Ferocious Storm Devastation at Brighton.
Houses Demolished by Blast.
Trees torn up by roots.
Two Deaths: Many Injured.
Wind 200 Miles an Hour.
The most furious windstorm experienced in Australia since meteorological records have been taken occurred at Brighton and Brighton Beach at about a quarter to 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. The area affected was fortunately limited to a fairly narrow strip; but within that strip the passage of the wind was marked by a trail of collapsed or damaged houses, uprooted trees and levelled fences. It was a scene of extraordinary devastation. So far as has yet been reported only two deaths occurred as the result of the storm, but many people were injured, more or less seriously.The casualties known are as follow:—
Killed.
Frank Green, 14 [sic], Chetwynd street, North Melbourne, almost decapitated. [more about Frank later]
G. McLeod, of Sydney, drowned at St. Kilda.
Injured
Winnie Kendall, aged 6 years, Wellington street, Brighton, broken leg.
F.J. Prescott, Moffat street, Brighton, broken arm.
Thomas W. Stillman, New street, Brighton, bone of right arm splintered.
D.P Nicholson, Toorak road, Kooyong, exhaustion, bruises, and shock from immersion.
W. Menardi, Albert Park, exhaustion, bruises and shock from immersion.
- McCarroll, caretaker, Bentleigh, facial cuts and other injuries.
Fearful Four Minutes.
The meteorological conditions which accompanied the storm were such as had never been experienced in Australia before. Fairly early on Saturday afternoon the whole sky became overcast and the sultry heat of the morning gave place to a strong squall from the north or north west, accompanied by driving sheets of rain, which caused the abandonment of many outdoor sports. The wind was strong enough to break large branches off trees, and to uproot a few of the more exposed, but it did no more damage than many previous storms.
At about half past 4, however, residents of Brighton noticed the heavy blue-black cloud gathering in the south west and growing more and more menacing. A quarter of an hour later, with scarcely a warning sound, a gale of unprecedented violence struck the foreshore, demolished half the bunks in the baths, stripped the roof off a large portion of the main building, lifted up a small refreshment store bodily, hurling it 40 yards across the road, and passed on to wreak havoc among the buildings for more than two miles inland. The moment it struck the mainland the air became thick with flying tiles, sheets of galvanised iron, branches of trees, and pieces of wood. The wonder of it is that more people were not injured. Sheets of iron were flying through the air like birds, and there are authenticated cases of heavy beams being carried more than 100 yards before they fell to earth. Sheds were moved bodily. Chimneys fell through the roofs of houses and in many cases the houses themselves proved unable to stand against the terrific pressure of the wind and collapsed. Women became hysterical, and many, although not physically injured, are still suffering from shock to the nerves. Windows crashed in under the weight of the wind or were broken by flying missiles, and through every gap in the roof or window that the storm made the rain poured in in torrents. Every house that was unroofed was also flooded, causing serious damage to carpets, pictures and furniture. The three or four minutes for which the storm lasted was a period of terror. Then it passed as suddenly as it had come, in its wake many stricken homes and a desolate landscape, with scarcely a whole tree left standing.
It was in the first burst of the storm that the two fatalities occurred. Fortunately then were no other deaths directly attributable to the wind, but it would be impossible to catalogue all the wonderful escapes that occurred during the short time that the storm lasted. Nor is it possible to form a correct estimate of the damage done to property; but £100,000 may be regarded as well within the total, that will be required to repair the havoc that was wrought.
How the Storm Arose.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the storm was the lack of uniformity with which houses suffered. The "blow" seemed to split up into tongues, which followed fairly well defined courses. Along those courses was devastation. Between them the houses, and even the trees, seemed to have escaped almost unscathed. At Brighton Beach almost every house within a fairly narrow radius suffered severely but between the Royal Terminus Hotel and Wellington street, a distance of about a mile, hardly a house along the foreshore showed any effects of the storm. Even in Wellington street, where some of the worst damage was done, the houses on the south side, with two exceptions, escaped with no more than the loss of a few tiles. And between Wellington street and Chatsworth road there is another long stretch showing scarcely any damage. It would seem that the drowning incident at St. Kilda was caused by still another tongue of the same squall. The theory most favoured, as explaining the peculiar distribution of the "blow" is that the wind from the north-west collided with the wind from the south-west somewhere in the bay, increasing in its violence, and giving it an irregular front, which explains the seemingly distinct squalls that struck the mainland. Apparently one tongue struck at the Brighton Beach Baths another drove up Wellington street, and converged with the first in Halifax street, a third struck in the vicinity of Chatsworth road, and a fourth struck St. Kilda. (1)
The meteorological conditions which accompanied the storm were such as had never been experienced in Australia before. Fairly early on Saturday afternoon the whole sky became overcast and the sultry heat of the morning gave place to a strong squall from the north or north west, accompanied by driving sheets of rain, which caused the abandonment of many outdoor sports. The wind was strong enough to break large branches off trees, and to uproot a few of the more exposed, but it did no more damage than many previous storms.
