Townsville Daily Bulletin 15 Jun 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61358971
I thought this story was a very interesting one. When I started reading I thought it was a strange recount of a myth. It turned out to be a very interesting combination of new (well, 1932 new) and old.
I was surprised to read that the reason for sending Rikan Konishi into a volcano to recover the bodies of Sylvester Nunes and Margaret Ends was that the locals feared the presence of the bodies was upsetting the goddess Pele. I wonder if the tidal waves caused by the reportedly angry goddess ceased after the bodies were removed?
Rikan Konishi weighed only 85lb (38.5kg). I wonder what over nine hours in a smoking crater did for his health? Can you imagine that going on now? These days it would be a major operation involving hundreds of people and much safety equipment. Back then they put a small bloke in a cage with a packed lunch and a phone and sent him down the crater. An impressive days work.
