1898 - 1939 (41 years)
-
Name |
Eva Isabel Berthelsen |
Born |
29 Jul 1898 |
Queensland, Australia. |
- Name: Eva Isabel Berthelsen: Birth Date: 29 Jul 1898: Father's name: Thomas Berthelsen: Mother's name: Mary Katherine List: Registration Number: 007984
(Queensland Birth Register 1829 - 1964)
|
Gender |
Female |
Died |
23 Dec 1939 |
Grand Hotel, Goomeri, Queensland, Australia |
Death. |
27 Dec 1939 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
NINE DEAD IN FIRE
Ashes Search At Goomeri
A death roll of nine was revealed at the completion of the search yesterday of the ruins of the Grand Hotel. Goomeri,destroyed by fire early on Saturday morning. Teeth and personal belongings discovered during the day enabled the police to identify another three of the victims: George Eddie, 25 or 26, of Booinbah. farm labourer.
Robert Rickson, 25, of Grafton, timber cutter.
Allen Gordon Carter, 35, who arrived from the West on Friday.
Other victims were: John William Parker, 40, licensee, who escaped from the building, but died subsequently from burns and shock.
Mrs. Eva Parker, 41, his wife.
Mrs. Gladys Edwards, 24, who was staying overnight.
Mrs. Pearl Frahm, 25, barmaid.
Miss Eileen Eiscntrager, 30, typist.
Sifting of ashes was completed at 6.30 p.m., but nothing was found to indicate the identity of the ninth victim.
Waiter Herbert Stewart. 60, of Bundamba, who was believed to have been a victim, was located at Ebbw Vale yesterday.
A search is still being made for 'Pitch' Taylor. 22, of Goomeri, tractor-driver, who also was believed to have been incinerated.
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Wednesday 27 December 1939" |
Fire |
29 Dec 1939 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
Fire Killed Eight
Police have concluded investigations into the fire which destroyed the Grand Hotel, Goomeri, early on Saturday morning. They are satisfied that the death- roll is eight. Bones which led them to think that there was a ninth victim are believed to be remains from the final meal at the hotel on Friday. Anxiety had been felt for "Pitch" Taylor, 22, tractor driver, of Goomeri, who, however, has been located on a dairy farm outside Goomeri.
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland,"Friday 29 December 1939"
|
Fire |
29 Dec 1939 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
INQUEST INTO HOTEL
FIRE.
"Windows Boarded Up."
BARMAN'S EVIDENCE.
BRISBANE, Friday.
 statement that the windows outside his room and that of Mrs. Frahm were boarded up with battens about three or four inches apart on the lower part of the window was made by Peter Bendel, a barman, during the Inquest to-day Into the deaths of eight persons In the fire at the Grand Hotel. Goomeri, on December 23.
He said that the windows had been like that since he had first come to the hotel in 1938. When he escaped he climbed over the top of the battens.
Replying to the Coroner, the witness said that he was told that someone had jumped out one of those windows some time ago, and the battens were probably placed there to prevent a recurrence
Bendel said that he had tried to rescue Mrs Frahm but the dense smoke had prevented
him
James Michael Ryan, postmaster, described how Jack Parker, the licensee, broke through some blinds and appeared to come right out of the fire. He crashed heavily to the ground with the fire coming out over him. The witness tried to reach him but was beaten back by the intense heat
Sergeant Eiser said he did not think that one fire escape was adequate for the occupants of 12 rooms on the top storey. His inquiries did not reveal suspicious circumstances
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Saturday 13 January 1940"
|
Fire |
12 Jan 1940 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
WHOLE HOTEL ALIGHT
IN 3 MINUTES
Goomeri Victims Had No Chance ESCAPE CUT OFF
(From Our Special Reporter)
GOOMERI, Thursday.-Heart-rending stories of the sufferings of victims trapped in the blazing Grand Hotel at Goomeri, early on the morning of December 23, were told at the inquest to-day on the eight victims of the fire. Witnesses described how blinds between the upstairs verandah and the fire escape had been nailed, thus preventing access to the escape, while the escape itself had been folded and secured by wire, so that its lowest part was seven or eight feet from the ground. The hotel, it was stated, was ablaze from end to end in a few minutes. At least one life could have been saved if these conditions had not existed, said one witness.
