The Cominos

Peter Comino was 31yrs old when he landed in 1900, spending 3yrs in Sydney, possibly with a sojourn in Wagga, before moving on to Lismore. Accompanying him to town was his younger cousin and shipmate, George Arthur Comino (Panagioteli) of Perligianika, who had acquired his own oyster saloon in Oxford Street within a year of landing. He was probably a partner in Comino & Co of Lismore until he sold his share to Peter and his brother 2yrs later and, after an 8mth stopover in Wagga, returned to Kythera. He came back to Sydney in late 1911 accompanied by his 11yr old son Arthur and went to work for his uncle, Zacharias Dimitrios Comino (Skordilli) of Pitt Street. Over the following years he did a couple of trips to the USA before settling permanently back on the island.

Peter’s brother George, a 33yr old bachelor when he arrived in 1896, spent 8yrs in Sydney before joining Peter in Lismore in late 1903, providing the wherewithal to expand as P & G Comino & Co, but occasionally trading as Comino Bros. In Oct1903 the rail line to Casino was opened, probably prompting George to establish a Casino branch of their enterprise in mid 1904, but leaving it in the hands of a manager, possibly Theo Con Andronicos, and moving to Grafton in mid 1905 to open another branch, coincidental with the start of operations of the Casino-Grafton rail line. This was passed to the partnership of Peter Minas Aroney of Lismore and Theo Harry Catsoulis of Glen Innes in late 1906.  George then seems to have returned to Lismore, passing his share of the business to Peter's brothers-in-law, the Andronicos Bros, around 1908 and disappearing somewhere. At this time the Lismore shop was given another makeover and re-emerged under its original name, The Sydney Oyster Saloon, the same name under which the Greek enterprises at Casino, Grafton, Kyogle, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby were by then trading, smacking of some sort of collusion to form a Greek franchise chain.

Peter Spyro Comino (Psilos) probably accompanied George on the coastal steamer from Sydney. He was 18yrs old when he landed from Katsoulianika in late 1903 and came direct to Lismore, remaining for 2yrs before spending the rest of his life in Sydney. His brother, Gregory Spiro Comino, landed as a 16yr old in 1913 and came to Lismore in 1919 after stints in Murwillumbah, Mackay, Maryborough and Winton. He moved to Grafton in 1920, but seems to have settled at West Wyalong by late 1921. 

Lismore became the staging post for Kytherians proceeding into Queensland and over these early years the place became choc-a-bloc with Cominos. George Emmanuel Comino (Palethras) landed in Sydney 1901, aged 16, and turned up in Lismore a few years later scouting out business opportunities, but was scared off by the floods after a short period. He kept on heading north until he struck virgin territory in Cairns where he finally put down roots and established the first Greek café in partnership with his brother Arthur in 1906. Arthur went back to Kythera in 1908, but returned to the Richmond-Tweed 2yrs later and wandered all over the region looking for another business opportunity before heading south and eventually choosing Wingham, where he was joined by wife Sophia (nee Souris), daughter Matina, aged 8, and son Manolis, aged 2, in 1912. But in 1914 Sophia decided Lismore was a more congenial spot to bring son Peter into the world. She may have a connection to Vasiliki Souris (Moscovite), the wife of George Arthur Comino above.

Peter Theo Comino (Baha) also passed through Lismore on his way to Mackay and the subsequent acquisition of the Sydney Oyster Saloon from his uncle Minas Comino (Psilos). He had landed as an ancient 28yr old in 1905 and after a couple of months in Sydney and Dubbo came to Lismore for 8mths to work for Peter Comino. He managed to bring out his wife Vasiliki, the sister of George and Arthur above, and children Theo and Kaliopi, before the war. [And Vasiliki’s third brother, Charlie, married Eleni Comino, the daughter of Nick Stavrianos (Douris) and Erini Tsicalas, the sister of George of Lismore. And George’s other sister, Stamatia, married Con Theo Andronicos, the brother-in-law of Peter Emmanuel Comino (Gialdelis). And…. There’s a high place in heaven for anyone who can sort out the genealogical nightmare of the Cominos.]

The Douris Cominos were early employees of Peter Emmanuel, and one, Ioannis Stavrianos Comino (Douris), likely arrived in Lismore with him. He, aged 24 when he sailed into Sydney in 1901, stayed 7mths in town before acquiring the short-lived cafe of Nick Ioannis Veneris (Hellen) at Bundaberg in late 1903. He was the first of five Comino brothers from the village of Dourianika to hit the northern trail, although there appear to have been Douris Cominos at Rockhampton pre 1900. A couple of months after he moved on his younger brother Theo arrived in town and remained for 9mths before joining him in Bundaberg. Their brother Arthur married Marigoula Comino, the eldest daughter of George Arthur above. Arthur had landed in 1903, but returned for the Balkan Wars with his brother Peter in 1912, coming back with Marigoula in 1921 to settle at Laidley. Peter later came back to join his sons at Murwillumbah.

Hercules (Harry) Peter Comino was 20yrs old when he landed from the village of Potamos on Christmas Day 1911 and came straight to Lismore with his shipmate, Nick Harry Flaskas, to work in Peter Comino’s new Olympia Café. Harry stayed 3yrs before moving to Grafton for another 2yrs and thence settling in Sydney, while Nick later became part owner of the Olympia.

Menas and Nikolaos Anthony Comino, nephews of the Skordilli Oyster Kings, added to the Comino traffic jam in 1917 when they arrived from Sydney to acquire the business of Athena Andrulakis, the larger than life Ithacan entrepreneur. Their move to Lismore may have been prompted by the destruction of their George St café in the anti-Greek earthquakes of 1916. Mena and wife Marouli (nee Catsoulis) had twins born in Lismore in 1918 who unfortunately fell victim to the Spanish Flu epidemic (at the same time Mena's Oyster King uncle, John Comino, the son of Dimitri and Agapy, nee Menegas, also succumbed in Sydney.) Their daughter, Theodora, married Alex Dimitri Samios of Mullumbimby and Kyogle in 1932.

The Comino presence in Lismore finally came to an end in the early 1920s when Peter Emmanuel and family moved to Brisbane, probably prompted by the moribund state of the dairy industry. His wife Kalliopi (nee Andronicos), and daughters, Stella, aged 11, and Muriel, aged 9, had arrived in 1908. Stella married Mick Charles Catsoulis in Lismore in 1919 and a year later their son Charles was born in town, sometime after which they moved to Goondiwindi. Muriel married William Condoleon, of the Burnett region in Queensland, in Brisbane in the 1930s.

