THE ETHEL MYSTERY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 226, 18 June 1919, Page 8

THE ETHEL MYSTERY

■——4 i THE. YACHT IDENTIFIED. i ■ |". „ _ I WHERE IS THE OWNER? I• > . ! One of the chief topics of interest in ! yachting - 'circles is the Ethel- mystery, ! which' concerns the whereabouts of the j Wellington yacht Ethel and her owner, r lir..tHill, 1 ; a well-known habitue .of the i Boat Harbour. A few (lays ago it was j reported ill these columns that a yacht j manned .by one man only was thrown ,ui> j on,, the..beach at Palli.ser Bay some linns ! in April, arid that tlie man, whoso nam* ! was riot then mentioned, had left 1 for ! Wellington after a, two days' spell. I geeking' further and more exact inforn&liimHas .Sir. Hill had not turned'tip | in Wellington to support'the theory that | the wrecked yacht was the Etiiel), llr. j George M'Lean, secretary of the Port ! Nithofsoh' Yacht Clrib, " wrote to Mr. j Gordon,,the. settler at Palliser Bay. A I reply was'received yesterday' Stating that !> the "name of the man who had comb i ashore with' the yacht was Mr. Hill, and | the wrecked yacht vras'tho Ethel. The I yacht", had como ashore dismasted, anii ! 'Mr. Hill was in a very exhausted conI dition, after being thrown ashore. He I hid stayed in the bay for three days, and had then set out for Wellington on foot. The yacht was thrown upon tho _ beacli at a point about three this (the Westward)iside of the Capo Palliser lightI house. -Jliv Gordon states; that this oc- ; curred on.January 25, but it is concluded I h'ere that' lie must have been mistaken ! in his date, as tlie Ethel was-'reported ! to havo called in at Port.-Underwood ' (after a lengthy cruise .in the .founds) j- about the end of February. Tlw Ethel !. -as long eince been smashed up. j . Having accounted for.tho yacht, what f has become of its owner (Mr. Hill)? j That is the mystery now to be solved. Looal yachtsmen agree that if he: had i reached Wellington in safety; he would } have reported himself at the Boat HarI; hour, where lie has ft dinghy.and-a lot ! of miscellaneous boat goar. -but so for ; as is known no one has seen him in AVclj liugton since lie left on December 29 i for a cruise.in the Marlborough Sounds, j A theory lias been' put forward that his I experience in crossing the Strait, ending | in- the destruction of his -yacht, may havo i- affected him in some way, so as to pre- | vent him reaching ."Wellington in safety. 1 His avowed- intention at palliser Bay tq i walk-to-"Wellington was a s'pihovvhat nn- ! usual one, particularly, after,'his'arduous (.. experience afloat. . '.