DEATH IN DESERT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 13

DEATH IN DESERT

AUSTRALIAN TEACHER WARNINGS DISREGARDED (Received February H, 11.5 p.m.) ADELAIDE. Feb. It The body of Mr. Ellis Bankin, a Victorian school teacher, who had been missing in Central Australia since January 9, has been discovered in the desert. Apparently ho died from thirst and exposure. Mr. Bankin, who was regarded as one of the most picturesque teachers in the Victorian service, was a real adventurer. He left Alice Springs on a motor-cycle tour of the south-west portion of the Northern Territory in order to obtain material for a lecture tour in England. He was urged by everyone who saw him to abstain from making the trip in the desert owing to the perils and the inhospitable nature of the country and was warned that it would be a miracle if he returned.

Eventually, a local settler, Mr. Victor Dumas, sot out with camels and covered a wide area in a month's search which to-day resulted' in the finding of the body 10 miles from Lyndavale station, near the South Australian border. Mr. Bankin's motor-cycle was found beside his body. His empty water can and some clothing and a camera were found eight miles distant.