The Tantanoola Tiger

In the 1880s, South-East South Australia was overrun with speculation about what could be killing so many sheep in the area. Reports of a mysterious predator with stripes on its back began to be filed with local police. Rumour had it a large Bengal Tiger was on the loose, and soon fear spread that the wild beast may soon kill a human. By 1893, reports were so common that they started to make it into local newspapers.


The Advertiser reported in 1895,

“The tiger is reported to have been seen again at Tantanoola.

An employee of Mr Wehl who was out hunting last week reported that he had seen a strange animal, but was some distance off and did not care to make a closer acquaintance. He, however, sent his dogs forward and says they returned in great fright.

He then proceeded homeward, believing that discretion is better than valour when an unknown danger is ahead.”

In August 1895, Thomas John Donovan managed to shoot and kill a beast thought to be the predator big cat. The animal upon closer inspection, appeared not to be a Bengal Tiger but resembled something closer to Tasmania's Thylacines.
The animal was inspected by a zoologist and was determined to be a wolf. This led to a lot of speculation about why, and how, an Assyrian Wolf came to be hunting in South Australia. It is thought the wolf may have been a passenger upon a ship that wrecked off the coastline of Robe many years earlier.  The wolf, somewhat of a trophy, became legend – it was duly stuffed and put on display in the Tantanoola Hotel, alongside the gun used to shoot it.

 

 

The mysterious Tantanoola Tiger was dead, but sheep in the district were still going missing. This mystery was solved however when the culprit was found. A local man, Charlie Edmondson was caught red-handed stealing 78 sheep, and upon arrest admitted to stealing over 4000 more!
You can see the Tantanoola Tiger in the Tantanoola Hotel in South Australia's South East at 265 Railway Terrace East.

The Ghost of the Lochiel Nurse

The Ghost of the Lochiel Nurse

I first heard this story many years ago, and travelled up to Lochiel very early on in my career as a paranormal investigator, for a private house investigation. Whilst there I looked diligently for the vehicle that I am about to speak of but to no avail.

Lochiel is a little town located about 125kms north of Adelaide on Highway 1. The area has an interesting history and has been home to coal mines, wheat farmers and the salt farmers, who collect salt from Bumbunga Lake Nearby.…the area even spawned the micronation of “The Province of Bumbunga”

Many years ago, Lochiel used to have its own town ambulance, an old 60’s style machine that saw many many years of service. Often patients would get to the hospital and ask who the nurse was that had

been caring for them, as she seemed a little old fashioned, and wore a uniform that seemed out of date and very much, unlike modern nurses uniforms. Of course, the driver and attendants would have no clue what the patient was talking about – but over the years it happened so often it could no longer be ignored – however, no-one ever solved the mystery of who the nurse could be, or why she chose to help the people of Lochiel.

 I heard many years ago that the ambulance in question was put into retirement a long time ago, and sat in the yard of local for many years – I have no clue to its whereabouts today, but would love to know what happened too it. So if you know, or you experienced a ride with this ghostly nurse, please feel free to drop me a line at eidolon@live.com.au

© 2015 Allen Tiller

Dead Dog Creek - Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Dead Dog Creek - Adelaide Botanic Gardens

 

   In 1868, Benjamin Ellis was a local dog catcher employed by the Corporation of Adelaide (Adelaide Council). He was given carte blanche to shoot any unlicensed dog he found in the city boundaries and dispose of them as he saw fit.

   Either lacking a good burial site or just being plain lazy, Mr Ellis decided it was perfectly fine to dispose of the dead dog bodies under a bridge in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

  The little bridge, which crossed a little creek, was near the rear entrance of the gardens and was often used by the public. The smell was overwhelming, and complaints began to come into the main office of the Botanic Gardens. Doctor Schomburgk inspected the bridge and counted 13 dead dogs – he quickly wrote a letter of disgust to Mr Ellis – and the dead dogs soon ceased to be left in the gardens.

The following story was printed in Adelaide Observer, April 11^th 1868;

From Dr Schomburgk, stating that the person employed by the Corporation for killing dogs threw the carcases in the creek below the Botanic Garden, I and requesting that the nuisance might be removed.

In reply, Benjamin Ellis wrote, admitting that some dogs had been thrown there, but that since the complaint he had removed them.

