chair

Some Splendid Peaches. From Mr Charles Smith, the well known orchardist of Glen Aplin, Stanthorpe, we have received a case of peaches. They constitute a sample of his second early crop and are without doubt most excellent, both in size and flavour. When it is remembered that with the exception of a shower last Sunday there has been no rain at Glen Aplin for two months one cannot but be struck with the remarkable productiveness of the district especially in respect of fruit growing. After tasting the luscious peaches under notice it does seem strange that there should be such scarcity of this high-class fruit in Brisbane. Mr Smith's fruit has certainly stood the dry spell well, and that the excellent sample he sends is not a representative of small crops shown by the fact that in peaches alone he is this season marketing between 3000 and 4000 cases. Source: The Brisbane Courier; 05 Jan 1912 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19734424

It is possible the children's father was Mr Charles Smith, an orchardist from Glen Alpin.

It seems May Lacy had an older sister who survived the sunken ship catastrophe. In the Queensland State Archives, there is a story about the miraculous survival of May's older sister. Freeman’s Journal Sat 8 March 1890 Wreck of the S.S. Quetta Fearful Loss of Life 123 Souls Perished The R.M.S. Quetta, of the British India Steam Navigation Co.’s Anglo-Australia service, was on Friday night wrecked on the Queensland coast, after striking on a sunken rock not marked on the chart. The Quetta was well known as one of the favourite mail boats, and the news of her loss was received with profound regret throughout the colonies. The Queensland towns were, especially, cast into gloom by the receipt of the information on account of the passengers being mostly Queensland residents, and the officers and crew well known on the coast of that colony. The eldest Miss Lacy had a miraculous escape. She clung to a raft till midday on Saturday, when she left it and tried to swim ashore, but the currents carried her away She then resolved to keep afloat, being thus without any support for over 20 hours before she was picked up, nearly 36 hours after the wreck. Miss Lacy’s Escape Miss Lacy, who was rescued, is 16 years of age, and the eldest daughter of Mr. Dyson Lacy, of St. Helen Station, Mackay, Queensland. When the search party reached her she was almost exhausted. One sailor took off his flannel shirt and wrapped her in it, but she had, in the meantime, fainted. She was much exhausted, but, thanks to the care of Dr. Salter, she fast recovered, though very weak and burnt by exposure to the sun. Her story is that she was writing a letter to her mother when the sad event happened. She rushed to get her younger sister, who had gone to bed, and brought her on deck. Both went over together, and she afterwards was dragged into a boat or raft, where she was very kindly treated by the purser. She remained on the raft till afternoon, so that she must have been swiming about till seen by Captain Reid. Her rescue was almost miraculous, as she was drifting out to sea swan from Mount Adolphus Island and she could not possibly have held out much longer. Perhaps her rescue and marvellous self-recollection is the most wonderful of all the melancholy incidents concerned with this terribly sad calamity. Source blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2016/12/08/the-sinking-of-the-s...

Sophie Tucker, The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas Brash, bold, and her own woman, Hartford’s Sophie Tucker enjoyed a long and successful career as an entertainer, performing for almost 60 years. Nicknamed “The Last of the Red-hot Mamas,” she was an inspiration to both the entertainment and the Jewish communities, maintaining her faith throughout her life and donating money to various charities, including the Jewish War Relief Campaign. Born in Russia in 1884, Sophie Kalish and her family immigrated to the United States and by the time she was eight had moved to Hartford, where they opened a Jewish restaurant on Front Street called Abuza’s Home Restaurant. Little Sophie often entertained the restaurant’s customers with her singing and enjoyed performing so much that she soon moved on to amateur singing contests. Audience members often shouted, “Give us the fat girl!” Sophie would jump up and perform, never worried about her size or looks. She later said she wanted to put on a show that the audience would remember. She continued to perform until her first marriage at 16, and although she and her husband Louis Tuck had one son, the marriage quickly fell apart. Leaving her young son at home, Sophie moved to New York where she attempted a career as an entertainer. Upon her arrival, she wrote to her mother and explained her decision, promising to send money for the care of her young son. She changed her name to Sophie Tucker, which she thought sounded like a good name for a singer, and got a job at the German Village beer garden earning $15 a week. Her first big break came in 1907 at Chris Brown’s amateur night. The manager felt she was too big and unattractive to sing as herself so he had her go on stage in blackface, a popular practice in the early 20th century. She reluctantly accepted, performed, and quickly became a success as a “World Renowned Coon Shouter,” for which she earned $25 a week. Tucker performed for four years in blackface and hated it, feeling such shame that when she toured her act in Meriden, Connecticut, she didn’t tell her family. Shortly after, when her makeup failed to arrive for a big show in Boston, she won the audience over as herself and never performed in blackface again. In 1909, Tucker got a part in the Ziegfeld Follies, one of the biggest acts of the time, but the other performers envied her and she lost her voice due to stress. Her luck changed when she caught the eye of William Morris, a talent agent who quickly signed her and put her to work. Her new act included tunes, such as “Nobody Loves a Fat Girl but Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love,” which became known as Sophie’s “Red-hot Mama” songs. In 1911, songwriter Shelton Brooks offered her a song called “Some of These Days.” Hugely popular, it became Tucker’s signature piece, one she included in her act for the next 30 years. In 1913, Tucker returned to Hartford to perform at Poli’s Vaudeville Theatre, the same theater she visited as a girl, only now the billboards announced, “Sophie Tucker, The Pride of Hartford.” A huge success in her hometown, she would later say that the week she spent in Hartford was one of the best in her life. In 1922 Sophie toured England with Ted Shapiro, her new pianist. The duo worked well and would perform together for the rest of her career. Later, she branched into movies, television, and radio but complained about the censorship, remarking in an interview, “I couldn’t even say hell or damn and nothing, honey, is more expressive than the way I say hell or damn.” Still, between 1929 and 1945, she made eight films, including 1938’s Broadway Melody in which she played the mother to Judy Garland’s 15-year-old singer. In 1938, she became the first woman to chair the American Federation of Actors. Sophie continued appearing in nightclubs using her classic sexy act, updating it as she got older and singing songs such as “I Am Having More Fun Since I Am Sixty.” She continued to perform until her death from lung cancer in 1966. An estimated 3,000 mourners attended her funeral service at Emanuel Synagogue in Wethersfield. She is buried in the synagogue’s cemetery. Source: connecticuthistory.org/sophie-tucker-the-last-of-the-red-...