A THRILLING SCENE

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1498, 2 October 1883, Page 2

A THRILLING SCENE

At Perranporth, near Truro, the driver of a wagonette party wandering on the beach found his retreat cut off by the tide. He essayed to climb the cliffs, but when half-way up he found progress' impossible and descent certainly fatal. The ledge On which h was supported would only give space for one foot, and the ground to which he clung above was loose and crumbling. For some hours he endured this suspense, when the visitors descried him from above, The news spread, and a crowd congregated, but none dared to venture along the slight ledge by which alone the man could be approached. To have thrown a rope would have been useless, for the effort to catch it would certainly have the poor fellow to fall. A Coastguardsman, named Regan, volunteered to be let down 100 ft over the face of the cliff, and while he descended the excitement was quickened tenfold. The man below could only hold out a little longer, and the leant disturbance of the earth around him would inevitably cause his destruction, In breathless eagerness the spectators saw the one man near the other, By a sudden effect, the Coastguardsman clasped the man he had endeavored to save with a sudden and strong grip, and they swung off the ledge together Even then danger was not at an end; but a descent was safely effected to a ledge below, whence access to the summit was gradually gained. . ' The spectators were too overcome to cheer, but they did what was bettercollected a good round sum for the gallant Coastguardsman.