The following interesting story is an excerpt from a family history written by Julie Aitken, and reproduced with her kind permission.
Among Barney’s wide circle of acquaintances, colleagues and friends was the owner of a hotel in Wiluna. In 1934, Barney Anderson accepted a position as Manager of the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna.
Born January 1893 on the corner of William Street and Hay Street, Barney was a first-generation West Australian, the son of an English woman and a Swedish seaman. His working life began at the age of 13 as an office-boy in the Head Office of Millar’s Timber & Trading Company, in Perth. After four years, he was transferred to Wellington Mills as a timekeeper. He married Kathleen (Cassie) Rooney in 1915 and in 1920 took up a position as Manager of Millars T & T Co in Goomalling. Heavily involved in horse-racing from a very early age, Barney’s next foray was as Manager of the very fashionable Imperial Hotel, at York, before returning to Perth in 1927 and re-joining Millars T & T Company. There he took up a dual role of Manager of two separate branches for the company – one at Midland, the other at Maylands. It was during these years that Barney sought the services of a companion-housekeeper for his wife, who was becoming increasingly ill with epilepsy. In July 1931, a 20-year-old Eva Evenis took on that position.
The following excerpt is taken from a book entitled “It Wasn’t Her Fault” which spans the twelve decades of the lives of these three people, and is as related by Eva Evenis:
Wiluna is a predominantly mining and pastoral area situated some 947 kilometres north-east of Perth in the Murchison Goldfields on the edge of the desert. It is the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway.
ABOVE: The Wiluna Gold Mine and town, taken in the 1930s.
Mr A. Syd Reidy-Croft had bought the former Golden Age Hotel in Wiluna in the early 1930s. In 1931, following the Great Wiluna Beer Strike, when it was one of three in town and was a small tumbledown place with only two bedrooms available, the hotel nearly lost its licence. The following year, major extensions and refurbishment of the premises was undertaken and the establishment was renamed the Commercial Hotel. Reidy-Croft was managing the business when discussions began between himself and Barney and it was decided that Barney would take over as Manager in April 1934.
As Eva often mentioned: “This was a wonderful business opportunity for Barney.”
ABOVE: Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, 1932 http://www.wiluna.wa.gov.au/Assets/Documents/Wiluna_Walk_Trail.pdf
By this time, Wiluna was at the peak of the 1930s gold rush. Business at the Commercial Hotel was booming. Having already experienced hotel management at the Imperial Hotel in York, Barney and Cassie were looking forward to moving back into the hotel business and returning to live in the country.
So, Cassie, Barney and Eva packed their belongings and headed for Wiluna by train. There were no flights in those days. Even the Flying Doctor had not yet come into full operation.[1] There was a daily train service between Wiluna and Perth but on this occasion, the train journey took 7 days (instead of the usual two days) as there was extensive flooding and the train was unable to get through. On the way, they stopped at Buntine to see Cassie’s brother, Bill. Instead of spending the night on the train as did the other passengers, they enjoyed a very comfortable night at the home of Bill and his wife, Mary.
Apparently, the train service was exceptionally slow between Perth and Wiluna – it usually went via Mullewa or Geraldton. Many folklore tales[2] exist about the slow train journey and how, on one occasion, it was actually beaten to the end of the line by a camel train!
Yet another story told of the time the train was clattering slowly along, stopping and starting, when a frustrated woman passenger asked the conductor when the train would reach Wiluna. “I must get there as quickly as possible”, said the woman, “because I’m pregnant”.
The shocked conductor said: “Considering your condition, it’s a wonder you boarded the train”. Thinking quickly, the frustrated woman passenger replied: “When I boarded the train I wasn’t in this condition!”
Shortly after the little group arrived in Wiluna, Syd Short sent an engagement ring up to Eva. It was a pretty little ring, with a larger diamond in the centre and a smaller diamond on each side. If he couldn’t persuade Eva not to go to Wiluna, at least by becoming engaged, Syd believed that Eva would eventually return to him.
Meanwhile, Barney set to work in earnest.
In the 1930s, Wiluna was a large, flourishing town. With a population of around 9000 people, there were as many as 12 taxis permanently stationed there which, together with three buses, made many trips each day between the mine and the town. The small booklet, “A History of Wiluna” (published sometime after 1981 but of which the author has not been named) states that a bitumen road was constructed from the town to the mine and each side of the road was almost continuously inhabited.
