Rosewood History Qld.
Rosewood’s Time of Terror
Rosewood spent a night of terror following a violent cyclonic storm which commenced shortly after six o’clock on Sunday night, 21st January 1940. Houses and churches in the district were unroofed, farmers’ out-buildings demolished, and livestock killed. Rosewood was without electric light for the greater part of the night and without power until 11 a.m. the next day.
In addition, telephonic communication was severed until a late hour and traffic to the town on the main Ipswich road was rendered unsafe by the flooding of the Seven Mile Bridge. This bridge was still three feet under water as late as 10 o’clock the next morning.
Unheralded, except for a threatening greenish sky, the storm broke with a fury unknown in the district for over a quarter of a century about 5.55 p.m., and had spent its force by 6.5 p.m. In that brief space of time families took refuge beneath furniture while the gale tore away and blew down trees and out-buildings.
Sheets of roofing iron slashed telephone and electric light wires, and it was mainly through the actions of police and civilians, hastily requisitioned, that danger to life was averted. Soon after the storm broke in the town, Sergeant J. Aspinall, who was in charge of the Rosewood district, took charge of affairs, and kept traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, within the bounds of safety.
CHURCHES DAMAGED.
Damage in the town itself was estimated at about £2,000. The Sunday school attached to St. Luke’s Church of England was completely unroofed. It was built more than half a century beforehand, and had never been greatly damaged by a storm. The bell-tower attached to St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, erected more than 25 years prior, was blown 20 yards from its foundations, and lay with its bell smashed and its roofing 50 yards away.
A 60 feet store-house, attached to a prominent business house, was blown over, and employees toiled through the early part of the morning to save perishable goods and materials before the building collapsed. Water damage was reported in practically every shop and store, and residents suffered considerable losses of fences and trees.
DAMAGE TO CROPS.
Damage to crops between Rosewood and Tallegalla was considerable. In every, paddock broken and flattened maize, which had been fast approaching the harvesting stage, bore testimony to the storm’s blow to farmers. In several places, particularly at H. E. Freeman’s, H. Koch’s, and H. Ballin’s farms, outhouses were extensively damaged.
The storm tore through Lanefield with unabated ferocity, and all but one home in the district were reported to be damaged. Nearly all lost their roofs and rain caused considerable damage to furniture and personal be longings. Nearly a mile of telephone wires are down, and practically every farmer reported severe damage to crops.
The bell tower of St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church had stood for more than a quarter of a century before it was laid low by Sunday’s storm which caused other havoc in the Rosewood district. St. Luke’s Church of England was entirely unroofed at Rosewood. (1)
Another report…
Storm Gale Sweeps Rosewood District.
Buildings Unroofed, Crops Ruined
A storm of cyclonic force, in which the wind was of gale strength for only 10min., spread havoc among townships, farms and crops in the Rosewood district on Sunday evening. Rosewood itself was isolated. Telephone and electric light services were cut off, and the next morning 3ft. of water at the Seven Mile Bridge blocked road traffic from Ipswich.
The full tale of the damage in the district will never be told, but an inspection as far as Tallegalla revealed something of the strength of the blow.
Houses were unroofed, trees up rooted, and most of the maize crops ware flattened. In one case a 1000-gallon tank was blown over a fence to a spot 80yds from its stand.
The bell tower of St Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, which was about 40ft. high and made of heavy timber, was blown over and the base finished about 20ft. from its original foundations, while the iron roof was stopped by a fence 50yds. away.
A 60ft. long store owned by Ruhnos, in Railway-street, collapsed before the force of the wind and the galvanised iron roof was blown off, its sheets being distributed over a wide area.
Many houses were unroofed and residents were occupied throughout the day repairing their roofs. It was a common sight in Rosewood, Tallegalla, and Lanefield the next day to see a ladder against a house and men engaged on the roof hammering away at sheets of roofing.
15MIN. OF ANXIETY.
Rosewood spent 15min. of anxiety on Sunday evening about 6.30. as homes and buildings rocked. In one hotel rain blew into every room and the occupiers were debating the necessity to vacate as the wind appeared to be forcing the building over.
Greatest damage was done to the maize which was in the ripening stage. Paddocks of this crop were literally flattened. Hardly a crop between Rosewood and Tallegalla, except those sheltered by spurs, escaped.
TALLEGALLA SUFFERED.
