ANOTHER "GAP" VICTIM

Shannon News, 12 April 1927, Page 4

ANOTHER "GAP" VICTIM

MAX OF 88 YJiLARS. PLUCKY SWIM- FOR THE BODY. HUGE SHARK CAUSES THRILLS. The body of. Charles Bennett age* 86, who jumped over "The Gap," near Sydney, recently, was recovered the following- day under thrilling circumstances. Bennet is believed to have fallen from the top shortly after 5.30 p.m. The police, who were informed, looken down the cliff, and saw a body on the rocks about 200 ft. below. Darkness, however, set in and it was then too late to recover it. Next morning a party of police, with went to ; see "The Gap" where they could frtiil see the body, which was in the same position as the previous night. It was decided to make an effort to recover it on the ocean side. Sergeant Strong was helped out of the difficulty by William Love, Samuel Love and Jack Ryles, a man-o'-warsman, who showed great courage in supsequent efforts. The party went round in a launch from Watson's Bay to a point opposite where the Dunbar was wrecked at "The Gap."' The . sea was running high and it was a hard job to keep the boat close in to the rocks. However, the trouble was overcome, and Ryles, with a rope around his waist, jumped into the waves and swimming as strongly as he could, battled ahead.

Knocked back several times by the receding waters of a strong, hign swell, Ryles, who is an unusually strong man, kept going. At one stage the men in the boat became alarmed owing to a huge shark appearing not many yards away. The monster swam around for several minutes but Ryles, ignorant of his additional danger, kept swimming and eventually reached one of the rocks. He had been half an hour in the water. Dodging the heavy seas, he managed to get from rock to rock, and in the end climbed 20ft. up to where the body lay. Signalling to those above t he received in a few seconds a large piece of canvas and some ropes. Fixing the canvas around the body, ne tied it up and gave the signal to those above. Three policemen and about 20 residents hauled the body to the top.

After attending to the body, Ryles had to swim back to the launch, which was about 70yds. 'from the shore. Ho did not know until he was pulled from the water that a shark was cruising about the locality. An attache case found on the top of "The Gap"-contained several letter*

from relatives, and also some business papers. Bennett was an Englishman, and some years ago occupied a cottago just opposite the spot over which ho fell. . He was a photographer,in Sydney some years ago..' " t