NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1496, 13 January 1916, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mr Charles Williams, a South Island boy who went to the South Pole with Captain Scott, and who subsequently joined the Navy, writes as follows to relatives : “ I have been afloat now since June 22 along with my old commander, whom I served under in the Antarctic. I am quite contented with my ship. I may say that I had my first experience of being in action —never mind where. Movements of ships, places of action, and so on, are never divulged. Any way, we came through the ordeal well and without casualties. The Germans did not (are so well. According to accounts, 600 went to Heaven in a bit of a hurry, to say nothing of the disabled we have in hospitals.”

An interesting event held in connection with a picnic on New Year’s Day at New Plymouth was an attempt by three men to swim from the breakwater to the East End beach, one of the party succeeding in accomplishing the performance. The swimmers were N. C. Christensen, N. Winter, and D. Davis, and they dived off the the breakwater a few minutes after nine o’clock. After the men had been in the water for fifty minutes Winter gave up, having covered about a mile. The next man to stop was Christensen, who swam ashore opposite the baths. Davis however, kept at his task, and swam on strongly, in spite of a tricky current, which was against him most of the time. After passing in front of the town the strain commenced to tell on Davis, but he swam on steadily, and reached his goal, coming ashore at the East End beach, after having been in the water for two hours and forty-nine minutes, Thia is the first time this has been done.