Carnival fatality

The Manly Carnival of 1920 was marred by a bizarre fatality. On Thursday 11th March 1920, showman Anthony Kimbel employed Teresa Caton (26) as a snake charmer in one of his sideshows on the ocean beach. Two snakes were delivered to Kimbel, a black snake and a tiger snake. He took hold of the black snake, and was promptly bitten, but he applied a ligature and his own antidote and felt no ill-effects afterwards. The following day Miss Caton picked up the tiger snake and put it round her neck. She was immediately bitten. A ligature was tied round her wrist and the antidote administered, but it was ineffective. Later that day she was admitted to Manly Cottage Hospital in Raglan Street, and she died there on Saturday 13th March.
At the coronial inquest, Mr Jamieson, the City Coroner, found that she had died from the effects of the bite of the tiger snake, and he warned that these reptiles should not be displayed in settings where they could come into contact with the public; he hoped that the police would take steps to protect the public from this sort of danger.
It is not known where Miss Caton was buried; it does not appear to have been in Manly Cemetery, and we have not found a death notice in the Sydney press.

Smedley's view

The architect John Smedley (1841-1903) lived in a house named Uyeno for several years in the late 1880s, located at the end of what is now known as ‘Smedley’s Point’. From Uyeno, he could watch progress on the construction of the Ladies’ Baths, on the opposite side of Manly Cove, roughly where Oceanworld now sits. He advised Manly Council on the tender process for the Baths’ construction, and may have had a hand in their design. A recent visitor to Manly Library Local Studies collection, Rosalyn Smedley, is a direct descendant of John Smedley, from a branch of the family now living in Canada. Rosalyn allowed us to copy this previously unseen watercolour in the family’s possession, of Manly Cove, painted by John Smedley in circa 1889-90. I think it shows the view from Uyeno looking across to the opposite shore of Manly Cove to what is now called Federation Point, with Fairlight beyond - I can imagine John Smedley setting up his easel on the lawn at Uyeno to pain the view. I am not sure what the contraption in the picture is – perhaps it is some sort of temporary crane for unloading building materials?

St Kilda fire

The attached image was in an old photograph album we recently received. It has nothing to do with Manly, but it seems a shame not to share it with a wider audience. It shows the crowds drawn to the fire at the Palais Picture Theatre, which was adjacent to Luna Park, St Kilda, Victoria. the fire happened on 10th February 1926, and completely destroyed the picture theatre. Luna Park itself narrowly escaped the flames, according to the reports in the Melbourne Argus.

Manly and the Korean War

Manly Library has just been donated the Minute-book of the Manly and District Korean Campaign Comforts Fund. The Korean War broke out in early 1950. By November 1950, a Committee had been formed in Manly, chaired by Mayor Scharkie, to organise the provision of parcels of food and clothing to local men serving with the Australian forces. The first parcels to be sent consisted of a balaclava, gloves, muffler, socks, handkerchiefs, writing paper, chocolate, and Xmas cake.
The committee was hard-working, organising numerous fund-raising activities locally, and sending regular consignments of parcels overseas. Letters of thanks began to come back from soldiers who had received them, and serving personnel home on leave came along to tell the committee exactly what they would like by way of comforts from home. Future parcels included socks, cake, talcum powder, borax, toothbrushes, shaving cream, handkerchiefs, paper and envelopes, razor blades, tinned sausages, candles, sweets, vegemite, and tinned fruit-juice. Local businesses donated goods.
The Minute-book records occasional good news, such as the award of the Military Medal to Corporal R McCrindle of the 1st Battalion; but also the bad news, including the death of Private Walter Saillard, one of the five men whose names are honoured on the Manly War Memorial. The others are Sgt Bernard Cocks, Pte George Paterson, Private Jack Page and Private Brian Webb.
By the time the fighting stopped, on 27 July 1953, 17,164 Australian military personnel had served in the Korean War. 411 were killed and 1,216 wounded. The Committee continued to send comforts for a further year, providing a welcome reminder of home to the soldiers.