S.O.S. SENT AS PRANK

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 61, 30 March 1937, Page 8

S.O.S. SENT AS PRANK

-Press Assooiation.)

Boy's Signals Cause Concern at Auckland RESCUE EFFORTS BEGUN

(By Tslejr&ph-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Distress. signals flashed by a .toroh from the end of the long wharf at Waiwera by a 16-year-old boy during & north-easterly gale last night wero responsible for much anxiety among officiala of the Auckland Harbour Board and among about 80 guests of the hotel at Waiwera. With heavy seas breaking over the ond of the wharf and thick, misty rain driven in from the open sea by the strong wind the light appeared to be showing from a position on the seaward side of Tiri Tiri Island. The alarm was first given by on® of the guests who saw the light give several intermittent flashes and then slowly spell out the well-known S.O.S. call. After a hurxied consultation it was decided to communicate immediately with .the Queen's Wharf office of the Harbour Board. An urgent longdistance telephone call was put through and preparations were made in Auckland for the immediate despatch. of one of the Harbour Board 's powerful tugs. In the meantime about 80 guests and residents of Waiwera gathered near the foreshore. The light was seen on several occasions bnt with the heavy rain, spray and mist it was impossible toi accuratoly judge its position. By walking up and down the wharf and carefully shading the light the boy carried out his ruse with great success. It was not until the proprietor of the hotel saw the light from a window in the top storey that any suspicions were aroused. Viewed from high above the ground it could be seen that the light was only a short distance out to sea. A party then went to the end of the wharf and the lad was found fully appreciating the concern he had caused. He was taken back to the hotel, and it was only(when he saw the piles of warm blankets and other emergency measures which had been taken when it was thought that a, party might land on the coast nearby that he realised the seriousness of his prank. The Harbour Board was notified but already a number of men had been called from their bomes. *