[And for the wedding buffs: The Comino/Catsoulis knees-up, probably the first Greek Orthodox wedding in Lismore, gave the happy couple and guests an entertaining tale to dine out on over many years. Guests from all over the place were dressed to the nines and assembled for the appointed kick-off of 2.30PM when, lo and behold, the priest failed to front. It turned out that the train bringing Fr Marinakis from Casino was delayed and proceedings didn’t get under way until 7PM, leaving a bewildered caterer at the Masonic Hall believing he’d got the date wrong. Muriel Comino of Lismore and Mrs Victoria Menegas of Warwick were bridesmaids, David Andronicos of Muswellbrook was bestman and Anthony Cassimatis of Brisbane, Harry Crethar of Ballina and Peter Catsoulis of Ballina were groomsmen. (Three weeks later Harry died in Ballina - of the Spanish Flu, not food poisoning.)]

The Olympia Cafe

In partnership with his brothers-in-law, Stylianos (Stan), Kosmas (Charlie), Dimitrios (David) and Constantine Andronicos, sons of the Reverend Father Theodore of the village of Kousounari, Peter constructed the Olympia Café in Molesworth Street in 1911. It was purpose-built to Peter's own design and became the most posh café on the north coast. For many years their adverts were prefaced with ‘Olympia - Finest Dining Hall Outside Sydney.’ Hands-on management however, was left with the Andronicos after Peter became a farmer near Nimbin in 1912. The site was owned by Dr Muller, but it’s understood that Peter had some sort of partnership stake in the building. Dr Muller had been his initial landlord in the original location in Woodlark, at least until Daniel Mason acquired the place in ~1911/12. (White Australia Mason had arrived in town in 1904 to open a shop around the corner on the Molesworth side of the Royal Hotel and took in William Hague as a partner about 3yrs later.)

For students of café architecture, this new cafe was housed in a two-storey brick structure, the restaurant taking the middle of three new shop fronts at ground level and occupying the whole of the upstairs space, and opened with great fanfare and a rave review by the local rag on 22July1911. The shop front at street level was lined in marble and had three large windows for the displaying of produce, an innovative misting system giving the illusion of freshness. Inside were two long marble-topped counters either side of the doorway, both housing the latest ’automatic carbonators’, and seating for a heap of plebs at marble-topped tables in the dining room beyond. The entire upstairs area over the three shops was devoted to posh dining rooms and reached by a separate doorway and spacious staircase. This space included a gentlemen’s luncheon room, ladies’ dining room and, up a further short flight of stairs, a banquet room with a ’large balcony for diners who indulge in the weed’. These levels, which included three bedrooms for employee accommodation, were serviced by a dumb waiter from the kitchen below. There were brass pots of ferns distributed throughout every room and staircase, and on every wall were ’large pictures depicting happenings in the history of Greece with descriptions under each picture’. The descriptions were in Greek, but hopefully the menus were in English. The place stretched through to Carrington Lane with the back yard housing a separate fish-room, a chook run, cart shed and stables, later also accommodating Stan Andronico’s three guard dogs. The opening day’s takings were again donated to the Lismore District Hospital, a regular practice instituted by Peter Comino ever since he arrived in town. (At this time they also appear to be the first in Lismore to take the three-course meal to 1/-.)

It seems they continued to run their old Woodlark cafe, in the two-storey timber Exchange Building, in tandem with the new café for about another 8mths or so, probably managed by Peter Comino until he went farming in early 1912. The general merchants, Fraser & Witford, then occupied the shop, but shortly afterwards Mason & Hague, the White Australian men’s outfitters, seemed to have occupancy of the whole building, at which time Daniel Mason paid a record Lismore price of £130 per foot for the site. In 1915 the building was pulled down and two new brick buildings erected; a purpose built three-storey ‘Tailor’s Building’ next to the Royal Hotel, (now owned by Peter Coronakes), and the two-story ‘Mason’s Exchange Building’ (aka ‘GIO Building’) to the east, built by Daniel Mason and occupied by Mason & Hague. In 1916 a combination tobacconist/hairdressing saloon/billiard saloon business moved into the last shop in this building, all of which are now tenanted by Britishers said the advertorial, which in 1929 was converted into a Sundae Shop by the ‘Britisher-by-naturalization’, Angelo Crethar, who, in partnership with his cousin, Nick Crones, bought the building from Mason for a record price of £370/ft in Aug1932. (Next door in the Clive Building, Angelo had opened his first Lismore Sundae Shop in 1923, acquiring the original Busy Bee Candy Shop established by Nick Poulos in 1915.)

Seventeen year old Stan Andronico had landed with Peter Comino in 1900 and eventually became the main face of the Lismore enterprise. After various adventures, including a 2yr sojourn in South Africa, he came to Lismore at Christmas 1907, apparently as an employee of Comino until the Olympia was built in 1911, at which time the Andronicos Bros shops at Tenterfield and Musswellbrook along with the Olympia and the Nimbin farm were all consolidated under the umbrella of ‘Andronicos Bros & Comino’. David managed the Tenterfield branch, Charlie the Musswellbrook enterprise, while Con, the consort of Stamatia Tsicalas, had returned to Kythera. The farm, 129 acres at Hanging Rock, was won by Stan in the land ballot of Jan1910, which sparked the entertaining ‘White Australia Election’ a couple of months later after the locals became a tad upset that three ‘Hindoos’ were also successful in the ballot. But it seems Stan wasn’t cut out to be a farmer and the place was formally transferred to Peter Comino in early 1912.

Little is known of Peter Comino and his farming pursuit, although he is believed to have chosen to raise beef rather than milk cows. It seems he commuted to Nimbin, perhaps staying over on a shack on the property for extended periods while his family remained in their home in Bridge St, North Lismore. Upon arrival in 1908 they had rented in Little Keen until moving across the river in 1912/13, coincidental with the farming venture.

North Lismore started to decline with the development of Lismore proper, and for some years its condition was stationary, and the suburb became the rendezvous of a few lawless men. In process of time the suburb was purged of these, only to make room for an undesirable class of aliens, who were a considerable presence, particularly the dreaded Hindoos, by the turn of the century. By 1908 the North Lismore Ratepayers Association was formed in an effort to get a fair share of development money out of the Council, at the same time blaming the aliens for the decrease in property values. These people live in any sort of hovel in great numbers. They sell a cheap and nasty line of goods, and making big profits, and in time have saved money and bought property, on which they built shanties out of packing cases, etc. They were simply ruining parts of Lismore…. They were increasing daily and were detrimental to the progress of the district…. Niggers of all descriptions were to be met there.… What they had most to complain about was the way our own people supported these objectionables…. Anyone living in Lismore could see the evils of the presence of the Hindoo or Asiatic, the Dago, and the others without going beyond their own town. Their presence made the place stink in the nostrils….

