THE EGMONT FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1918, Page 4

THE EGMONT FATALITY.

AMBUfiY'S HEROIC ACTION. •

ATTEMPT TO SAVE GOURLAY. From later' accounts gathered of the accident on the northern slopes of. M,t. Egmont on Monday afternoon, in which Messrs Arthur H. Ambury and W, E. Gourlay lost their lives,, it appears that Ambury's death was the outcome of what can only be termed a most heroic attempt to save Gourlay in his slide down tie ice. •It seems that a party of three young men— W. B. Gourlay, E. B. Macdonald, and N. Fookes—left the old Mountain House at 6*30 on Monday mprnjng fo ascend the mountain. They found the climbing very heavy, having to cut steps in the ice for a considerable' portion of the way. SPhey reached tie summit, however, at 12.15 pji;, and conanea«ed the descent at 12.45. On the w»y dowi Ihey began to glissade, and during tye process Macdonald lost his foothold and 6lid for some Aistance, but eventually, with the aid of his alpenstock; he checked his descent on coming into Contact with a big block of ice. Fookes made a plucky attempt to reach Macdonald, and .succeeded in doing so. He found him somewhat dazed and more or less helpless. He bound Macdonald to himself with a pair of puttees, and managed, with difficulty, to get him back on to the track. He then proceeded to assist hie comrade in the further descent of the mountain. After going some' distance, at about the 7000 ft. mark they saw another party belaw them, to whom they signalled for help. The party included Messrs, C. Bottrill, Mackay, and Arthur Ambury and the latter's wife. Mr. Ambury returned with his wife to a place of safety and then proceeded to gjve assistance to the men who were in difficulty. By this time Gourlay had been left some distance behind. Fookes then left Macdonald and went back to assist Gourlay, while Bottrill and Mackay ascended to where Macdonald was, and assisted him further down the mountain side. Ambury went on to join Foolces, who had reached Gourlay and was helping him down. The two had come some distance when a shout from a member of the party gstvc a warning, and Gourlay, who was directly above Ambury, was seen to have lost his footing and to be sliding down the ice with considerable momentum. A BRAVE ACT. It was here that Mr. Ambury showed his heroism. Taking a chance which lie must have known would be a very remote one. of saving the falling 'man, lie stuck his alpenstock fast in the ica, took a firm hold with his feet, and endeavored to catch the body of Gourlay and cheek his descent. ' The impact, however, was such that Amhury was imfooted, his alpenstock broken, and the two men slid, it is cnimated, a distance of about, 1200 ft., and finally went over into a gully about 30ft. deep', somewhat to, the left of Humphrey's Car.tlc looking from'above.

S'RAIiCH PARTI ORGANISED. The other men then decided that the best course for them was to return to the Mountain House and secure further assistance. Fookes proceeded ahead, and the others reached the house at about S p.m. Dr. Wade was summoned, and when he arrived a party of man set out to search for the two' unfortunate men. The Dawson Falls House was communicated with and Guide Murphy and several other men came round to assist in the search. The bodies of the two men were found, but it was not possible to bring them in in the darkness, and the searchers returned to the hostelry at about 12.30 a.m. There is no doubt thaf in both cases death was instantaneous', as the bodies were fearfully mutilated.

RECOVERING THE BODIES. Yesterday morning Constables Wrob. lenski and Hadler were sent out with a motor lorry to the Mountain House. Guide Murphy set off about 7.30, with a party of about 20 men, to bring in the bodies. A section of the party, comprising some half-dozen men, reached the spot where the men fell at about 10 o'clock. The bodies were strapped up in canvas sheets by Guide Murphy, and a rope was put around them and they were hauled up by the other members of the party. By this time the other members of the search party hart arrived, and a start was made to convey the bodies back to the Mountain House. The task was no easy one. The men worked in relays, but the weight of their burden and the slippery nature of the track made the going hard and was responsible for a good number of fulls during the long journey. The party returned to the Mountain House at about 1.30 p.m., and the bodies wen. brought to New Plymouth by motor lorry, arriving here at about 5.30 p.m., when they were viewed by the coroner. An inquest will be held to-day. Mr. Gourlay, who belonged to Christchurch, was a, cadet draughtsman in the New Plymouth office of the Survey Department, and had been here only a, few months. He was about 19 years of age. It is understood that his body will be taken to Christolrurch for burial, leaving by the mail train this morning. Mr. Am bury was the eldest son of Mr. Arthur Ambury, of the firm of Ambury Bros., of Now Plymouth. He was 37 years of age. and leaves a widow and four young children. The funeral is to take place on Thursday afternoon.. By Telegraph.—?ress Association.

Chriatehurch, Last Night. W. E. Qourlay, one of the victims of the Mount Egmont fatality, was a son of Mr. E. Gourlay, linotype operator on the Press, and was twenty years of a«c. He headed the list for' Christchurch district in ,the junior civil service examinations, and entered ' the Christchurch office of the L<ands and Survey Department in 1914 as a cadet. Later he was transferred to Auckland, eventu. ally being transfererd. ahout six months ago, to New Plymouth. He enlisted for ftctiyo service a little time ago, and. Nt the time of his death, was awaiting medical examination.