The author goes on to state:
“Fresh milk was available in the town from the four or five dairies situated within four miles of the shopping centre.“There were wide bitumen streets, restless traffic, bright lights, attractive shop fronts and many other evidences of a town apace with city progress.”
A map of the Township of Wiluna as it was in 1938
The Commercial was one of four hotels in the town, the others being the Weeluna, the Club (which is the only hotel remaining in Wiluna today), and the Lake Way. The Lake Way Hotel had not long been built when the gold started to peter out. It did not enjoy a long life span in this gold mining town, which faced a dramatic downturn in fortunes after World War II and the drop in gold prices. The Commercial Hotel was on Thompson Street, near the corner of Lennon Street, behind the Police Station and the Post Office. The Weeloona Hotel was in the main thoroughfare, Wotton Street.
Constable Arthur Gallagher was one of three policemen at the Wiluna Police Station at the time. He went on to become a well-known Inspector of Police in Perth. He and Barney remained in contact for many decades after they had both left Wiluna. The Police Station was in Wotton Street, near the Post Office and the Club Hotel was further north along Wotton Street, on the corner of Wall Street. By 1938, a sergeant and nine constables were stationed in the town, with one constable residing at the mine.
A big shed opposite the post office was used as a picture theater and in later years, became a meeting place for local indigenous groups. There was a large grocery store on the next corner up from the Commercial Hotel. The store was huge for that era – as big as any large grocery store in Perth after the War. It was owned by Mr Laurie Gerick, a friend who shared Barney’s love of running.
Barney mentioned that he “used to run with Laurie Gerick….” years before.
Barney spoke of Laurie in conjunction with their days of running and preparing for competition in the Stawell Gift. Among his possessions were a photograph showing him and other runners training together to compete in the Stawell Gift, in Victoria, however, does not include Laurie Gerick. It is believed the friends may have traveled to the eastern states, probably by train, to compete in the famous footrace. No mention of Barney, Laurie or any of these runners is held in the records of the Stawell Gift[3]. However, whether they actually competed in one of the many heats is not known. In 1915 alone, there were twelve first round heats on the Saturday and a further four second round heats or semi-finals on the Monday. By 1924, the number of entrants had grown considerably, requiring twenty-three first round heats and five semi-finals.
Jack Horsfall owned and ran the garage down on Wells Street, Wiluna, in those days of the Gold Rush and once again, this friendship extended well past the Wiluna days.
Years later, Jack and his wife were operating a service station in Stirling Highway, Claremont, at the time Barney’s daughter was attending Claremont Teachers’ College in 1964-65 and the Wiluna friendship between Barney and Mr and Mrs Horsfall was soon extended to the next generation. Another friend that Eva made in Wiluna was Edna Jeffery, who was nursing at Wiluna at the time the Andersons were residing at the Commercial Hotel. On 12 December 1937, Edna’s son, Michael, was born. Sir Michael Jeffery was later to become the 30th Governor of Western Australia (1993-2000) and the 24th Governor-General of Australia (2003-2008). Eva and Edna rekindled their friendship many years later when both were living in Rockingham and sharing similar interests of working for the community.
The railway line ran out to the mine, where there was a large arsenic plant belonging to A. Victor Leggo & Co[4]. The plant began operation on 17 April 1931.
It was reported in the Western Mail, that Arsenic production at Wiluna ended with the cessation of active mining.
Western Mail on Thursday 17 March 1932, on page 45
This is noted in the following article shown here from The West Australian:
The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), Thursday 17 June 1948, page 18
Eva remembered that the tonnage of arsenic from the mine was far greater than the output of gold. There was more arsenic than gold in the ore. In fact, the arsenic plant was bigger than the gold mining at Wiluna. On certain windy days, when there was a southerly wind blowing from the mines, a large arsenic cloud would descend over the town.
“It was impossible to put a bowl of water out for the dogs because the arsenic dust would settle on the water,” said Eva.
At the height of the gold rush, gold production was at four penny-weight to a ton of ore. The mine is situated 15 miles east of the present town, on the Gun Barrel Highway.
The reconstruction of the Commercial Hotel was still in progress when the opening of the new main bar was announced on 19 September 1932. It was 60 feet by 40 feet, featuring a huge island bar totaling 122 feet of counter space – claimed to be the largest in the state at the time.