At about half past 4, however, residents of Brighton noticed the heavy blue-black cloud gathering in the south west and growing more and more menacing. A quarter of an hour later, with scarcely a warning sound, a gale of unprecedented violence struck the foreshore, demolished half the bunks in the baths, stripped the roof off a large portion of the main building, lifted up a small refreshment store bodily, hurling it 40 yards across the road, and passed on to wreak havoc among the buildings for more than two miles inland. The moment it struck the mainland the air became thick with flying tiles, sheets of galvanised iron, branches of trees, and pieces of wood. The wonder of it is that more people were not injured. Sheets of iron were flying through the air like birds, and there are authenticated cases of heavy beams being carried more than 100 yards before they fell to earth. Sheds were moved bodily. Chimneys fell through the roofs of houses and in many cases the houses themselves proved unable to stand against the terrific pressure of the wind and collapsed. Women became hysterical, and many, although not physically injured, are still suffering from shock to the nerves. Windows crashed in under the weight of the wind or were broken by flying missiles, and through every gap in the roof or window that the storm made the rain poured in in torrents. Every house that was unroofed was also flooded, causing serious damage to carpets, pictures and furniture. The three or four minutes for which the storm lasted was a period of terror. Then it passed as suddenly as it had come, in its wake many stricken homes and a desolate landscape, with scarcely a whole tree left standing.
It was in the first burst of the storm that the two fatalities occurred. Fortunately then were no other deaths directly attributable to the wind, but it would be impossible to catalogue all the wonderful escapes that occurred during the short time that the storm lasted. Nor is it possible to form a correct estimate of the damage done to property; but £100,000 may be regarded as well within the total, that will be required to repair the havoc that was wrought.
How the Storm Arose.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the storm was the lack of uniformity with which houses suffered. The "blow" seemed to split up into tongues, which followed fairly well defined courses. Along those courses was devastation. Between them the houses, and even the trees, seemed to have escaped almost unscathed. At Brighton Beach almost every house within a fairly narrow radius suffered severely but between the Royal Terminus Hotel and Wellington street, a distance of about a mile, hardly a house along the foreshore showed any effects of the storm. Even in Wellington street, where some of the worst damage was done, the houses on the south side, with two exceptions, escaped with no more than the loss of a few tiles. And between Wellington street and Chatsworth road there is another long stretch showing scarcely any damage. It would seem that the drowning incident at St. Kilda was caused by still another tongue of the same squall. The theory most favoured, as explaining the peculiar distribution of the "blow" is that the wind from the north-west collided with the wind from the south-west somewhere in the bay, increasing in its violence, and giving it an irregular front, which explains the seemingly distinct squalls that struck the mainland. Apparently one tongue struck at the Brighton Beach Baths another drove up Wellington street, and converged with the first in Halifax street, a third struck in the vicinity of Chatsworth road, and a fourth struck St. Kilda. (1)
The arrows show the direction taken by the two tongues of wind. The starting points are given as Brighton Beach and Wellington street, joining at Halifax street, then swinging away to the north-east, so that Landcox and Ormond, to the north, and Jasper road, to the east, are shown.
The Argus, February 4, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1637265
.jpg)
The aftermath of the Cyclone.
The State Library of Victoria has this image labelled as Presbyterian Church, Brighton - struck by a cyclone and wrecked. However, The Argus, has an almost identical photo labelled as Methodist Church, Mills Street, North Brighton.
Image: State Library of Victoria H19996.
See The Argus photograph here http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1637265
Frank Green - a victim of the storm
The Argus wrote this about young Frank -
Boy's Shocking Death. After he had attended a missionary lecture on Brighton Beach in the afternoon, Frank Green, aged 14, [sic] of Chetwynd street, North Melbourne, left the C.M.A. Sowers' Band picnic with a son of the Rev J.H. Frewin to have a swim at the baths. They had only reached the refreshment kiosk known as "The Ozone," a wooden structure 12ft square, when the storm broke, and they stood in the lee of the kiosk. At the climax of the south-westerly blast the frail building was smashed in, and falling on Green severed his skull completely in a line from the forehead back to the ears. The wreckage was carried on across the road, leaving the boy dead where he had been struck.
