SKATING THROUGH EARLY PORTRAITS WITH A BIGAMIST AND AN IMITATION FRENCH FUNAMBULIST WHO EXPLODED

 Sporting a sash  bearing the name  A LITTLE COLONIAL, this unusual  1909  photograph of  a young girl named   Lena  , wearing roller  skates  and dressed for  a pageant,  has a handwritten  Christmas-New Year  message from  a  resident in  the West  Australian  goldfields   town  of   Boulder.  

Priced at $750 , it is  one of    50  portrait  photographs,  taken  in Australia    between  l850 to 1940 , on offer by  that  stirling  organisation,  Douglas Stewart Fine Books , Melbourne.   

Background information supplied by the  bookshop says roller skating was a popular recreation in Australia in the Federation era and  in 1909 it came to Boulder  in earnest, with the opening of  the Glide Away  rink.

Another offering  is  the above   group of  women wearing ice skates, with a painted  alpine  backdrop, snapped by a street photographer employed by the Leicagraph   Company, Sydney, circa  1940 ; already reserved . 

The women would have been  enjoying and outing at one of the city's skating rinks , either the Glaciarium in Railway Square, which opened in  1907  and closed in l955, or the  Ice Palais, located in the  Hall of Industries  at the Sydney Showgrounds , which operated  between  1938  and  l951.

There is  an  1886  Sydney  almost "mug shot " carte de visite of George Elliott  Alvaro, an American of  African and Portuguese heritage,  by trade a  cook, described as  a convicted fraudster, bigamist and  violent  offender . 

Yet  another ripper offering  consists of  four items  relating to the above  famous funambulist - tightrope walker- Henry L'Estrange ,1842-1894. Born in Melbourne ,  he  became  known as   The   Australian Blondin ,  after  French tightrope  walker and acrobat , Charles Blondin ,who crossed the  Niagara Falls many times  on  a  thin rope .

Moving to Sydney in  l876, L'Estrange  erected a large canvas enclosure in the Domain  and  did regular   performances .   

His opening night on 26 January 1877 attracted a reported crowd of 2000-3000 . Newspaper reports commented that his performance was so like that of the original Blondin that people could be forgiven for thinking they had seen the world-renowned tightrope walker.

With his rope suspended 40 feet (12 metres) above the ground, L’Estrange walked backwards and forwards, walked in armour, walked covered in a sack, used and sat on a chair, cooked and rode a bicycle, all on the rope. His show also included a fireworks display for the public’s entertainment.

L’Estrange performed in the Domain from January through to April 1877, but not without incident. On 7 February 1877, as L’Estrange neared the end of his wire act, sparks from the fireworks going off around him fell into the nearby store of gunpowder and fireworks, igniting them. The store’s shed was demolished, a surrounding fence knocked down, part of L’Estrange’s performance tent caught fire, and two young boys were injured.

He also performed the "sensational feat " of crossing Middle Harbour on  a  tightrope .

BALINESE DANCERS

 

Entertainment  at  the  new ICON Mall , part of the  mega  shopping centre,  Sanur . Photos  by Tram .

ISLAND KNEES UP

 It  seems  Bush  Stone- Curlews are thriving  on   Magnetic Island .  A  noted  bird watcher informed this  blog that  62   of  the cute  ground dwelling birds  were  recently counted  in  one  street   at  Nelly Bay . Over the years  , many  snaps of   island Curlews  have    been run in  Little Darwin  , two   shown   below  ,one highlighting their  legs which caused them to be also named  Bush Thick - Knees , even   Broken Knee  Birds in  some  parts of  the  Northern Territory .

Our  arty  Aeronautical  Correspondent  , Abra,  aware of  Little Darwin's  long interest in Curlews, kindly  bought in  Cairns  a  Curlew  tea towel made by  Brisbane  based artist and illustrator Ingrid Bartkowiak, which now adorns our cluttered  den  as a  wall  hanging. 

    

OPERATION WHIRLYBIRD

Vallis.

 

MAKING WAVES ON SEVERAL FRONTS

 One of the many interesting  vessels which  converged on Magnetic Island for  the Sealink Yacht Week was   the  above  smart craft  , Kayle,  owned by the  Making Waves Foundation , of Sydney,   which empowers individuals, some with   disabilities, with   opportunities   to  boost  their  skills  and confidence    through  sailing   in  various  places , including  to   Hobart, Tasmania . .  

PYTHON SIGHTINGS INCREASE

 Two  fairly large  pythons have been   seen  sliding   about  Townsville   in recent weeks . The latest encounter , above ,  was  in  Anderson Botanic  Gardens, Mundingburra. It  reared up  out of the grass,much to the surprise of   an  approaching   lady   walking  a  large  dog.  A nearby council  worker  indicated  the  friendly snake,  a  few metres long ,  is  frequently seen  in  the  area, and enjoys a  rent  free  shed .

A  similar sized  snake  was   spotted  on a  busy road  more than a week ago,  not far  from the latest  sighting , and  tried to  bite  a  brave,  concerned   Darwin  man  who  pulled  it  off  the  road   to prevent it  being  run  over .

Two  much smaller pythons , including one  in  a letterbox, were recently reported  in  this  blog. 

 Photo  of  cute  snake at the  top of this  post  supplied by  visiting Top  End  snake  charmer ,Craig.

(Pythons,Townsville, Bite.)  

STIRRING NEWS FROM THIRSTY TOWN WITH ITALIAN AND AMERICAN LINKS : THE PUB WITH NO SPOONS ?

 A raid  on  the   unsuspecting  North Queensland  sugar  town  of   Ingham  by a   Little Darwin  squad  keen to feed the  local turtles in the wetlands   and  search  for  books , ephemera   and  assorted  oddities in  local  op shops  and  other  places of interest    resulted  in  a   mixed  bag .  

Their  finds , would you  believe,  included  souvenir tea  spoons  which seem  to  be   greater  in  number  than  cane toads   in  the North . 

The  spoons  included   two from  New Zealand - Auckland Harbour Bridge and the  inter- island  ferry  terminal port of   Picton .The   Auckland Bridge  was expanded from four to eight lanes by adding designed and  prefabricated in Japan  parts in 1969 , resulting  in the structures  becoming known  as   the Nippon  Clipons .

Several spoons  were   from  Queensland -Mount Isa Mines and   Roma .  One  spoon  , for  Port Arthur, Tasmania , highlighted   Australia's  convict  history . Founded in 1830, it "housed"12,500  convicts before closing in  l877.  

During WW ll ,  the  Day Dawn Hotel  in   Ingham  was drunk dry by  American troops passing through , which inspired  local poet Dan Sheahan to write A Pub Without Beer. It was later  turned into the   popular song   The Pub With No Beer by Gordon Parsons and  sung  by  Slim  Dusty .

The  Day Dawn Hotel is  now  Lee's Hotel . Wonder if any of these  spoons  were  pinched  -souvenired- from  that  important   historic watering  hole  over   the  years  ?  

One of  the interesting  books  found in Ingham  was A Woman of  Independence , by Kirsty Sword Gusmao, which tells of her  involvement  in  the  struggle for East Timor independence . 

Unforunately , our team could  not feed the  resident  Krefft's  short -necked  turtles  because there is now a ban on going down to  the wetland edges , apparently  to  prevent  a  crocodile  rising  up  and  reducing your  footwear to  a tasty   thong   with  no   toes. 

Locals reported it  has been a  poor  sugarcane  season  and there  is  industrial strife  at  the mill . Surely  Ingham  is   not   a  looming   town   with  no   sucre ?  

(Spoons, Turtles ,Beer.)