LEFT: The island bar at the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, in 1934
There was one barmaid, a Miss Hilda Brackenridge, and six barmen ‘going for their lives’ from opening at nine o’clock in the morning until closing at 11 pm. A distressed Eva recalled that by 9.30 am it was not uncommon to see little Aboriginal children rolling around on the floor, drunk. Another two barmaids ran the saloon bar.
The beer came up from Perth in big wooden barrels. Bottled beer arrived in large wooden crates of five dozen bottles – 12 to a layer; 5 layers to a case. The beer was kept in a very large cool room and served in pots from a keg on the counter. The keg had a wooden bung in it, from which the beer was poured. There were nearly always two kegs on the counter, but on pay days there were four – one in each corner of the bar.
Although there were no facilities at the counter to keep the beer cool, a keg would seldom last long enough for the beer to get warm!
RIGHT: Barney & Eva with one of the barmen and a barmaid from the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, in the mid-1930’s
On a normal day, the bar takings would reach around two to three thousand pounds – a considerable sum in those days. One evening, Barney was quite drunk and Bill, the head barman, took charge of the takings. He slept with all the money tucked safely inside his shirt!
Eva always said that on pay nights, the bar takings were incredibly high. She mentioned that on more than one occasion, the takings totaled between £13,000 and £15,000 ($26,000-30,000). That seems an extraordinary sum … but with up to 9 bar staff, four kegs on the bar at a time (which never lasted long enough to get warm) and with a population of 9000 mostly hot, dry, thirsty, single men, drinking from 9 am until 11 pm … ?
There were 10 to 12 garages in the hotel yard. Two of them were used to store the wine, which was brought up to Wiluna in large casks. Eva helped to bottle the wine from the 5-gallon wine casks into bottles and put labels on the bottles. The Hotel staff consisted of 2 housemaids with 3 maids in the kitchen, 2 laundresses, 2 yardmen who served in the bar on busy days, 4 permanent barmen and 2 barmaids in the saloon bar plus Miss Hilda Brackenridge, the barmaid in the Main Bar.
In addition to their normal duties, the housemaids did the waiting in the dining room. The dining room normally seated 40 guests and often more, if the commercial travelers were in town. Frequent diners would include the ‘bank boys’, the manager of Millars’ Timber & Trading Co., the dentist and other professional and business people who, being mostly single men, would usually have their meals at the hotel. Often Eva would need to get up from the table to help in the dining room. In those days, she could carry 6 cups of tea or four or five plates of food at once.
The dining room at the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, 1934
(This photograph was printed by the Lake Way Pharmacy, Wiluna)
Mrs Walkerden was the cook at the Commercial. Her son was a jockey, who rode horses for Barney. The laundress was Rene Howe, who later bought the laundry across the road from the Hotel and built up a thriving business of her own. There were 40 rooms at the Commercial Hotel. The housemaid was a Mrs Shepherd. If the house was very busy, the parlour maid or the laundress would go upstairs to help out. The other girls, the pantry-maid and the housemaids, were part of the floating population and were constantly changing. Eva tended to all the linen requirements.
Eva had never been among ‘hotel’ people before and with her family experience regarding the effects of alcohol, was understandably wary in her new environment. There were many business men and commercial travelers who frequented the hotel. Barney felt that it was his duty to ‘watch out’ for Eva and protect her from any difficult situations that might arise in such a place.
In the Commercial Hotel at that time, everyone worked for wages, paid by the owner, Mr Reidy-Croft. As manager, Barney was paid £12 ($24) per week with everything supplied. This was considered quite a large sum in that era. Cassie received £3 ($6) per week as housekeeper. From Barney’s wage, Eva was given 30/- ($3) a week (double that which she received in Maylands) as companion to Mrs Anderson.
The housemaids and waitresses received £2/10/- ($5) and the cook drew £5 ($10) per week.
Due to her debilitating illness, Cassie was unable to do much of the work and her duties fell to Eva. In those halcyon days, social class was highly defined. A lady’s companion was socially ‘above’ the housemaids. In reality, Eva did Mrs Anderson’s job, that of hotel manageress, arranging the linen, food and other housekeeping chores, in fact everything Mrs Anderson would normally have taken care of.
At that time, Cassie was taking fits or seizures every day. At best, she could go for one week without ‘a turn’; but at one stage, she had 40 fits in 20 hours. She was not conscious for the entire 20 hours. After a seizure, she slept soundly for several hours. Upon waking, she would then lapse into another seizure, followed in turn by another long sleep.
