ACTIONS DEFENDED.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18946, 16 May 1933, Page 8

ACTIONS DEFENDED.

TRAMPING PARTY’S REPLY.

TO CLUB PRESIDENT. THE LIGHTING OF FIRES. Explaining that they were reopening the discussion because they consider it necessary to reply to Mr F. W. Vosseler, president of the Federated Mountain Clubs, three of the four members of the tramping party which went missing last month have written to the editor of the Wellington Dominion. Replying to a letter from Mr Vosseler, published on May 2, they state— . .

“First of all we must express our great admiration .and deep appreciation for the excellent staff work done by Mr Vosseler in organising the Wellington search parties and in co-ordi-nating their efforts with those of the Masterton search party committee 1 . We must also thank him for the way he reassured the public as to the probable safety of our party. We feel it was only his long-continued and varied experience as a tramper that enabled him so effectively to do these things. The public also knew this, and rightly had confidence in his assurance that seasoned, experienced trampers such as he knew were in our party do not easily suocumb even in the most difficult weather conditions. Erroneous Press Reports.

We have no doubt that Mr Vosseler based his criticism of our tramping tactics, on some of the erroneous and self-contradictory press reports that appeared in New Zealand dailies. In justloe to Mr Vosseler we feel that a few more of the aotual facts of the case should be made known to him. Mr Vosseler made speclflo mention of the following points: The party selected the worst possible route; the Mangatarera Valley should have been chosen; bright fires should have been kept going by night and heavy smoke fires by day; directions should have been left at our camps; and we should have noticed the smoke from the fire at Sayer’s Hut at Totara Flats. Mr O’Keefe’s accident was not of such a nature as to necessitate our leaving the ridge; it merely delayed us a couple of hours. It was not a question of selecting any route. We were going to Holdsworth, but after an hour’s going through increasingly heavy mist and rain we found ourselves descending on the west side. This was where we had left the high ridge leading to Holdeworth. Night was oomlng on, tho gale increasing In violence, so we carried on to the ‘bush, which was reached after nightfall We “camped” on a precipitous wooded slope, intending to retrace our steps the following morning. At daybreak conditions had definitely altered for the worse, and as the night had proved that we -could remain -on tho valley-side -only in a sitting position the one possible course was the alternative route to Holdsworth via Francis Creek. Though we traversed the shingle beaches of the upper Waiohine-Itl at a rapid rate we soon found that the inoessant rain made it Impossible not only to ford the river but also to pick Francis Creek from among the other smaller oreeks that had by now assumed swollen proportions. We were therefore trapped.

Why Fires Were Not Lighted.

As Mr Vosseler evidently expected us to light huge fires, we would remind him of Dr. Kidson’s weather report for a severe spell of westerly weather. From the 14th to the 27th there was scarcely a day without strong and squally winds from a westerly quarter. They were especially boisterous in the ranges, the night of the 18th to 19th and the 23rd being the roughest period. On the 23rd a very deep depression crossed the Dominion, and the strong southerly winds which followed it brought a severe cold snap. On this day and the next there was heavy snow in the ranges,

and many places experienced hail showers. The whole period was- a very wet one for districts with a westerly aspect. Thunderstorms occurred in some parts of the country on the. 18th, 19th, and 21st to 23rd." “This report should be sufficient, but one or two additional facts are apparently necessary- Often -owing to the heavy rain, sometimes because of the hail and snow, there were days when even with the assistance of oandles and chemical fuel we could not light a fire big enough to heat a cup of water. After she had discarded her sleeping-bag, Miss Williams carried dead beech in her pack. The men carried beech twigs with them and resorted to the old bushmen’s dodge of sleeping on branches at night so that a fire might eventually be made. This will indicate the efforts we made to light fires, and the slight difficulties under which we were working.

Absolute Futility

“We did not leave directions as to our movements because of the absolute futility of the procedure. We knew that searchers could not possibly locate our camp sites in the bush, situated as they were in depressions to protect us from the weather, or under fallen trees, or in creek beds. “At Totara Flats we made a big blaze—our first opportunity—knowing that searoh parties should be near. Our camp was half an hour upstream from Sayer’s Hut, which we must have passed about 8.30 the next morning. As we had notioed footprints and cattle we were keenly on the alert examining both sides of the river, not only for signs of -the searchers, but also for some indication as to tho track used by the cattle to l reaoh the flats. Our detailed examination in clear weather of our surroundings revealed no due as to the whereabouts of the searchers. We oertainly saw no smoke.

Muoh Misrepresentation.

“If Mr Vosseler would Hke any more detail we are willing to give it to him, but we earnestly desire that It should not be done publioly. There has been too much misrepresentation, reorlmination, and controversial argument already. It is fitting that we should be tried at the bar of publio opinion, but we wish it to be an informed publio opinion. “We have not -consulted Mr O'Keefe about this letter, as we do not want to retard his recovery any further by Inflicting the unnecessary pain that Mr Vosseler’s letter would cause.— We are, eto. E. HILL. W. B. SUTCH. M. M. WILLIAMS.” Palmerston North, May 9, 1933.