While whinging over aliens continued to build along with the growth in alien numbers, it didn't deter Peter Comino from deciding to live in the cosmopolitan place. There was a temporary reprieve from the multi-coloured hoodlums during the war when a fair swag of the Hindoos drifted to the countryside, particularly around Kyogle and Casino to take up higher wages from desperate dairy farmers, while others found fortune in the new banana industry on the Tweed and Brunswick, prompting the defunct Ratepayers Association to reform following encouraging words from the Northern Star: Time, like an ever-rolling stream, has borne nearly all these away (the ‘undesirable class of alien’), and the suburb (North Lismore) was never so free from these strains in the past twenty years as it is today…. The increased accommodation since the new railway station was built on the North side has resulted in a largely increased traffic through that suburb, and this fact, together with the gradual disappearance of the drunken alien, is working out a destiny, with the result that owners for some time past have been reporting a keen demand for their houses….

Twelve months later however, council neglect was still the norm and it regained its old reputation, prompting a disgruntled resident to say that  it would seem that those great minds to whom the destinies of our city has been entrusted, ignore this fact (need for improvements) and regard our north side of the town as the abode of mugs, thugs, and Asiatics, whose childlike simplicity may be best ‘pleased with the rattle, or tickled with a straw.’ It hurts, Mr Editor, it hurts; and the more so when, on looking matters square in the face, we are forced to own that this estimate is not entirely incorrect. In one respect they are right.…
And when we recognise that we have allowed some of our streets to become thoroughfares along which no woman may walk on Sunday afternoons without becoming the topic of conversation among knots of multi-coloured hoodlums who make the air hideous with coarse jests and boisterous horse-play, and whose chief delight seems to lie in speculating upon feminine virtue, whether in the concrete or in the abstract, we begin to think that our visitors are either pulling our leg or have been shown only the ‘naicest’ part of the town.…

By the late war years distressed aborigines from the dysfunctional reserve at Dunoon were adding to the anguish as they drifted into North Lismore in increasing numbers, prompting a report from Council’s Sanitary Inspector, who suggested moving them to the old reserve out of town near the old North Lismore Cemetery: The blacks emphatically refused to return to the location set apart for them at Dunoon.… As soon as these people are disposed of the way would then be fairly clear for the disposal of other coloured races and the buildings occupied by them in that part of the municipality…. The thing he was afraid of was that if the position went on the people of other coloured races would want houses, such as obtained in parts of Africa, and which were revolting. They could put the blacks out on the street, but the question was if that was advisable…. The inspector of police wanted the blacks to go back to Dunoon.… The Mayor said the council did not want the blacks to go to the reserve at North Lismore, but to return to Dunoon…. The subsequent Spanish Flu epidemic temporarily sorted out the problem, but they were back in force during the Depression years.

In mid 1923, around the time Peter Comino moved out, Lismore still had a nasty coloured smear across is prosperous face. At Lismore the visitor who drives round to see the little city is invited to cross the river for the coloured settlement as one of the ‘sights’ of the place, and there, within a few minutes of the heart of the town, sees people young and old, from patriarchs to babies, of all shades of colour between yellow and coal black. In numbers, too, and superficially in all shades of living conditions, Indians seem to predominate, but you would hesitate to say that any national skin pigment was not there. The wondering tourist asks himself whether he is one of the polyglot East Indies rather than in a country which proclaims an all-white policy. And in mid 1925, allegedly around the time his daughter moved out, when Boom conditions are now over... and... There were numerous persons desirous of selling, but few purchases were to be found, a desperate real estate agent reckoned that It would not be right to say that North Lismore was an undesirable locality. It was regarded as the alien quarter, but there were many good citizens residing there.

At which time a Sydney Morning Herald reporter reckoned Lismore is the busiest and most populous town in the whole North Coast area from Newcastle to Murwillumbah. There is an almost metropolitan bustle and an air of assured prosperity. The business area is rather limited, and the chief activities are largely confined to one square. This concentrates traffic. Molesworth and Woodlark streets are so full of bustle, so crowded by cars and buggies and lorries on roadway, and by foot passengers on pavements, that they resemble sections of George or Castlereagh streets rather than the arteries of a country centre.… As the depth (of the river) is sufficient for the smaller ocean boats, they come right into the heart of town…. The amount of money which streams over the counters in liquid transactions delights commercial and financial men…. And the AMP has the most profitable country branch in Australia.… In comparing the newly awakened Grafton with the always alive Lismore it is evident that in her absorption in money-making Lismore has neglected the civic amenities more than has her older sister.… But while the main thoroughfares of Grafton are things of attractiveness, the chief business streets of Lismore are bare and uninviting. No dainty plots of lawn, no hint of graceful shrub, slender drooping palm, bright flowers or umbrageous tree, hide their grim nakedness….

In late 1928 the Blacks Camp in Peat and Terania Street up from Gray Street again became an issue at the council elections. It remained an issue all through 1929 when Jack Bavea turned up to establish his catering business in Terania Street, George Poulos sold up in Bridge Street to become an employee at the Regent, and George Florias found rental accommodation until evicted in 1931 upon joining the ranks of the unemployed, at which time segregation at the new Tuncester/Cubawee Reserve provided an expedient solution to the aborigine nuisance. (The saga of the North Lismore aborigines can be followed at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~aliens/references-indians_2.htm , at the end ‘Indians – 2’, under ‘References’ for ‘Aliens of the Tweed and Brunswick’.)

Top

The Balkan Wars

In October 1912 the Balkan War broke out and Stan Andronico became the main organiser of a local Greek contingent to go and lend a hand in expelling the wicked Turks from Europe. Last night a ‘Star’ representative saw a prominent Greek of this town, from whom some information was gathered. Speaking of the impending trouble Mr S. Andronico said that for centuries Greece was never better prepared for war owing to the splendid statesmanship displayed by the present Premier…. It is now in the hour of the trouble that intense patriotism of the Greek bubbles over and displays itself in a practical way. Every Greek when leaving his native country is bound to return when called upon to defend it. If however, he be a British subject he need not do so. (Stan and most of the local Greeks were naturalized Australians, ie British Subjects, by this time.) But the thoughts of the greatness of ancient Greece, of the Spartans, and especially the thoughts of the horrors and atrocities to which the Greeks in Turkey have from time to time been subjected, has aroused a world of patriotism and self-sacrifice, not only among those Greeks in the home land, but among those in other parts of the world. In anticipation of the trouble Greeks are returning from all parts of the world to defend their native land. Already 10,200 have returned from America, most of them in Greek battleships. An appeal has been made in Australia by the Grecian Consul, and among those cheerfully responding is Mr S. Andronico of Lismore. He is selling his business and is prepared to sacrifice £300 or £400 so as to get away. He is hopeful of leaving Lismore about the end of the month or a little later. The whole of his staff, together with others, making a total of 20, have pledged themselves to accompany him. If necessary, Mr Andronico will pay their fares and equip them with rifles in Australia. They will, he says, go straight to the front, and do their best to avenge the horrors and atrocities to which their people have from time to time been subjected at the hands of the Turks in Macedonia…. Stan was a well educated bloke and able to read and write English with great proficiency, probably accounting for his usurping of Peter Comino’s role as the Greek community spokesman during these initial Balkan fun and games. 

