A THRILLING EXPERIENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 266, 2 April 1913, Page 7

A THRILLING EXPERIENCE.

LOST ON RUAPEOU. TOLD BY A LADY CUMBER. Auckland, March >26. The storv of Mademoiselle Coche's remarkable escape from death on Mount Ruapehu is told by the Star's special correspondent as follows: — The Story of Miss Coolie and lier- unfortunate young compin'i«n : is 'harrowing. How ever the lady came through is a miracle; not one in a 'huridred of her sex could have done it. The feat j speaks volumes for her physique and strength of will. One cannot help ad- • miring the way she stuck to young Bingham. Though not weak, he was not strong, and the tramp through the bush track on the Saturday to the camp knocked him up considerably. Miss Coche kept her wits right through the awful ordeal, and to this f-ict alone she owes her life. When she had to give in going up the mountain to reconnoitre on the Mondav morning, and was left with Bingham, thev gathered as much wood as they could and tried to Tight a fire. Match after match was struck, but they: were damp, and match after match went: out. They waited where thev were—in fact, there was nothing else to 'do. CAUGHT-IN" A BUZZARD. Then, just before middnv. '.''me the blizzard, with the icy chill and its di'iv-j ing snow. The two scrambled to what little shelter there was, huddled together for warmth. They waited -^ R the afternoon wore on they deciile'd to make down the , mountain and. if possible, strike a creek, with tV object of following it down, knowing tin* it would bring them to the base somewhere. As it turned out. thev struck the same creek as that down which the two lads J Mclntvre and Burt had come the night previous. It was terribly rough going, especially for a ladv, but thev stuck to it with the determination of people battling for their lives, scrambling and falling along the bed of the stream. They made verv slow progress, although the toil was. infinite. Somewhere nliofit "3 p.mi they shared the remains of. an apple tart between them. It was onb' a mouthful each, and after a brief halt they set off again. "The agonv of itwas that we did not know how long we would have to go." said Miss ("oelie, when I saw her this morning, propped up among pillows. "We never actually lost heart, but the suspense of it was the trying part." . , LOSS OF BIXG MAM. Then came the tragic part of the disaster. The river has a terriMv ragged i bed, and at one spot flows between narrow, precipitins rocks. This obstacle had to be negotiated. Bingham, hanging on to one side, went to jump across, and this was the last his companion saw of him. She had climbed into the bush to get round the precipice, or rather waterfall, and tiie last she saw of Bingv ham was his apparent attempt to jump over the chasm. "1 was horrified not to sec liini when I looked up again,"..said'. Miss Coche, "and as quickly as 1 could j I climbed back to the top of the chasm j 'but there was not a sign of the young: fellow. Looking over the edge, 1 could | see water at the bottom, falling over big boulders, and I s-nv liis mit and a stick , lie 'had been using to come down the] creek. I climbed all about, hunted' everywhere. and eooeed, time after time, but there was not a sound. 'it was a wild spot, and the water, lashed over the rocks with great force.He would, of course, have been drowned', at once if he had fallen down that .rtwful:: place. ITliat to do 1 dM knowvbftt. I knew that if I remained out 'much longer I would not be able to bear up* After being satisfied that the vj.ing fellow was nowhere about I n anipp.d', off again alone, scrambling down' rocky creek in a dense forest. ■ ;Xight.| came on. and still there was no in the forest, which enveloped', levery-' thing like a pall." There was only, the rugged bed of the creek, and this' 1 Coche followed, as she says, medlianic : | ally, livery stitch of clothing slije had on was wringing wet, and, to makfe mat-1 ters worse, she had not even a (natch j with which to trv to coax a bit (if fire out of the damp wood. Taking nlff her wet cotton clpthcs, which clung tp her, she wrapped herself ill a wolleo skirt and a woollen, jersey, in order to| have, something woollen next her skin, ijnd ill this plight lay down on the wet creek bank to pass the night. 'T realjv.lay down to die." said Miss Coche. "I Was' famished. The cold was intense, and the shock of losing young Bingham had qiiitd-

''xluuisted 1110. Oddly enough, next livpsnh j in«i I felt slightly better, although 1 1 did 1 not sleep much, as you can imagiiiei-! I< could see nothing ahead, and thouglit;|it ; was nil over. To show you what quperj things pass through one's mind at suc.li. •v moment, I believed I would starve, but then I thought it would take several j (lavs to starve to death, so I decided I might as well starve walking as lying ilown, and 1 set off again down, thatkreek which seemed to have no ending. To make matters worse, my shoes—tliey were ordinary heavy walking shoes—gave out, and the heel got loose. Thife> made me fall several times. Of course', j I was wet .through, and sometimes jWOTi up to my waist wading through' deep, places. . Then I threw my shoes avw-y.,! and started to walk on my bare' The water in. the creek was very cold,, and mv feet were all cut about, bill}, strangely enough, I did not feel the, slightest pain until afterwards. • !\\ell, | I scrambled o.nd struggled on, half walking, half scrambling, and suddenly, about the middle of the afternoon, T saw down the valley a .railway viaduct. I kne'v that if T kept on T must come to a railway bridge sooner or later, and I had been picturing mv joy at seeing it. The reality was very different, f simply collapsed there, and then T rallied, and thought that viaduct the most glorious bit of architecture T had ever seen in iniy life. After a while T got out of the ■ciwk and tried to climb-up to the top of the viaduct, but. seeing a ro'idwav and a bridge lower down that looked easier, T decided to make for that. SEARCH PAT!TV MKT. , ".lust.then some men appeared on the viaduct. They saw me, and th?v waved. They were soon at the bottom of tin 1 irorge, and carried me up to the to]) of the rnilwav line, where tliev soon had a trollv, on which they brought me kick to Ohakune." IN TERRIBLE PLIGHT. As a matter of fact, had the parly Messrs. Flannell. Bendsow, and Lowe — not happened to lind Miss C'oche just then as she emerged from the gorge, there is no telling what, might have been her fate. She was unite done, and her feet were in a terrible plight, swollen and cut by the jagged rocks and half frost-bitten. She was soon back at Ohakune, and, under the kind care of Mrs. Bradcock and the skilled attention of Drs. Feltham and Nelson, this morning she is much better, except for her feet, and it will probably be several days before she can use them again.