed as if his rapidly failingstrength would altogether leave him, and that he would not reach, his goal. And once again there was the spectacle of n, would-be reseller being rescued

himself; ho, too, was brought in on the 'life line.

Ail this time Starkey and Overtoil were drifting out of sight. Despite the apparently insurmountable di Hi cutties, the life-savors refused-, to give up the attempt at rescue, and vet another volunteer. Mr \Y. Knight, set out on the errand of rescue. lie swam for an individual who, in the excitement of the moment, had not been previously noticed, and made the discovery ( when lie reached the exhausted swimmer that he was about to rescue his own brother. Yet another line was procured, and after an extremely anxious time of it, Mr E. Swinboni returned with Darley, who had gone out with a second belt. Specks on the Ocean. Ry this time Starkey and Overtoil had drifted out until they became almost spooks on the surface of the rising and falling waves-. Indeed, it wiuj possible, only to notice them from the hill close-by. Not one whit uiuliimited the. life-savers planned a new scheme of bringing them back. The life lines were joined, by which means GOO yards of it were available, and as the lads were drifting towards Long Reef, ALr H. Lingard set out on what will be recorded perhaps for years as the most wonderful water feat accomplished in such circumstances. He zig-zagged because of the freaks of the current, and after getting a- long distance out of his course made the half-circle, in his endeavours to reach the lads. It was described by onlookers as the pluckiest undertaking of its kind had ever witnessed. By this time, the lads were three-quarters of a mile from the beach, and no line could reach them. Lingard was the most disappointed man in the crowd when, after battling for three-quarters of an hour in the churning water, he had. to be brought ashore himself. What he had to contend with, apart from the difficulty in negotiating the breakers, may be imagined when it is mentioned that fully 2ewt of seaweed was taken from the slack of the line. The Rescue. The position, so far as Starkey and Overtoil was concerned, was well nigh hopeless, when Mr .1. J. K. Taylor, the hon. instructor of the Surf . Club, conceived the idea of launching a boat in a last desperate endeavour to save the lives of the lads, who had now -disappeared almost entirely from view. A boat was eventually secured, but it had to be carried a distance of 100 yards. It was a 12ft craft, and looked the least likely thing in the world to hold together in such a sea as it was intended to cross. A call for volunteers, however, was willingly responded to, one of the first of them, a young man named Duckworth, a member of the Maroubra Club, undertaking the duty of baling the boat, which promised to be a very considerable one. All was apparently ready when it was discovered that no oars were available. It reads like a. picture story, but the fact remains that it Was necessary to commandeer a motor car, and race at top speed to the Salvation Army Home, where a couple of paddles were obtained.

The boat was launched, find the two first breakers successfully crossed. The third threatened disaster, but Mr Taylor cleverly manoeuvred the boat, and, to the intense satisfaction of the crowd on the beach and the headland, the last stage of the journey was accomplished. Starkey was the first lad sighted. As the boat neared Kirn the plucky little chap called to the occupants. "Hurry up, Mr Taylor," he said in an agonised voice, "I'm getting tire<l. " He was pulled into the boat, and looked round. "Where is my pal?" he asked. "I shook hands with him a long time ago, and then we were separated." A little later Overtoil was picked up in a state of collapse, and the boat, pulled by willing hands, turned towards the shore. The first two lines of breakers were crossed without mishap, I but at the third the boat was swampe<l. Anticipating this, ithe life-savers, l who were watching, dashed out and wrought the more exhausted of the parAy ashore. boys had been in the- water ab- „, jfarb hours.- • ••-■ ;