In November 1935, Barney was called by the State Licensing Bench, which was hearing applications for two provisional licences. Thomas O’Shaughnessy, from the Club Hotel, Barney Anderson from the Commercial Hotel and Bernard J Casserley from the Weeloona Hotel, were objectors, who detailed the present accommodation at the respective hotels. The Weeloona Hotel had nine permanent boarders, with the rest of the accommodation reserved for the travelling public.
The Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 – 950), Tuesday 5 Novemebr 1935, page 3, reported: Mr Anderson said that contemplated extensions to the Commercial Hotel anticipated the requirements of the future. His bar might be termed crowded at peak hours. He had sent two men from Diorite to the Weeloona Hotel, as he did not have rooms at the moment. The alterations to be made would meet any rush of business.
“Bedrooms and bars, at a cost of £3,000 ($6,000) were now being added to the Hotel.”
Barney enjoyed playing two-up and the school would always expect him on pay nights because he would take a ‘lot’ of money from the takings after the hotel closed at 11 pm and go down to join the two-up school. He seemed to have a knack for two-up but his winning streaks were not popular at the school!
The ladies were not allowed to go downstairs on pay days. Barney believed it was far safer for them to stay in their rooms upstairs. With this in mind, in 1935, Barney taught Eva to drive so that she could take Mrs Anderson out of town for a drive on pay days. Eva used to drive all around Wiluna, but when she approached Mr Gallagher for a licence, for some unknown reason, he advised: “Don’t get one up here. Wait until you go to Perth and get a licence down there.”
Train Derailment at Wiluna, 30 March 1936
In this harsh, hot country town, as in many outback towns in Australia in those early days, people survived by their wits. The climate and the conditions brought out the best – and the worst – of people. It was sheer hard slog, but those who stuck it out, did so by their own ingenuity and determination to ‘make a go of it’, take advantage of the opportunities or generally manage as best they could. Each outback town had its fair share of interesting characters … and the gold mining town of Wiluna was no exception.
One old bachelor, named Paddy, lived two miles out of town at a camp in the riverbed. He had two dogs, one of which was called Mick. He chained both of these dogs to a tree in the riverbed on a very short chain. When Paddy came in to town, he brought Mick, picked up a bottle of wine and strapped it around the dog’s neck. Mick was expected to carry the bottle two miles out of town to Paddy’s camp.
One night, Laurie Gerick dreamt that Paddy’s two dogs were trapped on their chain and were drowning. His dream was so vivid that he was motivated to get out of bed and go to Paddy’s camp. His fears were not unfounded as the river had come down in a flash flood and, sure enough, there were the dogs with just their heads above the water, held down by their chains and struggling to survive.
Paddy was obviously not aware of the rain or the flash flooding – or maybe he just wasn’t in the camp.
After very heavy rain, the river was subject to sudden, heavy flooding. The tree to which Mick was usually chained was in the middle of the river bed. There was nowhere else to safely chain the dog. During one such flood, Paddy decided to take Mick in to the hotel and told Barney the story, hoping Barney would buy the dog from him. Barney’s love of and affinity with horses, also extended to dogs. He gave Paddy a bottle of wine for the dog, thinking that as soon as Paddy was gone, the dog would follow him; but it never did. Maybe this was because as soon as Barney took possession of the dog, he took it by the chain, led it upstairs and brought it a full leg of lamb from the kitchen.
“Old Mick” remained with Barney for the rest of the dog’s life. Mick and a little black Pomeranian, called Toby, went everywhere with Barney, Cassie and Eva.
Barney with “Mick” at the water tank at Wiluna
Like his previous owner, Mick was also quite a character. On a regular basis, he would wander into the tobacconist shop next to the hotel and put his paws up on the counter until Mr Gilmour, the tobacconist, gave him a peanut brittle. Once a week, Barney would go down to Mr Gilmour’s store to pay the dog’s peanut brittle account!
Barney and Mick in the yard at the Hotel
Barney is seen in the doorway of what is believed to be the repertory Club at Wiluna.
There was a very popular and quite large repertory club in Wiluna, to which Barney belonged. He was always there for rehearsals and meetings, although he did not take part in any productions as he had earlier in his life. He is seen appearing in the doorway above left in the photo.
In 1935, Barney wanted to send Cassie on a sea trip to see if it would provide any benefit to her ailing health. He asked Eva if she would accompany Mrs Anderson on a sea voyage to New Zealand. Eva and Syd Short were to be married at Easter, 1935, so Syd was very much against Eva going abroad in the first months of that year.