[No local Muslim ‘Hindoo’ was ever interviewed and the Star, firmly on the side of the Christian Greeks and their Bulgarian, Serbian and Montenegrin allies, never carried any reports on the Turkish position. The only reference to the fact that the Muslim Turks had made a similar universal appeal came via a  letter-to-the editor a week later:The proclamation which has gone forward, ‘Moslems to the Rescue’, is a command the like of which has never been so universally heard before. Never in history has such an appeal gone with so world-wide an announcement. Mohammedans everywhere upon the earth have heard it, and all will respond in some measure to the call…. The letter writer, ‘J.B.’, was the Star’s most prolific correspondent at this time and, apart from editor Robert Browne (previously a journalist in India), seems to be the only local interested in Balkan goings-on. Through to the end of the year two of his many letters were again devoted to summarizing the Muslim position for the edification of the Star’s readership: … the Crescent and Cross are in conflict. The preparatory call on behalf of Mohammedanism has already gone to the world….]

Nevertheless, it seems the morning after his throw-away lines to the journalist Stan had the proverbial cuppa tea, bex, and a good lie down. The Olympia, probably the most expensive café between Sydney and Brisbane, couldn’t be sold at such short notice, even with a ‘£300 or £400’ discount, leaving Stan without the bananas to provision and transport his militia. Besides, being left without staff wouldn’t have been an attractive proposition to a prospective purchaser. 

Whether Stan himself went off to join the infidels is uncertain, but in Feb1913 the Tenterfield Star advised that Mr Stanley Andronico, of this town, will, with a number of his Greek compatriots, be leaving for their native country on the 9th of next month to take part in the war. But in Sep1913 he was still (or again) in Tenterfield recovering from a bout of ill health when he accidentally shot himself in the cheek (and the Greek grape vine informed that '...A statement that Mr G. Tsikalas had been shot under mysterious circumstances is altogether incorrect and has caused that gentleman much annoyance and alarmed his relatives. The mishap was purely accidental.' The rumour probably got started because of George's bungled attempt to blow his head off a couple of years earlier whilst working with his brother Victor at Goondiwindi.) At this time, late 1913, Stan's brother David was on temporary relieving duty in Lismore, leaving George with the Tenterfield management (and probably nursemaid to Stan.) David also had his share of fun while manning the counter in Lismore. A couple of satisfied customers, crew from a cargo boat tied up at the Woodlark wharf, showed their appreciation of a fine meal by presenting David with a ‘king hit’. The following melee saw a few marble topped tables broken and a couple of dozen plates smashed, a large crowd gathering outside to enjoy this new form of free Greek café entertainment. 

David was upgraded to permanent Lismore status in Nov1913 when the Tenterfield outlet was sold to the Cordatos Bros of Casino, at which time Stan was a paid-up member of the Lismore Chamber of Commerce. Family folklore has it that he finally took his R & R break on Kythera in late 1914/early 1915. David seems to have waved goodbye to Lismore and walked away from the Olympia in late 1915, leaving it in the hands of letting agents, and gone to join Charlie in Musswellbrook, while Stan was trapped by the war and didn’t make it back until 1919.

Around mid 1913, after the end of the First Balkan War, there was a change in tenor in the Star’s reporting as evidence mounted over the excesses of the Bulgarians in trying to pick up more than their fair share of the spoils. Near the end of June the Bulgarians sparked the Second Balkan War when they attacked the Greek and Serbian positions in Macedonia, subsequently drawing the Turks back into the fray as well as the Romanians. There were shocking atrocities on all sides, but the Bulgarians lost the PR battle. The Star was caught between a rock and a hard place in explaining dastardly Christian behaviour, but nicely got round the dilemma by asserting that The Bulgars cannot be termed an Eastern race in the strict sense of the words…. But they have been so long suborned by the Turks, the most cruel Eastern race extant, they have so intermingled with them, racially speaking, and become so impregnated with the seamy side of the Turkish character, that they are, in their moral standing, little above the plane of semi-barbarians, and as such they cherish all those customs which are looked upon by Christendom as the most revolting feature of war as far back as five hundred years ago. The story… is not without its lesson to Australia. It shows how wise we are to have banned the coloured alien from our life and how much we would wrong ourselves were we to so far abandon our policy of a White Australia as to enable his representatives to say they had ever intermingled their race with ours as would inevitably happen were our gates to be thrown open to them. The warning Lord Macauley gave should ever be before us – that the blending of occidental and oriental races could only result in the offspring imbibing the vices of both and the virtues of neither…. [The theme was carried on a couple of weeks later in commenting on the disposition to be found in some women in Australia to enter into wedlock, notwithstanding the warnings and entreaties of their relatives and friends, with the swarthy followers of Mohamed or Bhudda…. These two instances suffice (sic) to show the dangers a white woman embraces when she enters into wedlock with a dusky Indian lover, especially when amongst the majority of these aliens we find here, women are held in less respect than a horse or a trifle more than that unclean animal, the dog. ….]

But two weeks after the latter homily it was back on the Balkan track when it picked up on a ‘Letter from the Women of Greece to the Women of the Civilized World’ about the unheard of barbarities of the Bulgarians during the present warfare.… We the women of Greece, united by a common sentiment of grief and horror in presence of unspeakable horrors committed by Bulgarian bands against our brethren in Macedonia and Thrace…. We ask in the name of thousands of martyrised women and children, ministers of God, and servants of the State, both Christians or Mussulman, that they will demand the intervention of the whole civilized world to put an end to the inhuman crimes of the Bulgarians.
A people whose army treacherously and perfidiously attacks its Christian allies, thus provoking a new war, an army which is not satiated with the blood it sheds, but outrages virgins, mutilates infants in their mothers’ arms, burns old men alive, impales priests and bishops, tears out the eyes of the wounded and of the dying, belongs to a nation of barbarians and savages. She is unworthy of a place among civilised nations….
It is not possible to number the endless lists of atrocities committed by the Bulgarians. We can only mention a few, beginning with the wholesale enforced baptism of Mussleman woman near Novrokop, whilst their husbands were slaughtered or burnt in their mosques. In a village near Serrae women were forced to dance naked with bells hung from their necks, round an immense bonfire formed by the burning bodies of their husbands and children….
Women of the whole world, you, who are represented in the International Council of Women, or in the International League of Women’s Clubs, or concerned with the League of Peace, or with temperance societies, we entreat you by all the pity and love which is innate in women’s hearts, rise and demand the intervention of the powerful of the earth, that an end may be put to these savage atrocities, which must call down the execration of all right-minded nations upon a people which covers with shame its own profession of religion.
Whether it was a genuine letter from the Greek women or something drafted by the Greek Ministry of Propaganda is anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile the local Muslim part of the ‘Hindoo’ equation was starting to get a little press, even though this short second war, generating over double the casualties of the first, was over by August. Shaikh Abdul Kader visited in mid August for this holy month of Ramazan as a guest of Mr Soojawal Khan, of Hanging Rock, one of the leading Mohammedans in NSW (and the farming neighbour of Peter Comino.) Whilst not specifically stated, it’s a fair bet he was on a recruiting drive for men and money for the Turkish/Muslim cause - and was a cunning flatterer: I happened to see a well written article under the title of ‘Commotion at Cawnpore’ in your impartial paper…. (That article mentioned, amongst other things, that The Mohammedans, the mastering races we wrestled the greater part of the country from, have been loyal to us almost to a man. Not because they like us, but for the powerful reason of self protection…. They have, therefore, stood staunchly to us in the past, and if their allegiance is going to waver now there is every probability of bad times awaiting us ahead.  Racially the Mohammedan is a worker, the Hindoo a dreamer; so in the undercurrents of revolt it does not take long to comprehend which of the two would be the most dangerous….)