Sergeant Hermann Henry Eiser, of Goomeri, said that when he arrived, the north-western corner of the hotel was ablaze, and flames were pouring through the roof. The fire spread quickly. "Thank God you have come. There is a woman at the end of the verandah, and we can't get her out," said John English, when the sergeant arrived.
"English and I rushed to the fire escape, leading to the verandah, and found Arthur Boyce at the head of the escape," Sergeant Eiser continued. "Cutting off the fire escape from the verandah were blinds nailed down where the escape joined over immediately above the railing.
I shouted to Boyce: 'Smash that blind and see if you can get that woman.' Boyce smashed the blinds with his hand, but smoke belched through the hole he made, and forced him back. Andrew Mann rushed up the escape, but was beaten back by the smoke.
I saw that it was impossible to get the woman. She had ceased screaming by this time. "English told me there that there were several other people in the building. He shouted, and banged the walls, in an attempt to awaken them. Una Dunn, Freda Schulte, Fred. Cheshire, and Peter Bendle, four employees had escaped already."
Three minutes after my arrival the building was alight from end to end. It was impossible to attempt to save anyone else. The Boonara Hotel opposite was in danger, and I ordered a man to awaken everyone in that hotel.
"She Went Mad"
"Just then Douglas Gordon called, 'Sergeant, come quickly. Jack Parker (licensee of the Grand Hotel) is here in a terrible mess.
"We found Parker lying in a drain in the railway yards shockingly burned about the body, arms, and face, and unclothed. "
'Sergeant,' he moaned, 'take me away from this terrible heat. I have smashed a leg and broken an ankle.'
"While we were carrying Parker away I asked him where Mrs. Parker was.
" She is in there, he said, pointing to the blazing hotel. 'She wakened me, then went mad. I could not get her.'
"We placed him behind a pine log to shelter him from the heat. He was treated by a doctor, and a man with a knowledge of first aid. He was then taken to the Wondai Hospital by the ambulance.
"A bucket brigade was formed, which eventually saved the Boonara Hotel, the postmaster's home, and the shops east of the Grand Hotel. I poured water leaking from the tanks of the burning building over the garages. The post office, a wooden building, separ- ated from the Grand Hotel by a 10ft. lane, was demolished."
Escape Cut Off
The hotel was a two-story wooden building, owned by Corser and Co., of Maryborough. Parker, the licensee, held it on a seven years' lease from August, 1938. There was one fire escape and two stairways from the top floor, said Sergeant Eiser.
"From inquiries and observations, I believe that the fire began in the vicinity of the top floor lounge, close to the doors of Miss Eisentrager's and Mr. and Mrs. Parker's rooms," he con- tinued. "This would cut off the escape of the top-floor occupants from two stairways. The occupants of rooms 14 to 18 would have to go through other bedrooms or the commercial room to reach the fire escape, as there was no hallway to the veranda.
"Friday, December 22, was kept up as Christmas Eve at Goomeri. It was a late shopping night and many people were about. Both hotels were busy. When I spoke to Mrs. Parker at 11 p.m. she said that their hotel had done good business. Last in the lounge were two employees, Misses Una Dunn and Freda Schulte, who went there at 2.10 a.m. for their door keys. Both said that they saw no sign of fire or of inflammable material.
"Both Mr. and Mrs. Parker were held in high esteem. They had no enemies, nor would anyone attempt to harm them.
Two Missed Death
When making inquiries to establish the identity of the victims, Sergeant Eiser learned that "Titch" Taylor, Alexander Steward Campbell, and a man named Tosh had booked rooms, but did not occupy them, and so escaped.
A systematic search of the debris was made on Sunday, December 24, by Sergeant Eiser, the Coroner (Mr. J. C. Dillon), Detective Sergeant T. E. Martin, Sergeant Witt, and Dr. St. A. McDowell.
Sergeant Eiser produced a plan show- ing where the remains of the victims were found. The ashes were sifted, he said, and the discovery of rings, false teeth, and other articles, and the location of the bodies established the identity of the victims to his satisfaction.
Peter Bendle, the barman, told him that he heard the screams of Mrs. Frahm in the hallway, not in the bed- room. Therefore he thought that Mrs Frahm ran towards the lounge to the main stairway.
