CALL OF THE SEA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 23, 20 September 1912, Page 8

CALL OF THE SEA.

AUCKLAND BOY'S ESCAPADES,

AX ESCAPE PROM CUSTODY

An interesting story is being recounted just now of the adventures oi ■ a young Aueklander, who found a shore I life irksome, and successfully defied | not 'Only his friends, but the law also, \ m achieving his purpose, which was to | roam the blue seas, and view the world i for himself. Ho is a strapping young six-footer, 17 years of age, and is the only son of a very well known Queen I Street business man. As a small boy he displayed a keen interest in boats, and before entering his teens made and sailed several very fine models. With each additional year his interest in ships and boats increased, a?id he pleaded hard to be allowed to go to sea. Being an only boy, his mother naturally opposed the idea, and urged him to at least wait until lie was twenty-one, while the father also I pleaded that the son should learn the ! business, to which he would in time ' succeed. The call of the sea, howl ever, was too strong, and one bright morning the lad was missing. Investi- ' gation proved that two youths, one of i whom answered the description given, had sailed the previous evening on a Norwegian sailing vessel. It was further ascertained that this vessel had gone to the Great Barrier to complete loading before leaving New Zealand waters. The assistance of the law was at once, invoked, and the issue of a warrant resulted in the boy's apprehension ut the Harrier. The youth, however, was of a resourceful turn of mind, and having made up his mind to travel, he apparently had no compunction in breaking bounds. How he escaped from custody is not quite dear, but it seems lie had gathered some knowledge of the locality on previous visits to the Barrier with his father, who is a well-known yachtsman. At any rate, the police officer on the afternoon following the hoy's arrest had a surprise when the prisoner, allowed out .in.the garden for exercise, leaped the wall and took to his heels. High hills near by provide ample cover, and he made speedy tracks for Whangapapara, and there boarded the b.irque just as she was sailing, en route td foreign parts. The boy is a lad of excellent character. He has useful assets in the way of health, strength, and a knowledge of boats, so that his father (who is now reconciled to his soil's actions) says, he should really be none the worse for his adventures abroad.