The Shaikh went on to say that Not so long ago the agitating Bengalese tried to enlist sympathy and support of Musselmans of India against British rule, but they badly failed in their project, through Musselmans unflinching fidelity and loyalty to the British Raj…. No doubt although in minority Mohammedan were the ruling and fighting power of India before British, and at present our best soldiers are all Musselmans namely Punjabees, Balochs, Peshorys, Afridis, Esopzals, and Wazirees, and they have proved without the shadow of doubt, if properly led, they are the best troops in the world…, and now this Balkan crisis has embittered their minds and feelings against certain Christian nations, and some of the mischief-making agitators will not hesitate to take an advantage of every misrepresentation to put to flame a certain ignorant portion of the population if they possibly can.…
There is not the slightest doubt that Islamism is spreading wonderfully fast, more so than Christianity in many undeveloped parts of the world although Christianity had a start of nearly 600 years over Islam, and the past history is a good guide to judge some future events. Mussulmans were the conquerors of that mighty Persian Empire…. Although the Balkan fiasco is not ended yet I think it will be only fair to say ‘Bravo Turk’ with so many obstacles and misfortunes in their way, they recaptured Adrianople and Thrace from barbarous, inhumane and most cruel of all humanity, the Bulgarians. I am sure if your readers were to search in past history, black or white, they would not find one single instance where such outrageous, horrible and unspeakable atrocities have been performed under the most holy pretences of civilisation.…

It was all over bar the shouting by then and in early November His Excellency Esper Nasoor Bey, Consul to the Ottoman Empire in New South Wales, paid a visit to Lismore at the command of the Sultan to meet as many of the Mahommedan faith as circumstances allowed, and to thank them personally on behalf of the Sultan for their loyalty to the Turkish throne, and their sympathy with their country during the late war. The Indian and Turkish Mahommedans in this district sent over £806 for the benefit of their co-religionists fighting in the ranks. Many in addition volunteered their services, and prepared to leave for the seat of war. But his Excellency’s instructions were to persuade them that it was not necessary….  [Most of the ‘Turkish nationals’ of Lismore and district at this time were Christian Syrians, while the vast majority of Muslims were Punjabi Indians/Afghans, 81 in County Rous in 1911 according to the census headcounters, greatly outnumbering the Greeks and perhaps the Sikhs, their fellow turbaned troublemakers.]

All in all this Balkan interlude resulted in no local clashes between Greek and Muslim, and each seems to have contributed equally to his respective cause, but the redrawn Balkan boundaries satisfied no-one, contributing to the outbreak of WW1 10mths later. Shortly after the Consul’s visit the Muslims, a far greater threat to the local White Australia cause, came back under the ‘Hindoo’ umbrella and had to suffer the usual Star chamber atrocities. During WW1 the Sikhs took centre stage, while the Muslims kept a low profile, particularly after a couple of turbaned Afghans flying the Turkish flag ambushed a train at Broken Hill on New Years Day 1915 and the Northern Star editorialised about ‘War in Australia’.

There were many interconnected Kytherian employees who came and went over these early years and would have been available for Stan’s private army. One was George Spyro Michalakakis (Tsicalas) from the village of Potamos, the brother-in-law of the Andronicos and the Douris Cominos. He had landed in 1905, aged 25, and spent 6mths working with his brother Harry at Mena Anthony Comino’s oyster saloon in George St, Sydney, before Harry managed to extract a bag of gold from Mena to acquire a café at Warwick. While Harry proceeded on to Warwick George got side tracked at Glen Innes, Scone and Lismore for a couple of years until they met up again. In 1908/09 he accompanied his brother Victor to Goondiwindi after the latter had scored a sack of sovereigns from Jim Anthony Comino to establish a café. But a few years later he hit the road again and after about 3yrs back on the Tablelands and in Lismore, and a short stint in Mullumbimby, acquired a café at Bangalow. This was passed to Nick Crethar, later of Nyngan, in 1920 and he then managed the Lismore branch of Mick Charles Catsoulis’ Fresh Food Supply Co until returning to Tenterfield 18mths later to open the Olympic Café. (He went bust during the Depression and returned to Lismore in the late 1930s.)

Mick’s Lismore branch was established around 1917 next to the Freemason's Hotel on the river side of Molesworth Street, giving him easy access to the Woodlark wharf where the bulk of his wholesale fruit and veggies arrived by boat from Sydney, although it’s believed he also had contracts with suppliers on the Tablelands and the Douris Cominos of the Brisbane markets. It’s also understood he supplier fruit shops around the outlying villages as well as Lismore retail outlets. By mid 1919, at the time of his marriage, he also seems to have had a retail deli business operating from the front of the shop. He sold the lease to Tom Delzoppo in Sep19, shortly after which it looks like his business (the Fresh Food Supply Co) was relocated to 31 Woodlark, next door to Nick Poulos. Mick sold the business, or perhaps leased it out, and consolidated at Goondiwindi in ~1922/23, coincidental with the start of the Great Barrow Wars, but the identity of the new proprietor/manager remains a mystery until Emmanuel Harry Andronicos acquired the business in 1924 and appeared in Abdulla Skype’s new building, the ‘Skype Chambers’, redeveloped from the old building at 31 Woodlark, where he reorientated as an oyster saloon with a wholesale seafood sideline. (Ex-digger Delzoppo operated the place as a deli/small goods shop, but on-sold the lease 6mths later.)

[The sequel to the earlier Andronico story continued at Musswellbrook when Con returned in 1920 and argued with his three brothers over the kitchen duties until they sold up in 1927 and went their separate ways - Con permanently back to his wife’s cooking in Potamos, Charlie to establish the City Fruit Markets in Sydney, David to a milkbar in Balmain and Stan to a Sydney business consultancy. All the brothers later went into partnership to establish an import business in King Street, importing bulk material and supplying drapery shops throughout NSW and QLD. Charlie was the active face of this venture together with one of Stan’s sons.
And Stan was still in military mode when he toured Northern NSW in mid 1939 to raise money for the purchase of an aircraft for the RAAF, convinced of Australia's involvement in the event of an outbreak of hostilities. At Tenterfield, his old stamping grounds, he proclaimed he had already extracted £2,500 from 800 Greeks in the region, collected under the auspices of the Greeks' Australian National Defence Fund. The aircraft was to be christened by the Duchess of Kent (ex Princess Marina of Greece), but the Kents never took up the Governor-Generalship.]