The body of Mrs. Edwards was found at the end of the veranda where the fire escape was. English had told him that Mrs. Edwards walked towards the end of the veranda screaming and moaning, and her screams gradually ceased
Blinds Nailed, Escape Folded
Eva Muriel Buchanan, single, of Planted Creek, near Goomeri, told the Coroner that she went to the township for Christmas and stayed at the Grand Hotel. At the Christmas Eve dance she met Mrs. Edwards and Eisentrager, whom she knew well. Mrs. Edwards told her that she was going home for Christmas.
The smoking-room separated her room in the hotel from that of Mrs. Edwards.
"Mrs. Edwards' screaming from her room awakened me," said Miss Buch- anan. "There was a little smoke in my room. I saw smoke and flames coming from Mrs. Edwards' room. She was leaning over the veranda railing with her baby in her arms, saying to the men below, 'For God's sake save my baby.'
"She threw the baby. I grasped her arm, and told her to come with me, but she wrenched her arm away, and said she could not jump.
"It was getting hotter each moment, and there was much fire and smoke. She went to the other end of the veranda towards the fire escape. "I climbed over and dropped to the ground, escaping with a jarred foot.
"On Friday afternoon Mrs. Edwards and I were talking on the upstairs veranda. Because of the heat I tried to pull up the blinds near the fire escape, but found them nailed down with a piece of board."
Questioned by the Coroner Miss Buchanan said that Mrs. Edwards knew that the blinds were nailed down, and said that it was silly to nail them.
Escape Wired
Arthur Boyce, truck driver, who had been living at the Grand Hotel, said that he was awakened by screams of "fire" from the servants. The heat drove him back from the hallway, and he escaped through a window and jumped from the roof of the servants' quarters. He heard a woman screaming, and saw a baby being dropped from the balcony. The screaming on the balcony sounded near where the baby was dropped.
"Someone mentioned the fire escape, and I ran looking for it," Boyce continued.
"It was folded in halves, with the bottom part folded up to the top, and secured by wire. The low- est part of the ladder was between seven and eight feet from the ground. I had to leap, draw my- self up, hand by hand, undo the wire, and let the bottom part fall to the ground."
The iron ladder, with iron rungs 18 inches wide, was produced in Court.
Boyce said that he had to exert considerable force to break the blinds. The woman continued screaming until just before he smashed the blind.
"If the blinds had not been nailed down and the fire escape had been in position, there would have been a chance of saving the woman," he added." I believe that she collapsed just near the blind, but the smoke drove me back."
Questioned by the coroner, Boyce said that had the fire escape been hanging full length, it would obstruct passers by.
To Mr. Gatfield (for Mrs. Edwards' husband), Boyce said that there was little chance of anyone leaning from the railing and untying the wire which secured the bottom half of the ladder.
Dr. St. Andrew William Logan McDow- all said that he found the charred remains of four women and three men among the debris. He attended Parker, but found no indication that Parker's clothing had been burned from his body. He accompanied Parker to the hospital, where Parker died two and a half hours after the fire. The fracture of the leg below the knee could have been caused by a leap or a fall from the hotel balcony.
Kitchen Fires Out
Dulcle Chesshire, married, who was a cook at the Grand Hotel, broke down and cried when asked whether she was satisfied that her sister, Mrs. Pearl Frahm, housemaid and bar assistant at the hotel, had perished in the fire. She could not answer the question.
The kitchen fires were out at 7.30 p.m., she said. She was awakened by a roar like wind, and then saw sparks pouring in. She raised the alarm, and then escaped through a back door with three workmates.
She said that Mrs. Frahm, who was 25, left five young children.
George Richard Collard, truck driver, of Manumbar, said that Eisentrager was in the hotel lounge playing the piano and singing between mid- night and 1 a.m.
After a few drinks Collard went to sleep in the lounge. Smoke awakened him, and he found that the lounge was full of smoke, which cut off his escape through the hall. He smashed windows to reach safety.
In the street he heard a woman screaming, "Save my baby."
"She dropped the baby over the balcony, and I caught it," he added. "It was not injured.
"The woman said, 'I'll be back in a minute.' She started to walk back, then I heard her fall.
The inquiry was adjourned to 10 a.m. to-morrow. Mr. S. E. Gatfield appeared for Francis Henry Edwards, husband of Mrs. Edwards.
Detective Sergeant T. E. Martin, of Maryborough, examined the witnesses.
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Friday 12 January 1940"
|
Fire |
13 Jan 1940 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
FURTHER EVIDENCE AT GOOMERI HOTEL FIRE
INQUEST
MUNDUBBERA, January 22.
