TRAGIC FATE OF BUSHMAN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19825, 30 December 1938, Page 14

TRAGIC FATE OF BUSHMAN

POISONED PEACHES ACCIDENT ON MAIL TRIP DARWIN, Dec. 21. Paddy Bennett, one of the bestknown ' Northern Territory bushrnen, died near Katherine after eating peaches which had- become poisoned accidentally. His companion, Monte Sullivan, aged 47, is critically, ill in Katherine Hospital. Messrs. Bennett and Sullivan ate the peaches at the week-end when on a “wet-season” pack'horse mail trip. On the mail trip the two men carried a bag containing a bottle of corrosive sublimate tablets, which broke with the jolting of the pack-saddles. The men emptied the.bag, but did not know that some ■ of the tablets had crushed into the fabric of the sack. They packed a box of dried peaches into the bag, and continued their way to Katherine.. The rough going burst open the peaches also. When eleven miles from Katherine Messrs. Bennett and Sullivan had breakfast. They cut the peaches with a knife, which had been used for putting poison into dingo baits. An hour after eating the peaches Mr. Bennett died and Mr. Sullivan became desperately ill. Despite his agony, Mr. Sullivan galloped into Katherine, where he was admitted to hospital in a serious condition. Mr. Bennett was regarded as one of the most excellent , bushmen in Australia. He was said to be one of the few men who could get through with mails on the flooded inland tracks in the wet season.