Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-11-24
Rockefeller Still Hopeful
But Plans Return to u. S.


Rockefeller said today he is
still hopeful his son Michael is
alive and that he win remain in
New Guinea a few more days.
But the New York Governor
Indicated the chances Of his
sons survival were slim, say
ing: II am a realist and I know
what he faces If he reached
that jungle"
A dispatch from Hollandia.
the capital Of Dutch New
Guinea on the north coast of
the island, said Gov. Rookie
feller was expected to return
tHsre Sunday and to leave for
NV York via Tokyo on Mon
day.
fIn Washington, the De-
tense Department announced
that the United States Navy
in q message to the Dutch
Navy at New Guinea had Of
fered to send ships, helicop-
tiers and planes to join the
search. A Dutch Defense
Ministry spokesman indicated
United States help was not
needed as adequate forces
Of all types are now avail
able for the search."O
Waters Shark Infested
Michael. %, set out to swim
more than 2 miles through
shark-infested waters for shore
after his catamaran raft cap
sized last week end in treacher-
GUS currents off the wild jungle
coast. No trace Of him has been
found. H.
The Governor and his daugh- o
ter, Mrs. Mary Strawbridge,
rushed by plane from New York h
to help in the search. t
Michael's companion. Rene 4
S. Wasting. who stayed with the
catamaran and was rescued
Sunday. said he argued for five
minutes with the young Ameri-
can before Mr.. Rockefeller
showed off for the shore.
II. disclaimed all RESPONSE
bflity," said DR.. Wasting. a col
lector of primitive art from
Amsterdam.
DR.. Wasting said their craft
was caught in heavy seas near
the mouth of the Eilanden
river Saturday and capsized.
ENCOURAGEMENT Offered
DR.. Wasting offered encour-
agement that Michael might
still be alive. although it was
evident that overwise hope was
fading.
"He could have made the
shore" the Dutchman said. HE
was in very good physical con-
dition."
What sort Of a place is it, this
swampy. muddy jungle coast?
The dirty, green and muddy
brown world of Dutch New
Guinea's southern shore -
known as Asmat - seems to
boast its defiance to a passing
airplane or ship, seems to defy
one to penetrate its mangrove
swamps and expansive mud
flats.
Did Michael reach the shore
and perish in the jungle, or did
ne reach a remote natiVel
village?
Government Makes Search
Or was he pulled out to sea
by the swift currents playing
along the coast of Flamingo
Bay on this Indian Ocean shore
OF the island?
Gov. Rockefeller flew over
the tangled vegetation for a
personal search of the area
less than an hour after arriving
in Merauke Tuesday.
He and his daughter, Mary,
Michaels twin, watched the
terrain in obvious dismay as
the DC-3 covered the coast
from the village of Merauke
to the village of AgatS.
The Governor and his daugh-
ter traded pair Of 5O-power
binoculars back and forth as
the plane dropped down to l 900
feet over the jungle. Occasion
ally one would make a remark.
but mostly they were silent.
Most often the Governor ap-
peared to be reassuring Mary.
Once, over native village
half mile inland, the Governor
told his daughter: "Look-if
he had gone in anywhere
around here, he would have
made his way to that village /"
Country Is Forbidding
Dutch New Guinea's coastal
land mass stretches flat to the
horizon and all of it is covered
with a thick mating of stubby
mangrove trees. Broad rivers
cut the shore and into each
How thick muddy streams.
Dutch officials claim a man
could exist for weeks in this
)