Top

The Olympia Continued

Meanwhile the Comino/Andronico partnership had been dissolved: The Weekly Trade Report announces that Dave and Charlie Andronico retired from the firm of Peter Comino, Charlie Andronico, Dave Andronico, Lismore Cafe, wef 1Jan1915, presumably meaning Comino went his own way as a full-time farmer while the Andronicos became outright owners of the cafe.  But towards the end of the year it seems they closed the Olympia and walked away from the business, leaving the place in the hands of letting agents, as were a couple of other cafes at the time. (Conversely, it could be that David Andronicos simply mothballed the elaborate dining rooms on the first floor and concentrated on the street level outlet, as the place was probably suffering a loss of custom due to war exigencies.) The number of ‘help wanted’ adverts was increasing exponentially, while, paradoxically, the demand for café services was decreasing due loss of a traditional café customer base; single labourers disappearing to the army while mothers and families tightened their belts in the absence of breadwinners. Loss of manpower to the AIF also had caused huge competition for female labour amongst the pubs, boarding houses and refreshment rooms, leading to distress in their traditional employment in domestic households. And all while the dairy industry was suffering its roughest patch ever, compounded by the fixing of the price of butter by the Necessary Commodities Commission, which also caused havoc with the standard café menu (although for some odd reason oysters were allowed to float with market forces, prompting the caterers to start extolling their virtues: The rise in the price of meat and general dearness of food should cause every housekeeper to look around for sources of supply on which there has yet been no ‘run’… and… at the present price, oysters will be found to fill the requirement. All Greek cafés in town wholesaled the beasties along with their retail trade and sit-down meals.) 

During 1915 the Lismore district allegedly suffered a staggering 9.4% population loss (1533 people), when Hitherto year by year our population has steadily increased as the district has progressed…. But the Northern Star reckoned this was not due to enlistments as the records of the Military Department show that the homes of slackers and shirkers in this police district are pre-eminently Lismore and Casino. In proportion to its population it has been officially shown that there have been fewer enlistments from our city than any other centre of population, on the same plane numerically speaking, in NSW, and it is believed the same reflection applies in reference to the whole of Australia.... Casino comes up behind us in a very close second, and yet in these two places far and away the greatest decreases exist. No other centre in any way approaches them as regards the falling off....
The war theory has to go.... The fact of the Casino district suffering so severely from drought... might account for a  moiety of the falling off there, but the effect would be very limited as it naturally follows townships are cut up by droughts far less than country areas. The population undoubtedly has flown, while the position of trade does not warrant the exodus, and this is the most unsatisfactory feature of the shortage. Surely our popular district, so favoured of Nature, is not losing its attractiveness.

[A couple of days later the Casino-based Richmond River Express took umbrage and reported that the Star had cocked it up. And the Lismore Chamber of Commerce contacted the circumlocutious Government Statistician who guesstimated that taking into consideration those which are approximately coterminous with the district covered by the localities named, I find that the population of the district has remained almost stationary at… 65,000, ie the Richmond-Tweed region lost ~1500 rather than the frightening police figure of 3799 (Richmond -4249 and Tweed/Brunswick +450). But the truth probably lies somewhere in between.]

The Star possibly was stung by an article that it 'cut and paste' on the very same day from the Sydney Morning Herald about remarks made by recruiting speakers as to the action of the people on the North Coast in not answering the call for recruits. It was stated that at one of the North Coast towns women would not, when asked, refuse to dance with eligibles…. Paradoxically, the Star had been the leading campaigner for the ‘yes’ vote in the first Conscription Referendum, resulting in Richmond being amongst the five NSW electorates, but only country electorate, to say yea. (Richmond 60% yes, NSW 57% no). As usual, within Richmond the recalcitrant contrarians of the subdivision of Tenterfield were the only ones to take the nay way. For the second referendum (20Dec1917) the Star pulled out all stops, but despite its shrill campaign the Richmond ‘yes vote’ fell to 57%, while Casino and Murwillumbah joined Tenterfield in the No club. The overall NSW vote increased to 60% No, and the same 5 out of 26 electorates remained loyal yea sayers.

An interesting feature of Lismore’s debate was the hopeless position of the ‘No’ campaigners, and the question of free speech and freedom of the press. The Star’s temporary competitor, The Northern People, was owned, edited and printed by the left-footed Catholic Irishman Michael Conlan O'Halloran, who had been preaching the socialist word in about 8 short-lived papers all over NSW from about 1890. After the first referendum (Oct1916) he was beaten-up and his Keen Street office trashed by a few patriots, including returned soldiers. In early 1917 he stood as an Independent Labour candidate for Lismore in the State elections, but was comprehensively trounced by Liberal/Nationalist Protestant Irishman George Nesbitt, ex-Mayor of Lismore, although only 53% of the eligible punters bothered to front (Nesbitt 4720 primary votes to O'Halloran 1250, or 79% v. 21%.)

His ‘Independent Labour’ stance was because he was literally a last minute nomination by the local Labourites, and not endorsed by the Sydney office which had failed to nominate someone to contest the Lismore seat. After the conscription referendum the local branch of the Political Labour League went into turmoil and O’Halloran, then President of the League, was sacked, although later invited back by the new President, George Craine, who urged him to stand for this election. The Star, nominally under the proprietorship of Presbyterian Hewitt but the firm editorial pen of Robert Browne, couldn’t stand him, O’Halloran being the main anti-conscriptionist against the Star’s strong pro-conscription advocacy, which equated anti-conscription with ‘disloyality’ and ‘pro-German’, and gave him no coverage during the election campaign. He got a brief report of his opening speech delivered from Singer’s Corner, but for the duration of the campaign his name was never mentioned again, the Star simply referring to him as the ‘Labour Candidate’ whenever it delivered its anti-Labour diatribes. His opponent, ex-Liberal sitting member and now Nationalist Nesbitt, was given almost daily full-page spreads right up to the day of election.

At the start of campaigning for the second conscription crusade O’Halloran was arrested for publishing ‘statements likely to prejudice the recruiting of His Majesty’s Forces in Australia’ in contravention of the War Precautions Act, when he said that All I can say is that if those who are responsible for the continuance of the carnage are not lunatics they are certainly providing a huge crop of future lunatics.