Outhouses suffered chiefly in the outlying areas, and on the top of Tallegalla Hill a barn and stables were flat on the ground. The house, owned by Mr. H. E. Freeman, narrowly escaped. At one stage Mr. Freeman had been ready to dash out into the rain and wind to stay the building with ropes and tackle. About 10yds. from this house a 30ft. pepperina tree was uprooted and just alongside it the barns and stable were down. Mrs. Freeman said that during the storm her children were under the sheets, panic-stricken, while water was 4in. deep in the kitchen and the lightning and thunder rocked the house almost off its stumps.
At Mr. H. Koch’s property, further along the Tallegalla-road, the out-buildings, which were on the brow of the hill, were stripped of iron and part of the structures themselves were blown in.
Tallegalla Church, on the top of Tallegalla Hill, lost the whole of the roofing on the western side and trees and brush along this road were either bent or broken. Peculiarly enough, although considerable rain accompanied the wind, tanks and dams did not receive much water and were still more or less dry.
DANGER OF HIGH TENSION WIRES.
There was no loss of life or serious injury, but for an hour in Rosewood danger threatened when high tension electric overhead cables were severed by flying sheets of iron. In Railway-street and at the entrance of the Toowoomba-road these live wires were brought down, and in one case fell across the roofs of two houses.
By the prompt action of Sergeant J. W. Aspinall, in charge of the Rosewood police, the threat of danger was averted. Unable to communicate with Ipswich by telephone, he got a message through to the City Electric Light Company’s office, in Ipswich, by medium of the railway telegraph. Meanwhile all traffic was stopped on the two roads and guards were placed to keep people clear of the potential danger of live wires.
Flying squads were sent in from the Postal Department and City Electric Light Company, and by midnight the telephone and light service were operating. Power was not available until 11 o’clock Monday morning, and this caused a disruption in the district’s mining industry. Power for fans and motors was unavailable and the miners were sent home for the day.
Among the bigger buildings which were unroofed was the Sunday School of the Church of England. Only a couple of sheets of iron were left on this building, which originally was the church, and it had withstood the elements for over 60 years. Iron from the roof was spread all over the ground to the east, and one panel of three joined pieces had struck the fence with sufficient force to put it slightly out of alignment.
FLYING IRON.
At Mr. E. Joynson’s home in Albert-street, several sheets of iron from the back of the roof were lifted off by the wind. One sheet of iron was hurled from the building to strike a glass window of Mr. J. Edgeworth’s residence. It struck the window of one of the bedrooms and sent shattered glass with force into the room. Other sheets of iron from the same house were embedded deeply in the ground at the side of Mr. Edgeworth’s home, which is about 40yds. from Mr. Joynson’s residence. Rain poured into the latter’s home, and the occupants had an unenviable evening.
A big strong shed at the rear of the Rosewood Hotel was shifted bodily about 3ft.
Mr. W. McGeary’s home, on the Toowoomba-road, was partly unroofed, and considerable damage was caused to the interior by the rain. Portion of the roof of Mr. G. Dale’s hayshed was blown away. At the Rosewood sawmill roofing from the sheds was blown off. Buildings on the Rosewood showground suffered to some extent by the storm. Horse stalls on the grounds were unroofed, fencing was blown down, also the gateway sign. It is estimated that about 2in. of rain fell at Tallegalla.
LANEFIELD SUFFERS.
One report from Lanefield said that “there were not four houses with roofs on” in the area. It was also stated that there was half-a-mile of telephone lines down.
In one farm a shed was blown down and a four-wheeled waggon was blown across a road to finish half-way through a fence.
At Tallegalla the farm buildings of H. Ballin were extensively damaged. Every stable and barn was unroofed and a beautiful corn crop was knocked down flat.
NARROW ESCAPE AT POLICE STATION.
One of the narrowest escapes in a night of many must have been that of Sergeant J. W. Aspinall and his daughter. They were sitting at a table just after tea when the wind struck. A batten from another house was blown through the window between the two, carrying splintered class with it. Sergeant Aspinall received three small splinters in the face, and one caused his nose to bleed freely.
The Sergeant’s house, the last before the railway line in the main street, must have been in the path of the main force of the wind. A sheet of iron struck a corner of his roof and dislodged three more sheets which were distributed across his yard. Another speared into the ground a yard from the steps and bent over to the edge of the steps.
The force of the wind was exemplinfed by the fate of a 3in. by 2in. batten, which lodged at the front fence of this house. It must have been blown end-on into the fence and one of the strands of wire was buried in the wood for a depth of 6in.
The front windows of the house were smashed and a portion of the spouting bent out of shape.(2)
References
(1) Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.), Tuesday 23 January 1940, page 5
(2) Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.), Tuesday 23 January 1940, page 6