His companion, Frewin, aged 10, was blown some distance along the Esplanade, and was rescued by two Japanese sailors. He was dazed and bruised, and his benefactors placed him in the train for
Melbourne. Some persons in the train noticing his weak state took him out of the train at Balaclava, and at the suggestion of the stationmaster the police took care of him. His father, responding to a telephone message, came to Balaclava, and going through to Brighton Beach, gave the Rev. A. R. Ebbs, who was in charge of the picnic, the first intimation that it was Frank Green who had been killed. There were 500 children attending the picnic, and the organisers delayed departure till half-past 9, so that all could be gathered in. Many had taken refuge in shops near the gardens, and no others were seriously injured. The body of Frank Green was taken to the Morgue by Constable Kearsley, of Brighton. (2)
The C.M.A. was the Church of England Missionary Association and the Reverend Arthur Rowley Ebbs was the Honorary Secretary of the Association. The Sower's Band raised funds for the C.M.A. Young Frewin, mentioned in the article was the son of the Reverend John Henry Frewin, who in 1917 was the Vicar at St Mary's Church of England in North Melbourne. (3)
Frank's funeral notice said that he was the adopted son of Mrs Zurich of 5 Chetwynd Street, North Melbourne. He was buried at the Coburg Cemetery. (4)
Frank's funeral notice
The Argus, February 4, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1637226
In Frank's Inquest he is named as Frank Ladd, known as Frank Green. Frank Edwin Donald Ladd was born on January 22, 1905 to unmarried seventeen year old Nellie Isabella Ladd at the Women's Hospital in Carlton. (5) Nellie had been born in Sydney in 1887 to Thomas and Jane (nee Shaw); Jane applied for a divorce from Thomas in 1893 in New South Wales, on the grounds of cruelty and desertion (6). I don't know whether Nellie was living in Melbourne normally, or whether she sent down to Melbourne to give birth and save the family embarrassment.
Did Nellie give Frank up for adoption? He was known as Frank Ladd and she is listed on his death certificate as his mother. I believe that he was adopted informally by a friend or relative of Nellie Ladd, because if he was adopted by a stranger, then they would not have known of the name of the birth mother for the death certificate. However, if Mrs Zurich was his adoptive mother, this did not explain why Frank Ladd became known as Frank Green. Then in the 1915 Sands and McDougall Directory, I found Henry Green as the occupant of 5 Chetwynd Street. I then found the following Bereavement notice in The Argus (7) from Mr and Mrs Green thanking friends, the aforementioned Reverend Frewin and Mrs Frewin; the Reverend Wenzel and the Sunday school teachers and choir at St Mary's in North Melbourne for their sympathy in the loss of their dear son, Frank.
The 1917 Electoral Roll (8) lists William Henry Green and Alice Green at 5 Chetwynd Street. I assume that Mrs Zurich was also Mrs Alice Green and was married (or co-habitating) with Henry Green , and that they had adopted young Frank and he took their surname. If she isn't the same person, then I have no explanation as to who she is.
The Green in the 1917 Electoral Roll.
Electoral Roll from Ancesty.com
Frank had an inauspicious start to life, being born to a young single mother and I hope his short life was happy; he was obviously very involved with the Sowers Band and the St Mary's Anglican Church community at North Melbourne and well loved by his adoptive parents. I wonder what contact Nellie had with her son after his birth.
I have no other information about William Henry Green or Alice Green or Mrs Zurich.
Before we leave this post, we will have a look at the life of Frank's birth mother, Nellie Ladd. On December 27, 1911, Nellie Ladd married Gustave Zarth in Sydney. (9)
Marriage of Nellie Ladd
Daily Telegraph, February 3, 1912 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239055835
Nellie and Gustave lived in Oakleigh and later Armadale in Melbourne, and the Electoral Rolls list Gustave's occupation as a hoist driver. Gustave enlisted in the First A.I.F in May 1916 at the age of 31. Whilst serving overseas in France he was wounded - gun shot wounds to right shin and right arm and after treatment in England he was Returned to Australia in January 1918. Nellie and Gustave had three children, all born in Oakleigh - Thelma in 1914; Laurence in 1919 and Allan James in 1924. Nellie died at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne on January 7, 1949. Gustave died on February 18, 1955, aged 69. They are buried together at the Springvale Cemetery. (10)
Death notice of Nellie
The Age, January 8, 1949 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205355536
One more thing - surnames beginning with the letter Z were relatively rare in Australia when these events written about above took place. So it is interesting that Frank's adoptive mother was Mrs Zurich and his birth mother became Mrs Zarth.
Footnotes
(1) The Argus, February 4, 1918, see here. There is also a comprehensive report in the Sandringham Southern Cross, of February 9, 1918, see here and continues here.
(2) The Argus, February 4, 1918, see here
(3) Punch, January 13, 1916, see here; The Herald, September 29, 1913, see here; Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com
(4) The Argus, February 4, 1918, see here.
(5) Frank Ladd Inquest Deposition file, Public Records Office of Victoria https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/9D7E08E1-F1C3-11E9-AE98-195931C827B8?image=1; Frank's Birth certificate and Death certificate
(6) New South Wales Indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages; New South Wales Government Gazette, August 4, 1893, see here.
(7) 1915 Sands and McDougall Directory - on-line at the State Library of Victoria; The Argus, March 2, 1918, see here.
(8) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com
(9) Daily Telegraph, February 3, 1912, see here
(10) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com; First A.I.F Personnel Dossiers at the National Archives of Australia https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3457290; Victoria Indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages; The Age, January 8, 1949, see here; The Age, February 19, 1955 (see below); SMCT https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search
The Age, February 19, 1955, p, 21 from Newspapers.com