A man lying on a cane chair with a smouldering end of a cigarette between the fingers of his left hand was seen in the downstairs hallway of the Grand Hotel, Goomeri, a little after 2.15 a.m. on December 23. This was stated by Freda Schulte, 22. Single, one of thc survivors of a fire at a hotel in which eight people lost their lives, when giving evidence before the Coroner today. She added that she thought the man was drunk.
Miss Schulte, who was a waitress at the hotel, said later, however, that she could not say how the fire started but I thought it broke ont about the centre of the hotel upstairs.
The inquest was adjourned.
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Saturday 13 January 1940"
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Fire |
1 Feb 1940 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
MAID TOLD OF RACE FOR HFR LIFE
MURGON, Wednesday.-How she and two other women escaped from the blazing Grand Hotel, Goomeri, early on the morning of December 23, was told by Una Alice Dunn, housemaid, when the inquest on the fire, in which eight people lost their lives, was continued here to-day.
Miss Dunn said that she, Freda Schulte, and Mrs. Chesshire retired to their room on the ground floor at 2.30 a.m. In the hall a man was lying on a cane settee, apparently drunk. She did not notice whether he had a cigarette in his hand. She went to sleep, and soon afterwards was awakened by a crash, with her room mates she rushed outside. From the street she saw flames and smoke on the top floor towards the rear of the hotel.
She saw Mrs. Parker drop her baby over the balcony. She said a man tried to catch it, but it fell. She picked up the baby and gave It to Mrs. Hodgson. She said that the rooms occupied by the licensee and his wife were shut off from the rest of the building by a fibro-cement partition, in which was a lattice door, which was kept locked. She saw no sign of the fire when going to her. room. She lost all her belongings in the fire. The inquest was adjourned to Maryborough to a date to be fixed.'
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Thursday 1 February 1940"
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Fire |
30 Mar 1940 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
FIRE ESCAPES WATCHED
Hotel Blaze Sequel
Licensing Commission inspectors have been instructed to give particular attention to fire escapes in hotels. Thev have been told that there must be no obstruction to escapes, and that the number should be sufficient for the safety of occupants.
The Minister for Health and Home Affairs (Mr. Hanlon) said yesterday, that this was, an outcome of the fire at the Grand ,Hotel, Goomeri, on the morning of December 23, when eight people perished. Evidence at the Coroner's Inquest was that a blind nailed down by a board had cut off the way to the fire escape.
Provision of adequate escapes in hotels and boarding houses had been insisted upon for several years before the fire, and that policy was being continued, Mr. Hanlon added.
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Saturday 30 March 1940"
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Fire |
30 Mar 1940 |
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland |
FIRE ESCAPES.
INSPECTIONS BT OFFICERS.
SEQUEL TO GOOMERI FIRE.
BRISBANE, March 29.
As the outcome of the disastrous fire the Grand Hotel, Goomeri, on December 23, when eight people perished,, the Licensing Commission inspector have been instructed to give particular attention to fire escapes in hotels.
They have been told there must be no obstruction to escapes, and the number should be sufficient for the safety of occupants.
Evidence at the coroner's inquest into the Goomeri fire was that a blind nailed down by a board had cut off the way to the fire escape
Transcribed from "The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Saturday 30 March 1940"
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Buried |
Polson Cemetery, Pt Vernon, Hervey Bay, Queensland |
Person ID |
I499 |
Hickey, List, Bundesen, Thomsen, Jensen, Jessen |
Last Modified |
4 Jul 2011 |
Father |
Thomas Berthelsen, b. 07 Dec 1856, Østerild Sogn, Thisted Amt, Danmark, Nth Jutland (Danish peninsula) , d. Sep 1936, Queensland, Australia (Age 79 years) |
Mother |
Marie Catherine List, b. 3 Jan 1870, Terp, Haderslev Amt, Denmark , d. 12 Sep 1950, Pile Gully, via Gayndah, Queensland, Australia (Age 80 years) |
Married |
24 Jul 1885 |
Queensland, Australia. |
Family ID |
F165 |
Group Sheet |
Family |
John William Parker, b. 1894, London, England , d. 23 Dec 1939, Grand Hotel. Goomeri, Queensland, Australia (Age 45 years) |
Married |
1920 |
Queensland, Australia |
Last Modified |
2 Jul 2011 |
Family ID |
F2661 |
Group Sheet |
-
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