HEROINE OF RABAUL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23221, 19 June 1937, Page 26

HEROINE OF RABAUL

HOTEL "LADY OF THE LAMP” WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LEAVE (From Our Own Correspondent) SYDNEY. June 10. From the turmoil, tragedy, and ruin of the Rabaul volcanic eruptions many stories have emerged of cairn courage and devotion, but none has been more striking than that of the “ Lady of the Lamp.” This “ angel of the big blackout ” is Mrs Bignell, of the Rabaul Hotel, who has not left the stricken area since Vulcan first “ blew.” She feeds 50 men a day. Morning, noon, and night they pour into the hotel, to be greeted with a cheery “ Had your kaikai? Well, go right in and I’ll send the coon in.” Mrs Bignell is slim and vivacious. She took over the hotel on May 1, and her first brewery bills were just about due when the big “blow” happened. She stayed on through the tragic Saturday and Sunday, although the Acting Administrator (Judge Phillips) threatened to arrest her if she did not leave. On Monday night she went just outside the town and slept in her car while mud and pumice rained down and blew up, around, and over her. and branches crashed on the car, and lightning slashed at it. On Tuesday morning she was back at the hotel, digging out dust and-mud with a shovel. She boiled saveloys salvaged, from the freezer over two primus stoves, and fed all and sundry-mostly men who were standing by at the request of Judge Phillips and the police chief. “They’re bonzer coves,” she said, “ and I won’t leave them. You should have seen those bows when they got a roast joint and potatoes cooked in their jackets and green peas for dinner on Wednesday. First I captured a wandering kanaka to help me start up the stove and cook. Then we found nine or ten natives on the prowl for loot, and we saved them from the calaboose by co-opting their services .to the department of culinary affairs. They nobly atoned for their wicked intentions, believe me. Then, at last, the Administration took me over—-and the works.” , „ . ■ Rabaul’s “Lady of the Lamp” had turned on free beer and cigarettes for her beloved “day-boarders.” “I keep a hurricane lamp burning on the veranda all night,” Mrs Bignell said, “and they can always awaken me if they are hungry.” This is the lamp that has given her her nickname.