He was found guilty, believed to be the only such successful prosecution in NSW, but his lawyer pleaded that the PM take into consideration that a fine which might be easily borne by one might crush another. Defendant was not one who had command of too much of this world’s goods. The magistrate decided on £10 fine and £5/11/- costs, (~13wks wages for a café waitress), in default one month in the Grafton clink, which does seem to have broken O’Halloran. For the duration of the campaign he had to suffer the indignity of paying for two-line adverts in the Star advising his fellow travellers where and when he would be preaching from his soap box, usually on the popular Singer’s Corner, the North-West corner of the intersection of Woodlark and Molesworth. So the Star, by then boasting it was ‘The Leading Provincial Daily Newspaper in the State’, had a free run in its increasingly hysteric campaign, and the ruling clique at the Lismore Club tightened is grip on the town.

But O’Halloran’s taking to the streets rather than continuing to deliver his message via the printing press may be due to his machinery again being trashed or temporarily quarantined due to an official clamp down as, suspiciously coincidental, two days after the trial (22Nov17) the Star carried this notice: By an amendment of the War Precautions Regulations, just issued, power is given to the commandant of any military district, or the deputy chief censor, or persons authorized by them, to enter, if need be, by force, and search any premises on which it is suspected that there may be copies of any publication containing injurious matter or any type or plant which has been or is being used in the printing or publication of any such publication. The type, plant and copies of the publication may be seized, and if necessary destroyed or otherwise disposed of. Injurious matter is interpreted as… anything any authoritative person deems so. And as no copies of The Northern People survive, The Northern Star became Lismore’s paper-of-record and censor of its history.

Nevertheless, whatever the state of the printing press subsequent to the trial it must have been operational again by Jul1918 when he was formally charged for ‘publishing statements likely to prejudice His Majesty’s relations with foreign Powers’, a new addition to the War Precautions Act. Once again he was found guilty, suffering a fine of £10 and costs of £3/9/-, in default two months hard labour in Grafton.]

While the Star’s editor was a little misled on enlistment figures, the ‘Great Drought’ probably had a bearing on population drift: For years the dark days of the year 1915 will live in the memories of those who passed through them, and the dubious story of the great drought – the greatest that has ever stricken the district since dairying became its staple industry – and other features which have made the year so fraught with anxiety for all sections of the community, will be told and retold on the North Coast like that of the disastrous bank crisis of 1883 and other calamities which have jeopardised the welfare of the people. Without exception the past year was the most tortuous period that has ever occurred in the history of dairying on the North Coast.... (And a few years later used much the same words to say that the 1919 drought was the most severe the district has ever experienced. Then there was 1924/25....)

All of which may have been the major incentive to close the Olympia, although the increasing violence being shown to Greeks and their establishments due to the Greek Government’s neutrality stance probably had a bearing. All through December 1915 the Northern Star carried reports on the trashing of Greek restaurants by rioting soldiers at Newcastle, Sydney and Manly, some shops more than once, and in one case shots being fired. (Riots at Liverpool... over 1000 soldiers... at an apparently pre-arranged signal a wild rush was made for Comino's refreshment rooms. The place was soon badly damaged.... And two weeks later something got up their nose about the quality of Mick Cassimaty's oysters: The men formed up opposite the Town Hall, and at a given signal marched to Castimaty’s oyster salon. They smashed every window, not a square inch of glass being left.... And two weeks after that: The plate glass windows at Casimaty’s oyster saloon, George St, were again smashed on Thursday night. The affair caused great excitement among those in the dining-room....) All Greek cafes in Sydney boarded-up their doors temporarily, while some decided on a longer mothball period, possibly sending a message to David Andronicos that he could be a target. The Newcastle Greeks were intimidated into making a public statement that they were firmly behind Prime Minister Venizelos in his desire to join the Allies, in opposition to King Constantine, the brother-in-law of Germany’s Kaiser.

Mid 1915 had seen Jack Conomos get beaten-up at the Olympia, without any motive being given in the subsequent court case. However, it’s possible it was due to escalating anti-Greek sentiment, as this time marked the increasing criticism of Greece’s perceived pseudo neutrality, although calls for internment of Germans predominated in the local rag. The Teutonic angst came to a head on Christmas Eve 1915 when the largest riot in Lismore’s history took place, initiated by a group of high-spirited local lads who got impatient with the procrastination of soldiers in their anticipated entertainment. Very quickly it swelled into a mob of about 2000 merrymakers watching or participating in the trashing and looting of ‘German’ shops.

Charles Ohlen immediately sold his Tobacconist Shop, Billiard Saloon and share of the Star Court theatre and left town, while the manager for Carl Zoeller’s veterinary supplies business closed the place and resigned. Schick’s old-established hairdressing business also looks to have packed it in, as his shop was subsequently converted into a café by Peter Feros. Otto Meurer was the only one to shrug his shoulders, repair his shop and continue running his tobacconist/hairdressing business. In a comedic tragedy of monumental bungling, Zoeller, a significant contributor to Lismore’s various war funds, was interned and deported, committing suicide in South Africa in 1926 when the authorities still wouldn’t allow him to return home to his wife and children.

It was uncharacteristic of the Northern Star not to sermonise on the riot and admonish the citizens for uncivil behaviour. Apart from reporting the incident, the initial arraignment and final trial, not one chiding word fell from its pen. Nor was there even one Letter-to-the-Editor on British fair play. Nor was there an official inquiry. It was a remarkable silence on Lismore’s part, given that such a huge riot, overwhelming the police who could only stand by and watch, had never occurred before, or since (although on a proportional basis, the 1886 punch-up between 500 Orangemen and 300 Catholics will probably stand the test of time - 40 were arrested.) The initial report recorded between 2000 and 3000 people in the street, while the police later modified numbers to between 1000 and 1500. Thirteen people subsequently went to trial, six being members of the AIF, and all went off scot-free. The Star merely noted the Judge’s remarks that the conduct of the men would appear to have been disgraceful, but made no editorial comment of its own.

Nor did anyone draw attention to the fact that Ohlen, Meurer and Schick were as Australian as meat pies, vegemite and lamingtons. Theo Schick, the first newsagent and tobacconist in Lismore, died in 1913 and it seems his son Albert (aka Leslie), born 1887 Lismore, took over the business (which also included the agency for the Northern Star), but whether he was still running it from the ‘riot shop’ at the time Feros acquired the place in ~1920 is uncertain. Otto Meurer, born 1868 Sydney, arrived in Lismore in 1892 and became prominent in town affairs (President of the Lismore Turf Club amongst other things). Upon his death in 1929 the Star, by then with new owners and under the editorship of the original riot reporter, Claude Peek, said he was one of the most popular men in town, of whom everyone said, ‘If he cannot do you a good turn he will not do you a bad one.’ (His brother Theo, minding the shop at the time of riot, died a week later, aged 48, but brother Henry and extended family carried on the Meurer’s prominent position in Lismore.) Les Schick continued to run a newsagency in Lismore through to his death in 1936. The fate of Ohlen, born 1857 Sydney, is a mystery.

