…whose big heart throbbed for his friends, died suddenly of a broken one, alone
nichola andrew tadich’s headstone
1932: It is a heart-rending headstone for a man who most likely died of heart failure.
Forty-five-year-old Nichola Andrew Tadish was a salesman who was travelling for Wizard lighting plants in 1932.
He had been conducting his business in the Ingham region in Far North Queensland for about three months. It was a time when electric lighting was not far around the corner, and demand for gas and kerosene lighting systems was still high.
Nichola had complained of feeling unwell during the previous few days and on the morning in question went to the Cardarelli Italian Private Hospital, where he was admitted, but was found dead in bed shortly after 9am, said one newspaper report.
But another said he received medicine for his ailment but collapsed and died before leaving the hospital.
A post-mortem diagnosed heart failure.
While Nichola was reported as having been married, his tombstone would indicate perhaps he wasn’t.
He was Australian-born of Austrian heritage, possibly did not have any children, and was thought to have been from Petersham, Sydney.
His name was variously reported as Nichola/Nicholas Standish/Tadish in some papers.
Sources: Northern Herald, Saturday 26 November 1932, p20
The Telegraph, Monday 21 November 1932, p4
The Northern Miner, Saturday 26 November 1932, p 3
Way to go Australia 