MAN DIES OF THIRST.
OUTBACK TRAGEDY IN QUEENSLAND. 300 YARDS FROM RIVER. (Tltrfjl OTJK OWN CORKIBJOHDEKT.) SYDNEY - , March 3. Although the body of Daniel Richardson, aged 37, was found near Boulia, in Central Queensland, only 300 yards from a rivor the circumstances made it plain that he had died of thirst. Thus was another tragedy added to the long list of those which have occurred in the arid outback of Australia. Richardson had been in Queensland for some time looking for work, and one day last week ho set out from Boulia for the Marion Downs Station, 34 miles away. It was a dry and lonely area that lie had to cover, but he took with him a water bag containing what should have been sufficient water for his journey. It is supposed that his bag developed a leak and that he died about 24 hours before ho wtjs discovered by a search party last Friday. Medical opinion was that he had been without water for three days. The police buried Richardson where they found him. and marked the spot with a tiny wooden cross. The condition of his body and his clothing told of liis dreadful sufferings, His hands and face were torn and blistered. He had evidently staggered about until he had fallen to the ground from sheer exhaustion. Then he had commenced to Craw] along the dry, hard sand. It is not known what distance he could have covered in this way, but it is certain that he was not in a lit condition to go very far. The probability is that ho had occasional fits of unconsciousness, and that he knew of the location of the Gcorgina river. Had ho been able to crawl as far as the river the chances are that ho would have been found alive. The heat in Central Queensland has been terrific this summer, and this would have added to the sufferings of Richardson. Death from thirst is one of the most agonising possible, and it is a risk run by all those who venture to cross the plains of little-known Australia. The body becomes thin and pain racked, and tho man who is unable to get water quickly loses his reason, and mirages appear beforo him, leading him to bury liis face in tho sand and imagine he is drinking. Many thirst tragedies have been reported from Queensland during j tho last year. On two occasions skeletons have been found, and it is certain that death in each instance has been duo to thirst. With tho cruel heat thaf haß prevailed most of the water-courses have dried up, and wanderers have been forced to take unusual precautions. j
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Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20493, 11 March 1932, Page 6
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448MAN DIES OF THIRST. Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20493, 11 March 1932, Page 6
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