His Worship said the Act distinctly required that the carcases should be buried. Mr. Sundry considered that Mr. Ellis was deserving of severe censure; but he apprehended he was employed by the Registrar of Dogs.

The Town Clerk, in reply to Mr. Bundey, said the man had received fees for the dogs upon making declaration that they were buried.

Mr Bundey considered certainly some steps should be taken, and if the thing was brought before the Council again he would see that steps were taken to prosecute the party for obtaining money under false pretences.

His Worship pointed out that according to the Act the fee was only to be paid on a declaration being made such as to satisfy a Justice of the Peace. Then, if the man committed perjury, he could be prosecuted.

The Council resolved that no fees be paid without a certificate from a Justice of the Peace.

  An interesting side note to this story is that a Benjamin Ellis, in this same period was also the hangman at Adelaide Gaol, and is today rumoured to haunt the gaol. 

Links:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/158930409?searchTerm=%22benjamin%20ellis%22&searchLimits=l-state=South+Australia|||sortby=dateDesc

©2015 - Allen Tiller

SYFY USA - Haunting: Australia - The North Kapunda Hotel

The North Kapunda HotelSYFY USA airing:

Long known as Australia’s Most Haunted Pub – The North Kapunda Hotel is situated at 50 Main Street Kapunda.

  Kapunda has long held the title “Australia’s Most Haunted Town” and gained national notoriety after the release of the documentary “Kapunda: Most Haunted Town in the Western World” in 2001.
  The documentary featured investigations by television host Warwick Moss of 1990s supernatural TV show “The Extraordinary”.

The North Kapunda Hotel garnered international interest after it was featured on TV show Haunting: Australia in episode 7. The show featured local paranormal investigator, Allen Tiller, founder of Eidolon Paranormal, SA Paranormal and The Haunts of Adelaide investigating in his local pub alongside team members Robb Demarest, Ray Jorden, Gaurav Tiwari, Rayleen Kable and Ian Lawman.

The hotel has operated since 1849 and received extensions and upgrades in 1866 by then-owner James Crase.
  Over the years the hotel, which is the central focal point of the town, has seen its rooms used by Prince Alfred, 2^nd son of Queen Victoria, State Parliament, Circus troops, travelling salesmen, social clubs and much much more!

The hotel is said to be haunted by a number of spirits, including Sir Sidney Kidman, Dr MHS Blood, former owners Henry Fairclough & Denis Horgan, a former travelling scissor-grinder, prostitutes, children and a dark shadow man with a bad temper!

If you are visiting South Australia, head north on the Max Fatchen expressway to Gawler, then onto the Theile highway to Kapunda – and whilst in the town don’t miss the Museum, the haunted Information Centre, the Haunted Court House, The basement museum in the Kapunda Bakery and just a little out of town the amazing Anlaby house and gardens!

Allen Tiller outside the North Kapunda Hotel

You can stay in Kapunda at the Station B&B, Anlaby House, The Kapunda Tourist Park, Ford House or The Sir John Franklin Hotel!

Extreme Emergency Causing Notice – Kapunda – South Australia

Extreme Emergency Causing Notice – Kapunda – South Australia

Lord Palmerston Hotel - Main Street Kapunda

During World War Two, the Japanese military had spread its army across Asia, marching towards Australia with a ferocity never before witnessed in modern warfare. City after city fell to the Empire as they moved ever southwards. Singapore fell, and soon Australian soldiers were fighting even closer to their Island, and the threat of coastal invasion became much more real and terrifying.

 By 1942 however, the tide was beginning to turn, and it was now the Japanese who were beginning to worry, so much so in fact that they began to evacuate their own people from possible invasion points by moving them to their furthest north Island of Hokkaido.

 If the Japanese had of made it ashore and invaded Australia, the South Australian Government had devised a plan that would come into action if an “extreme emergency causing notice” had to be served, which would demand all banks in South Australia  in metropolitan areas would have to transfer their head office, or State headquarters, if the banks head office was interstate, into country regional areas as a means of isolating them and making them harder to capture before important documents could be destroyed.

Bank of Adelaide - 1907 - Kapunda

 The clearinghouse for Associated Banks in South Australia was to find its new home in Burra, where several of the States banks were already represented, these being the Bank of Australia, The National Bank of Australasia Ltd, and the Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd.