[Post war the Star had the chutzpah to run an editorial (7Jun1919), titled ‘The Menace of the Mob’, on a spate of strikes in metropolitan centres: It is full time that we placed a check on this growing evil of mob rule and brought to a halt a tendency which is degrading us. Individuals must cultivate self-restraint… Freedom of speech is sacred to us all. But better public speaking be denied than there be countenanced that undue license which burns into the moral tone of the nation as the fiery vapors of hell…, probably causing O’Halloran’s eyes to water.]

The Star continued to ‘cut and paste’ reports on the ongoing Sydney riots, which seemed to have peaked by mid Feb1916 after a soldier was killed and seven seriously wounded as thousands of troops in uniform or dungarees thronged… George Street… and a number of places were attacked without any rhyme or reason… the German Club (of which Otto Meurer Snr was a foundation member and President, and the oldest member upon his death in 1934), several tobacconists and fruiterers… and fruit barrowmen… were attacked. A hasty Cabinet meeting was held and a proclamation issued closing all the hotels.… Minor skirmishes continued, including the trashing of the Comino restaurant in George Street, prompting their subsequent move to Lismore to take up the Andrulakis business. (And fear may have been the reason for Peter Bavea using an alias and curious opening-advert upon arrival from Manly: Mr Dimond has had ample experience in the Homeland, and aided by Mrs Dimond, an Australian born and bred, patrons may be assured….) While the Sydney papers commented on the disgraceful behaviour, the Northern Star continued its odd silence. In the past it had been fearless in condemning local boofheaded ‘riotous behaviour’.

That all the fun was fuelled by alcohol was a great boost to the temperance campaigners who won the argument for early pub closing at the mid year referendum, all districts within the Richmond-Tweed being overwhelming for it. The ritual of the 6-o’clock swill remained in place for the next 40yrs.

It’s a fair bet that the Olympia already was closed by the time of the local riot, possibly because it was the largest and most prominent Greek establishment between Sydney and Brisbane and would have been a tempting target. But it wasn’t until early Jan1916 that the first ‘To Let’ advert appeared for the place: Those Commodious Business Premises situated in Molesworth Street, Lismore, lately occupied by Messrs Comino & Andronico…. For full particulars apply McIntosh & Best, Solicitors. (Dr Muller was the original owner of the building, but at this time it’s believed McIntosh was the titleholder.) The adverts ceased in early May1916, presumably meaning that Notaras & Flaskas had acquired the place at that time, but their first reopening notice didn’t appear until 9Jun16: Notara & Flaska beg to intimate that they will commence BUSINESS in those premises latterly occupied by Andronico & Comino…, along with a ‘help wanted’ advert for ‘three smart waitresses’, one married woman and a Porter. The official reopening however, doesn’t appear to have taken place until Saturday 24Jun16, at which the day’s takings of £5 were donated to the Red Cross.

The Kytherian partnership of Emmanuel Dimitrios Notaras and Nikolaos Haralampos Flaskas probably acquired the Olympia at a bargain price, but the machinations of the takeover remain a mystery. And continuing the puzzle, six months later Nick became a silent partner when he went off in search of greener pastures. Emmanuel subsequently gave the place a makeover, mainly the Ladies Dining Room, completed a week before the biggest flood in 25yrs, and began to concentrate on the function side of the business, particularly weddings, parties, family gatherings and socials, while still guaranteeing Fish, Oysters and Crabs fresh daily. He continued to trade as Notara & Flaska (occasionally as Flaskas & Notaras) through to 1918 when Fardouly & Co bought out Nick’s share of their joint venture, leaving Emmanuel as manager until at least mid 1918 when Miss K .Jones became manageress of the Olympia Cafe and Sundae Shop. Theo Fardouly had taken full command by early to mid 1919, at which time Emmanuel had returned to Grafton to acquire a business (while Miss Jones opened refreshment rooms in the original Andrulakis shop in Woodlark Street.)

Emmanuel was 14yrs old when he landed in late 1906, spending time serving an apprenticeship with various Greek cafes around the traps, but mainly with his uncle Lambrinos Notaras at Grafton, until acquiring his own business at Maclean, which he left in the hands of Nick’s brother, Peter Harry Flaskas when he came to Lismore. Peter, who had landed as a 16yr old in early 1914, seems to have come to Lismore in 1917, perhaps to replace Nick, but he also stayed here only 6mths before wandering into Queensland and subsequently settling in Nanango in partnership with Victor Pisanos and thence Toogoolawah with brother Nick.

Nick Harry Flaskas landed in Sydney in late 1911, aged 17, and came straight to Lismore to work for Peter Comino, perhaps suggesting some relationship to a different Peter Harry Flaskas who had left Comino’s employ about a year earlier to take up a cafe in Coraki. A year later Nick went up to Kyogle to work for Theo Minucoe where he spent another year or so before moving across to Murwillumbah to cook for Jack Aroney for a couple of years. Having accumulated a few bananas over this period he was in a position to buy his own business and came back to Lismore in early 1916 to go into partnership with Manuel Notaras. But he still had the wanderlust bug and 6mths later went roving all over the place until late 1920 when he put down roots at Toogoolawah (where he temporarily leased his cafe in 1930/31 to the later Lismore identity, Peter Contojohn.)

Nick's brother, Peter Harry Flaskas, came to town at the same time as Harry James Flaskas turned up from Cowra. Harry was 18yrs old when he left his village of Christoforianika in early 1912, spending most of his time in Sydney and Gilgandra learning the trade and language before moving on. But like the others he found Lismore uncongenial and only stayed 3mths before also trekking into Queensland, which also proved disagreeable, prompting a quick return to NSW and, after some time at Barraba, permanent settlement at Denman.

Their relationship to the earlier Peter Harry Flaskas, who was an employee of his Cordatos cousins in Casino until about mid 1908 when he came across to Lismore to work for Peter Comino, is a mystery. This Peter with wife Hannah seem to have forsaken the Greek enclave in Little Keen Street and instead lived in the nearby Court House Hotel for most of their Lismore stretch. They took over the Conomos Cafe at Coraki in 1909 but moved off to Bundaberg in 1910 where Peter became a butter maker at the Dairy Co-op.

Yet another Flaskas who passed through Lismore was Antonios Andreas Flaskas who was 15yrs old when he landed with the above Harry James Flaskas in 1912. He spent his time around Uralla, Inverell and Barraba until 1916 when he went to Sydney, via Lismore, to eventually acquire the Athenian Club in partnership with Emmanuel Theo Georgopoulos. He subsequently settled at Harden with his brothers Nick and Theo. Their 17yr old brother Peter landed post war with the later Lismoreians, Harry Demitrios Crethar and Peter Nicholas Crethary, and spent some time at Toogoolawah with Nick Harry Flaskas, perhaps suggesting a relationship, before establishing the Rosary Café at Gayndah. It seems the name Flaskas originated in the village of Christoforianika, but where most adopted the clan name Christoforos upon migration, these guys were amongst the minority who stuck with the nickname Flaskas, meaning a pumpkin-shell or gourd.

The Andrulakis