I wish I had a photograph of Ernest Cerf to go with the following newspaper clippings. Descendants of Ernest Cerf, please send me a scan of a photo of him that I can share with everyone.
Oakland Tribue, August 25, 1908
BIG FIRE SWEPT TESLA
Hotel, Coal Company’s Store and Other Buildings Are Destroyed
DEAD MAN IS WELL KNOWN IN CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
TESLA, Cal., Aug. 24. – A fire which broke out in the Tesla hotel late last night caused the loss of one life and the destruction of much property before it was extinguished.
Ernest Cerf, manager of the Tesla Coal Company’s store, was asleep at the hotel at the time and was burned to death before help reached him. His residence was in San Francisco, where he leaves a family. His brother [should read his son], Marcel E. Cerf is a well-known attorney of that city. The hotel and several adjoining buildings, including the coal company’s store, a saloon and a few small residences, were consumed by the flames.
SWEPT THE TOWN.
The burned property all belonged to the San Francisco and San Joaquin Coal company, for which concern Cerf was the buyer. The fire broke out at 3:30 this morning, and, despite the efforts of the volunteer fire department, burned itself out, destroying a considerable portion of the town, which depends upon the Carnegie Brick and Cement Works for its existence. It is believed that the property loss will reach $7500. It is understood to be insured. The buildings burned are the hotel and bunk house, saloon, butcher shop, ice cream parlor and pump house.
NO CHANCE TO ESCAPE.
The fire causes no stoppage of activities, as arrangements have already been completed to house and feed the men.
Cerf, who was sixty-five years of age, was asleep in the second story of the hotel. The frame structures burned like tinder, and he was unable to escape. The cause of the fire is unknown.
San Francisco Call, 26 August 1908
ERNEST
CERF IS BURNED TO DEATH
Meets End
in Blaze Which Destroys Hotel and Business
Houses in
Town of Tesla
Flames
Rage for Hours Despite Efforts of Volunteer Fire Brigade
TESLA, Aug. 25.---Ernest Cerf,
manager of the Tesla coal company’s store, burned to death in his apartments in
the Tesla hotel at an early hour this morning by a fire which destroyed the
hostelry, as well as a butcher shop, vegetable store and saloon adjoining, and
started a grass blaze which raged through 100 acres of pasture land nearby and
was not brought under control until nearly noon today.
Cerf was awakened when the fire was
discovered in the hotel and, rushing out into the hallway, held a short
conversation with Dr. H. L. Swanger, who occupied apartments nearby. He
returned to his room, presumably to attempt to save some of his property. Dr.
Swanger and a chambermaid, who were the only other occupants of the hotel,
escaped from the building after throwing a portion of their belongings out of
the windows, but Cerf did not reappear, and in the excitement attendant upon
the fire his absence was not noticed until it was too late to attempt to rescue
him.
His charred body was found in the
ruins of the hotel when the fire had burned itself out. It is presumed that he
was overcome by the heat and smoke in his room and fell unconscious before he
could return to the open.
Cerf was 63 years old. He is
survived by a widow and eight children, who live at 2821 Steiner street. One of
his sons is Marcel Cerf, a well known San Francisco attorney. Another is Cedric
Cerf, a prominent student at the University of California.
The oldest child, Charlotte, is a
teacher in the Polytechnic high school, the second, Barry, is an instructor at
the University of Wisconsin. The four others are Emile W., a mining engineer;
Rebecca and Lorraine and Mrs. James A. Forster. Cerf was a native of Touraine
[sic], France, and had been connected with the Tesla coal company for many
years. His body was shipped to Oakland.
The fire, which is believed to have
been started from smoldering coals in the kitchen stove, broke out between 3
and 4 o’clock this morning, and burned for several hours despite the efforts of
the volunteer fire department. The burned property all belonged to the Alameda
and San Joaquin coal company. It is believed that the loss will reach $7,500.
There was no insurance on the buildings.
Note: The town of Tesla is located in Corral Hollow Canyon, twelve miles southeast of Livermore and southwest of Tracy in Alameda County, California.
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| San Francisco Chronicle, Aug 26, 1908 |
Oakland Tribune,
July 8, 1959
MISS CERF, 79, MISSING IN RESORT FIRE
Miss Rebecca Cerf, 79, member of a
distinguished California family, is missing and presumed dead in the fire that
destroyed a Norwegian resort hotel June 23.
Twenty-four tourists died in the
Stalheim Hotel blaze.
Miss Cerf, who lived at El Cortez
hotel in San Francisco, left April 22 for a tour of Europe. Herbert Leland, San
Francisco attorney who is a close family friend, said he has ascertained she
was a guest at the hotel when the fire broke out.
One of the survivors, Mrs. Sidney S.
Kahn, 65, of 1880 Jackson St., San Francisco, said Miss Cerf rode in the same
bus to the hotel and was staying in the same wing of the hotel. It was
destroyed.
Miss Cerf was the sister of the late
San Francisco Superior Judge Marcel E. Cerf. Her nieces include Mrs. Charles
Cushing, wife of a University of California music professor.
A native of San Luis Obispo, Miss
Cerf was graduated from the University of California in 1902. She lived for
years on the family’s extensive ranch near Stockton. During World War I she
served with the Army Medical Corps.
She was active in charitable groups
and a member of the Women’s Overseas Service League.
Oakland Tribune,
July 12, 1959
REBECCA CERF DEATH CONFIRMED
The death of Rebecca Cerf, member of
a distinguished San Francisco family, in a Norway resort hote fire June 23, has
been confirmed.
She was earlier reported missing and
presumed dead. Confirmation was received by attorney Herbert Leland from the
U.S. State Department. No details were available.
Miss Cerf, 79, was the sister of the
late Marcel E. Cerf, San Francisco attorney and former Superior Court judge;
the late Prof. Barry Cerf of Reed College, and the late Cedric E. Cerf, a
Stockton rancher.