 Banks that were choosing to station their headquarters in other towns, would also have to have a representative stationed in Burra to change their cheques through the clearinghouse.

  Other banks were choosing other regional areas, the Bank of Adelaide made plans for its administration to work from Saddleworth whilst the Adelaide office would be moved to Kapunda, the headquarters to Balaklava and its Port Adelaide, Hindmarsh and Rundle Street branches would all be moved to Angaston in the Barossa Valley.

English, Scottish and Australia Chartered Bank - Kapunda 1871

 The Bank Of Adelaide also made plans to move its Enfield, Keswick and Unley branches to Freeling, whilst its Hindley Street, Pultney Street and Gouger Street branches were to go even further north to Spalding, and the office on North Terrace to Booborowie!

 The English, Scottish and Australian Bank Ltd was looking towards Clare, while the Head Office of Sydney based bank the Commercial Banking company of Sydney Ltd, was looking to go south to Naracoorte. The Commonwealth Bank made moves for Waikerie, and our very own State Bank had chosen Yacka as its escape plan.

The Savings Bank of South Australia chose Kapunda, and made moves to secure buildings in the town, one being the former Baptist Church on Hill street (now the Kapunda Museum) of which the basement, measuring 60ft by 40ft, and having two stair wells was considered extremely valuable to the bank, but they also needed somewhere to use as accommodation for the staff they would need to move the former copper mining town.

 The bank also purchased the once grand Lord Palmerston Hotel which was situated in the main street of the town, and after service as a hotel, and horse sales yards, became the Kapunda Coffee Palace before falling into a state of disuse and neglect.

Kapunda's Main Street circa 1880

 The Hotel, on the ground floor had a bar, dining room, four other rooms and a kitchen, and on the first floor another 11 rooms that could be used as bedrooms, more than ample for the staffs requirements if ever the move had to take place.

 Fortunately for South Australia the Japanese never got this far, and an “extreme emergency causing notice” never had to be served.

The Northfield Crop Circle 1994

The Northfield Crop Circle 1994

 December 1994, the suburb of Northfield had its own encounter with Aliens after a large crop circle was spotted when Alison Light flew into the city on December 9^th.

 Using a street directory, Alison was able to track down the wheat crop by the street patterns of the area, and found it in a field owned by the Department of Agriculture.

The Crop Circle measured 15.3 metres wide, with the wheat flattened in an anticlockwise direction

all the stalks were unbroken, with no human tracks in or out of the shape. It's outer appendages had all the stalks facing back to the main shape, and the entire pattern was perfectly aligned to the Earth’s own magnetic fields in a north-south direction.

 A friend of mine, Mr Good, who I met through a site we both worked at, actually experienced this crop circle for himself first hand, being offered the chance to step inside it when he was working in the areas as a security guard

 Mr Good said, that when he stood inside it you could feel a very weird electrical vibration. Government tests conducted to measure for radioactivity and magnetic charge disputed this evidence, but one has to wonder, as in all UFO related cases, is the Government telling the truth, as it is well known Governments worldwide will cover up any kind of UFO contact wherever possible– (One only has to site the recent release of UFO related material released by the New Zealand and UK Governments over previous years)

 This particular crop circle drew the attention of Mr Colin Norris (known locally as “Mr UFO”) who described the circle as “Marvellous” and stated to the Advertiser Newspaper when asked if it could be a hoax

“It’s ‘it’ as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing about this that’s a hoax. It’s perfect”.

Local radio station SAFM claimed they had made the crop circle as a joke, but retracted their statement of involvement when a Government Official said charges could possibly be laid over the incident.

A few days later, the wheat was harvested and the circle removed by the blades of a combine harvester.

 The land is now entirely covered by homes

SUICIDE FOLLOWS GHASTLY DEED ADELAIDE

SUICIDE FOLLOWS GHASTLY DEED ADELAIDE

In 1931, Ivan White awoke to the horrifying sounds of screams from his neighbour's house on Brighton Road, Helmsdale. He jumped out of bed and ran across to the bungalow. Looking through the window, to his horror, he saw his neighbour, Stanley Jones, bashing his wife in the head with a hammer...


