Saturday, April 15, 2017

EJACULATIONS COME TO END AS CITY CAUGHT SHORT

Situated on Townsville 's  waterfront, this   fountain  , switched on  in  1959   to  mark the  100th anniversary of   the   separation of   Queensland  from  New South Wales,  normally  erupts    joyously   and   regularly.  Over Easter , however , this   blogger   discovered  that   the  fountain  had  seemingly  run  dry ,  there  was   no    pale  imitation  of   the   famous  Lady Knox Geyser , Waiotapu , Rotorua , New Zealand ,  see  rare postcard  foot  of   this  post.   

One  can only surmise  the   fountain  has   stopped performing  because of  the Townsville City Council  water  restrictions   due to  the  low  level of  the  city's   dam . 

Thirsting  for knowledge about  why  the   fountain  is  not   working ,  this blogger ,  avoiding  dried   bird  droppings  ,   placed his sweaty  mitt  on the  outline of a  hand  on  the information stand   , which  activates   details  about the  feature . A male  voice simply croaked   Mayor Tony Mooney had   done  the  necessary honours  in 1959  to  set the   fountain in  action . No breaking news  about  why  it  is  not  working . 

 
Another Townsville  fountain , near  the old  railway station , is  also  not  spouting , attracting  cans  and   rubbish .   

Apart  from bearing  testimony to the  fact that  Lady Knox knew  how to erupt in  a great display , the person in  the  early 20th century  postcard , from  the  Little Darwin collection of  oddities  ,  is  wearing  a  wig  like  that of a judge in the Old Bailey,  but   dressed  like  an  opera   singer, possibly   from   Faust?   Mayor Mooney was  surely not  similarly   attired   when he went on stage  at  the  opening of the fountain .  The volcanic  activity of  New Zealand  in early days  was  oft  likened  to  Hell, where  the  Devil  supposedly  resided .  One place ,  also near  Rotorua , is  called Hell's Gate .