RESCUE TRIBUTE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20097, 17 November 1939, Page 9

RESCUE TRIBUTE

SHOW-DAY IMMERSION YACHTSMEN’S GIFTS FIVE LIVES IN DANGER Five young Gisborne men whose enthusiasm for yachting received a decided setback on Show day in Gisborne, when they were thrown into the sea a mile offshore and were rescued at the last gasp, have taken an early opportunity of acknowledging their indebtedness to those who assisted in the rescue.

When their boat capsized, the first to reach the men in their precarious position was Mr. Arthur Hart, who put out from the shore in a flatbottomed boat and with some difficulty took aboard first one of the men who had swum half-way to the shore and had then “cracked up" owing to the failure of a shoulder which was still affected by a football injury; and later the other four.

His craft was not large enough to accommodate all five and permit of rowing safely to the shore, and Mr. Hart wisely awaited the arrival of additional aid, which came through the medium of the fishing launch Amai, in charge of Mr. A. G, Higham.

The five men who suffered immersion were in acute danger when picked up by the first boat, and they were in a decidedly unsafe position, together with Mr. Hart, until the launch came to their assistance. Neither of the rescuers would consent to accepting rewards for their services, but the recipients of their aid, determined not to join the great majority of rescued persons, who once in safety forget their indebtedness, called on both Mr. Hart and Mr. Higham during the past few days and presented them with mementoes of the occasion.