WAVES ENGULF TRUCKS,

Chronicle (Levin), 27 August 1946, Page 2

WAVES ENGULF TRUCKS,

^ — VEHIGLES NOT RECOVEEED FOR SOME DAYS NEW PLYAIOITTII, Aug. 21. Rising withoul waniing l'roni n fairly culiu sea, hi'eakers of almost tida.1 wave (.liMU'jisions, a'ppai'oiitly ilrivcn by 'a lierce wiud stonu, en.gulfed L\\ o 81-ton lorrjes that wero being operated on tlie Manutahi beaeh aboul 10 niiles from Hawera by two young eout'ractors, Messrs. A. U. and A. II. Hunn, Wanganui. The two men eseaped with a drenching, but ihe e.xperiemM' is likely to prove eostly, for it was liot until yesterday that botli vehieles could be salvaged. The young men are returned servicemen who have starled in business only since their return from overseas. For' the past three and a lialf months they have been engaged in earting boulders on the Manutahi beaeh. The work proceeded wilhout mishap until aliout 7 ■ a.m. on Muuday. The lorries were operatiug some distaneo from the water 's edge, and the tide was out. One vehiele • had been loaded aml tlie ol.her was empty.. Witliout warning a high stroug wavc, scemingly drivcu by a iierce gust of wind, swept in and eompletely engulfed the veliicles. The men were obliged to ieave the eabs of the trueks for the first wavc was followed by others of a simi1'af TYi'gTif. Thc eiigiue'4 'bJf tlK? vfdfiffles stopped and the lorries could not be moveil. The eH'orts of breakdown and similar vehieles were unavailing beeause of the weight of the lorries and Ihe eondition of the grouiul. The ovvri ers had no ehuiee therel'ore l.rnt to ieave the vehieles to the merey of the tide. Pespite their weight the vehieles were buffeled against the rocks at, tlie base of the elilf, whieli resulted in damage apart i'loin that eaused by the eomplele swainping that ihe engines reeeived. ( 'onsistent ell'Orts to sulvage tlu; \ehieles were made as soon as the reeediug "tide pennitted. but it was not until Wednesday and. Thursday that they met with any sueeess. A si\wheeler lorry equipped with a sti nig uiii-h was used iinally, and the vehieles weri' lowed to Wanganui yesterday uioniing. They were praetieally new vehieles, and tlie e.vtent of the damage eould not lie aseeriained yesterday. Although weather conditions along ihe eoast were not calni on Monday niormng. they were not sullieiently boisterous to lead to the expectat ion of sueh phennmeually high winds and seas. The laet that it was low tide at ihe time and that the men were workiug some distanee from the water 's edge made the oeeurrenee oven more unexpee led and remarkalde.