SOUTH WESTLAND FATALITY.
LOUIS ZALA DROWNED.
Sergeant Folley on Saturday received the sad news from Mr. Harris, of Matainui that the body of Mr. Louis Zala, the well known and popular sawmiller and settler of Okarito Forks had been found that morning at the ford of the Waitangi river.
From the meagre particulars at hand it is gathered that Mr. Zala left on Friday with a drayload of timber, and not reaching his destination that evening, search parties went out next morning on both sides of the Waitangi river to search for him, with the result that at his body was found on the ford as stated. The remains were taken to Okarito Forks.
The deceased was a native of Italy and nearly 50 years of age. He was unmarried, but has two nephews in New Zealand, one residing at Reefton.
Deceased was a very popular man and highly respected. He offered his services some time ago for the reinforcements, but was unable to pass the medical test.
The bad weather on Friday would doubtless cause the Waitangi to be in flood. In ordinary circumstances it is not a dangerous crossing. There is no word to hand as to the fate of the horses in the dray. -West Coast Times, 22/11/1915.
A private letter from the south yesterday records that the drowning fatality of Mr L. Zala spread quite a gloom over the southern district. It appears he was crossing the Waitangi River with a load of timber in a dray, drawn by three horses. The dray got into a deep gut and the river was rising rapidly. As the horses could not draw the load out, he appears to have released the leaders, and it is then surmised that he was releasing the shafter, when the current overturned the loaded dray, and Zala appears to have been caught underneath. The searchers found the body pinned under the load caught by the clothing but the body was floating. There were not any marks on the body, so apparently the deceased met his death by drowning. The funeral took place on Sunday, and was the largest gathering of the kind ever known in the district. Mr Zala was an enterprising pioneer settler, and he will be greatly missed in the south district, where he was so widely esteemed. -Grey River Argus, 25/11/1915.
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