Stanley Jones was married to Gertrude, and together they lived with their 18-year-old daughter Marjorie and a 35-year-old female border by the name of Ms Sullivan.
Stanley owned a Billiard Saloon Hall in Glenelg that had always been reasonably rewarding financially, but in recent times had become somewhat of a strain on his hip pocket.


On the night in question, Mr Jones came home from work and sat down to dinner with his wife, daughter and border. The foursome ate, and afterwards, Ms Sullivan and Marjorie excused themselves and returned to their rooms.
Ms Sullivan, later in her police statement, said after she had left the dining room, and returned to her room, Mr and Mrs Jones had sat at the table engrossed in amicable conversation.
At some point the same evening, after saying goodnight to his wife, Stanley began to write a note explaining that he was sorry for all the trouble he had caused and that the “The Billiard Saloon was the cause of it all”.
 At about 2:45am, Stanley went into his daughter Marjorie's room and slit her throat with a razor. Marjorie couldn’t scream, but she managed to get up and make her way to her mother's room.
 As she entered her mother's room, Stanley, her father, struck Majorie in the back of the head with a hammer.
Marjorie fell to the floor at the foot of her mother's bed.

Gertrude began to scream, and as she did, Stanley came at her with the hammer, swinging wildly At the same time he also slashed at her with a cut-throat razor.
In another part of the house, Ms Sullivan had been awoken by the screams. Realising something terrible was happening in the house, she jumped out through a window to escape and ran into neighbour Ivan White as he crossed the street to see what was going on.
Looking through the window at the horrors before him, Ivan tapped on the window. Stanley turned and looked him in the eye, with a savage expression on his face, and turned back to beating his wife around the head with the hammer.
Mr White rushed down the street to the nearest telephone box and called the police, who arrived within in five minutes.

The police entered the house to find Marjorie was still alive, but in a very bad way, they followed a trail of blood through to the rear of the house and into the backyard where they found Stanley, who had taken the razor to himself and slit his throat from ear to ear. He was still alive.


In the brief amount of time it took for medical help to arrive, both Majorie and Stanley died from their wounds...

War Tunnels

War Tunnels

A new train and train line, with a newly completed viaduct and tunnels in Belair, was quite an achievement. Although, South Australian's did not expect to see men standing around in the fields near Blackwood, wondering why their new shiny train could not make it up the steep incline, and so it was in 1883 when 200 of Adelaide's most proper gentleman were invited on the first trip of Adelaide’s new train line into the Adelaide Hills (As reported in the Observer March 17th 1883).


With the outbreak of World War One, the Sleeps Hill tunnels and railway line became very important to our wartime communications, and to transport between States. Armed military guards were posted at either end of the tunnels to stop any espionage attempts.
When the war ended in 1919, a new line was installed, and the railway lines were removed from the old tunnels (the last train ran through there on August 11th, 1919). Instead, the tunnels now served as a picnic and exploration area for many local people.


In 1932, an enterprising young man came up with the idea of using the tunnels to grow mushrooms. He removed the gravel floor and brought in tons of fresh dirt. He planted his first crop, looking to a bright future of all-year-round fresh mushrooms for South Australia.
However, it wasn’t to be, as unforeseen causes saw his business take many blows. Firstly, an endless supply of unwanted brown snakes found their way into the warm, dank tunnels. Then mould and fungus disease obliterated his crop...and to top it all off, vandals broke in a destroyed what little he had left.
His mushroom dream finally ended after an outbreak of the fungus “Chatomium” spread through his crop, a disease brought to South Australia from infected mushrooms from Herefordshire, England.

In 1938, the old tunnels now stood empty once again. In 1942, the Japanese bombed Darwin, and an outbreak of invasion hysteria captured the South Australian government. They decided the old Sleeps Hill tunnels would be the perfect place to hide the State's many artistic treasures and important documents.
Plans were made, and the shorter of the two tunnels was overhauled with ventilation shafts, electric lighting, and thick brick walls at either end with heavy iron doors.
A Jarrah platform running 700ft and 18 inches high was installed running the full length of the tunnel. Next, the tunnel was divided in half down its width and divided into sections. A small hand cart was then used to place the State's treasures into their new homes.
Armed troops stood guard as endless trucks of treasures arrived to be unloaded and hidden from the Japanese threat. War records on microfilm, Government x-rays, taxation documents, and other Government papers were stored inside the tunnels, alongside some of our most valuable art collections.