Eva explained to her fiancé that she could not let Mrs Anderson travel alone. She had already made up her mind that she would accompany Mrs Anderson to New Zealand and then stay with her for a couple of months after the trip until Cassie’s health settled down and the Anderson’s could get someone to take Eva’s place. According to Eva, Syd ‘put on a show’ and the two of them began to ‘argue’ in letters.
In an effort to appease the situation and placate Syd, Eva travelled down by train to Perth to stay for a few days and try to sort it out with Syd – but the argument continued. According to Eva, Syd appeared to be different. He acted strangely and was frequently asking Eva the names of various people who worked in the hotel at Wiluna. Eva returned to Wiluna a few days later with the situation still unresolved.
The next time Barney went to the post office to pick up the mail, he discovered what Eva described as ‘an incriminating letter’ written to himself from Syd Short. According to Eva, Syd had enclosed malicious, ’pornographic’ letters about their relationship. Syd claimed that these letters were written by Eva.
Back at the hotel, Barney showed Eva one of the letters and asked her if she had written it. Eva indignantly replied, “No! That’s not my handwriting. I don’t write like that. I can’t do those ‘r’s.” As Barney went through the mail, he discovered other similar letters had been addressed to various people in the hotel, spreading malicious lies.
As luck would have it, the letters had been posted without stamps on them. This meant Barney had to go back to the post office to pay postage for all the other letters. Having done this, all the letters from Syd were now in Barney’s possession. With that settled, Barney burnt the entire bundle of letters. As much as she hated to part with the pretty little engagement ring, Eva decided to pack it up and return it to Syd Short, thus breaking the engagement and putting an end to their relationship forever.
Pictured here are a few items of memorabilia that Barney kept over the years and which are connected to significant decisions he was later to make regarding his business.
An invitation to Barney from the Wiluna Road Board to attend a dinner held at the Club Hotel to welcome to Wiluna, Mr Claude De Bernales, Western Australian mining entrepreneur, and Sir William Campion, Governor of Western Australia, 1924 to 1931.
The front cover of the menu to that dinner.
The full menu and Toast List for the Dinner.
In 1936, fire broke out at the Commercial Hotel.
Fire was a risk in that hot, dry climate. At one stage, it became almost a regular weekly occurrence. One fire destroyed three large shops in the middle of the town. They were the Men’s Mercer owned by Rowley Wedgewood, the Grocery shop owned by Laurie Gerick and the chemist owned by Norm Davies.
There was a race to get all the furniture out via the back stairways and down into the yard at the back of the Hotel in an effort to save as much of the furniture and belongings as possible.
In true country style, everyone pitched in to help and damage was minimised.
Death of a miner: It was reported in The West Australian newspaper on Wednesday 19 February 1936, page 21 that as a result of an explosion in the Moonlight Gold Mine at 11.30 o’clock that morning, the well-known miner and sportsman, Francis Thias Evenis, known as ‘Manassa’ had been killed and another man critically injured. The men were working underground at the time and “… it is believed that Evenis bored into an unexploded charge…” which had been inadvertently left by the previous shift.”
The explosion caused multiple punctures about the waist and head of Mr Evenis, with large perforated wounds in the chest, forearm and lower jaw. The article went on to say that:
“Evenis, who was married towards the end of last year, had an accident shortly afterwards and returned to work only a few weeks ago.”
On Saturday, 22 February, the Geraldton Guardian and Express reported:
“Further particulars have been received regarding the tragic death of Frank Thias Evenis, aged 23 years, married, of Wiluna, who was killed in the Moonlight Mine at Wiluna on Tuesday morning last, and of the serious injuries sustained by Eric Robinson, aged 27 years, who was working with the deceased at the time. Statements obtained by Constable Alford, of Wiluna, disclose that at about 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning Evenis and Robinson were machine mining in the No. 2 level (No. 1 rise) of the east lode of the mine, and when engaged in boring out the drill struck a misfired hole and exploded the charge. Robinson was blown off the stage and sustained a depressed fracture of the skull, a compound fracture of the ribs and abdominal injuries, but was able to stagger some distance down the level, where he was met by two other mine workers (Herbert Gibson and Bob Lang), who rendered him temporary assistance.
