ABORIGINAL’S ESCAPE

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 January 1926, Page 7

ABORIGINAL’S ESCAPE

ATTACK UP(S A WOMAN. While returning to Townsville from Palm Island, on board the steamer Malanda, in charge of Detective McCarthy, an aborigine, Jacky Toorak, who earlier in the week had been arrested by native police, charged with’ 'attempted assault on a nurse in her quarters, made his escape, writes the Brisbane correspondent of a Sydney paper. A numbex- of police and trackers took up the work of recapturing him, and quickly picked up Toorak’s tracks going toward Ingham.

. Late the following afternoon Inspector Fax-rell received advice that about 3 p-m. that day an aborigine apptoach--ed the house of a selector named Braburo and asked Mrs. Braburn for food. This was freely given, and the man is then stated to have gone outside the kitchen- and removed his boots. It is alleged he returned and . pleaded for a piece of cake, and that while Mrs. Braburn was getting a piece fox- him he seized her by the ■ wrists. A desperate straggle ensued, and they fell struggling to the ground. It is stated that Mrs. Braburn was able to free herself, and promptly poked both her thumbs into the aborigine’s eye, forcing him to release his hold. Mrs. Braburn thexx called out to her two children to bring a rifle.

The man went outside and sat nearthe well among some lantana bushes. Mrs. Braburn fired a shot with a .303 x ifle, but did nit know much about its mechanism and was unable to fire again. The aborigine was not disturbed by the shot and remained for some time. The hour growing late, and her husband, who was away looking aftexcattle on an adjoining section, not likely to be near till nightfall, Mrs. Braburn took her two children. Crossing the Black River, she started on a two miles walk to the nearest neighbour. From there the public telephone on Black Road was reached and information was conveyed to the police. They were hot oxx the aborigine’s tracks, but were handicapped by continuous rain. Kulburn is 12g miles by rail from Townsville, and from there the chase led to Rollingstone, 33 miles. On, the next afternoon the party learnt that the fugitive was only an hour* ahead of them. They followed his tracks into the scrub just as dusk closed on them. Early in the morning advice was received that an aborigine had been seexx in a large pocket fonned by Cattle Creek. Owing to the high tide the creek was half a mile wide- His footsteps were eventually picked up in the mangroves, where he swam a small creek to secure'a boat. The police rowed upstx'eam and thexx down toward the mouth of the creek. It was apparent that the black was making .for Mangalla Station. He was hailed by /a resident, who demanded the return of the boat? Seeing a rifle the aborigine gave in, and he was promptly seized by the police on his xeaching the bank.