The Government spent a lot of money on this new storage facility, which housed not only our state treasures and documents but also a travelling painting of King George VI, which happened to be in Australia at the time. Elaborate fire safeguards were installed, and the facility was constantly monitored by the military for dampness, mould and pests.
The other tunnel played a lesser role and became storage for an arsenal of weapons and ammunition; it too was heavily guarded by our military.
The war ended, but this did not stop the military from using the 1st tunnel for the following few years.

There has long been rumour and innuendo that some of our treasures never made it back out of tunnel 1, but I am assured by a source I spoke to recently that everything was accounted for and returned to its proper place after the threat of war diminished.


Bibliography: 

1883 'OPENING OF THE LINE.', The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), 17 March, p. 2.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33758328

Happy 2nd Birthday The Haunts of Adelaide

Happy 2nd Birthday

The Haunts of Adelaide

Tomorrow The Haunts of Adelaide turns 2!

 Many thanks to all our readers that have found us and stayed with us over those two years, as we have delved into some of South Australia's, Ghosts, Crimes and Eccentricities...

We appreciate your support and encouragement.

We would also like to thank

The National Library of Australia

The Library of South Australia

TROVE

The PANDORA Archives

The Bunyip

The Kapunda Herald

The Advertiser

and all the Historians and Genealogists who have helped along the way

Below is some of our artwork from the past 2 years

Grisly Gawler - Part III - Death in Custody

Grisly Gawler - Part III: Death in Custody

Life was hard in the late 1800s, and criminals were justly dealt with. Standards were a lot different from what we are used to today with many police station being stone buildings with harsh conditions.

In Gawler, if arrested, you would visit the police cells on Cowan Street. In its day, long before the modern Police Station, we see now, there stood a stone building ( as shown in photos below) which had very simple, and cold stone cells.

Much like now, back in the day there were rules and regulations Police had to follow whilst they had prisoners in custody. Those rules and regulations didn’t take in to account the human factor. If someone really wants something bad enough, they will find a way to do it, and with that, there were quite a few deaths in custody in the Gawler Police station in the late 1800s.

I am going to touch on one briefly in this article.

In 1872, a man by the surname Docherty had been arrested in front of his own home for suspicion of stealing a horse saddle three months earlier. The arrest was made by Sergeant Woodcock at 5am on the 16^th of October 1872.
  The sergeant took the defendant back to the Gawler Police station on Cowan Street and placed him in the cells.

Precautions were taken to make sure the prisoner had no weapons upon his body and he was left alone in the cells, checked upon on a regular basis by the station officers, as was customary.

 Docherty was last seen alive at 9pm Saturday night when his dinner was brought to him by Constable Farrell.

Docherty had been totally sober and of no nuisance to the Police officers, not complaining about his situation nor offering any objection to his treatment.

He was found hanging from his belt the following morning by constable Farrell, who called on Sergeant Woodcock to come and assist in cutting down the man.

  Docherty had climbed up on his night bucket, and slipped his belt loop through the top rails above the doorway, then fastened the belt. He then made a makeshift noose and hung himself.

  Due to the extreme summer heat at the time, it was decided to make an inquest into Docherty's death that same day. His friends and wife were called to the courthouse to offer witness statements as to the mental condition of the man.
  His wife told officers as of late, her husband, who was usually a quiet man who took no alcohol, had become much keen to drink and was often out drinking and doing things in the scrub, but she was not aware of what, as he did not say.

The Police made a report that Mr Docherty's suicide was: 'The deceased, being of weak intellect, committed suicide in a fit of temporary insanity”!

There were many more reported suicides and attempted suicides in the Gawler Police Station, as well as many other police stations around Australia. In the era, for most people, being arrested was a much more serious thing than it is now. People liked to keep good reputations intact, and being arrested, or worse, gaoled, was the kind of thing that could cost not only livelihoods but also social status and Church Status in serious jeopardy. 
Often people once released would move on to new areas to try and wash those old stains from their past.

The link below shows statistics for deaths in custody across Australia in the last few years: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/20/08_prison.html

The following link shows statistics for crimes over various decades.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4524A092E30E4486CA2569DE00256331