Gibson and Lang were informed by Robinson before the latter collapsed that Evenis was up in the rise ‘upside down,’ and on hurrying to the scene of the explosion they saw the deceased’s body hanging by one leg from the stage. On being removed to the plat on a stretcher it was found that the body of the deceased was pitted with dirt, there was a large hole in the chest, and also one in the back, indicating that some object had passed clean through the body. The face was covered with blood. There were many injuries, including fractures of the right arm and upper jaw. On examination life was pronounced extinct by Dr H. D. Phipps, who later attributed the cause of deceased’s death to the perforating wound in the chest and to shock.”
At the inquest into the death, held at Wiluna on 6 March, John Butler, the underground manager of the mine, reported that:
“Men working underground are instructed to advise the shift boss of the number of holes fired and the number that go off. If there is a miss it is entered in the log and the new shift is advised. The previous shift boss reported no miss holes.”
On Tuesday, 3 March 1936, the Western Argus, a Kalgoorlie newspaper, reported:
“The funeral of the late Francis Thias Evenis, who was killed on the Moonlight mine last Tuesday, was the largest and most representative yet seen in Wiluna. The burial service was read by Rev. C. W. Collard (Methodist). The pall bearers were Messrs. J. Baker and W. Sampey (A.W.U.), J. Pettigrew (Wiluna Gold Mines), J. Hollier and W. O’Neill (Mines Rovers F.C.), and H. McKimm. Over 100 workers marched immediately behind the hearse and 60 cars completed the cortege. The second victim in the accident, Eric Robinson, is holding his own and has every prospect of recovery.”
Francis Thias Evenis was Eva’s first cousin. His father, George, was an older brother of Eva’s father. Frank had married Lillian Delcy Newbon at Wiluna in late 1935[5].
Headstone for Francis Thias in the C of E Section of Wiluna Cemetery
In January/February 1936, Cassie and Eva left from Wiluna on their cruise to New Zealand and Tasmania. At Fremantle, they boarded the Moldavia for Sydney, before boarding another ship to sail to New Zealand. Calling in at Tasmania on the return journey, the travelers re-boarded the Moldavia for the trip back to Fremantle. Eva spoke fondly of her trip to New Zealand for many years and particularly enjoyed their visit to the hot springs at Rotorua.
P & O Line’s RMS Moldavia
It was only discovered in 2014 that Cassie Anderson’s parents, both of Irish birth, were married in New Zealand. Some of her family were still living there at the time of this trip but it is not known whether contact was made with any of Cassie’s extended family.
Mick and Barney (leaning on car at extreme right) enjoy a drink with mates outside the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna. (Note the beer bottles on the bonnets of two cars and the water bags on the front bumpers of two other vehicles.)
After two and a half years, it was time to move on.
With a small fortune, amassed during a ‘golden’ opportunity in the peak of the gold rush, the threesome left Wiluna in September 1936, driving via Kalgoorlie to enter the horses in the races on their way. As they set out, they stopped for the first night at the homestead of the Lake Way Station, where friends, Mr and Mrs White, had a guest house. They had often dropped in to spend a night or a weekend with the Whites when living in Wiluna, so as they left for the last time, it was opportune to call in for a final visit. The guest house was a couple of hours out of Wiluna.
In the car, Eva sat in the back with Mrs Sep Woolhouse, the wife of Barney’s horse trainer, and the two dogs. Eva commented that through Leonora, the road was so rough that it
“… shook every bolt on the wheels loose and shook the windscreen out of the T-Model Ford”.
The Commercial Hotel in Wiluna was leased for 12 months following Barney’s departure but no further records have been found. As the town declined, the Commercial Hotel finally closed some time in or after 1945.
[1] The Australian Inland Mission Aerial Medical Service (later renamed the Royal Flying Doctor Service) opened in Cloncurry, Queensland, 15 May 1928.
[2] Adam-Smith, P., “Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen”, Adelaide, 1969.
[3] Watt, Gary, “Stawell Gift Almanac, A History of the Stawell Gift”, 2008, Legacy Books
[4] Arthur Victor Leggo (1875-1942), metallurgist and merchant, who claimed, by the 1920s, to be the largest producer of arsenic in the Southern Hemisphere. His company supplied chemicals for the leather, wool and rubber industries, and seed wheat pickles, sheep dip, rabbit poison, pest sprays and weed-killers to primary producers.
[5] WA Marriage Certificate Registration Number 58/1935, Murchison
Moya Sharp
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