I didn’t do it. 1897.

What a funny tale from Queensland in 1897.

The Queenslander 4 Dec 1897 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24472337

Late one night a small boy was seen stealing apples from a tree in Queensland.

Instead of confronting the young thief the owner of the tree quietly placed a large stuffed dog on the ground at the foot of the tree and retired to a safe distance to observe proceedings.

When the boy started to climb down he noticed the dog waiting for him and began employing all the tricks a young sneak uses to get by a guard dog.

Strangely, not one of them worked on that most determined of sentries and the boy settled down for an uncomfortable night in the tree.

When morning dawned the owner strolled down to the tree and asked the boy how he managed to get himself into such a predicament. The boy answered that he had climbed the tree to escape the dog who had chased him up there….

Saved by a spider. 1897.

After yesterday’s post about 9 year-old Number 2 son’s attempt to conquer his fear of spiders I thought I would follow it up with another spider post.

Warwick Examiner and Times 31 Jul 1897 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82126707

On the ceiling of a room in Frederick the Great’s palace in Germany, San Souci*, is a painting of a spider in its web.

This spider was painted in honour of the arachnid whose last (and probably first) bath inadvertently saved His Majesty from a horrible end.

The story goes that every morning King Frederick would partake of a cup of chocolate in a room adjoining his bedchamber.

Once morning, before drinking, the King returned to the bedroom for a forgotten item and on his return he found the spider flailing around in his cup.

Naturally he requested another cup (and possibly the head of the spider-shy maid on a platter) and this request was met with an unexpected pistol shot.

Apparently the cook had poisoned the first cup of chocolate and, after hearing the request for another, thought the jig was up.

I wonder what happened to the bedraggled spider? Was it left to drown in the poisoned chocolate or did some kind servant return it to the garden? I expect that it was probably forgotten in the mayhem of the attempted assassination and suicide, and gasped its last before sinking beneath the deadly, chocolatey waves….

I have no idea if this story has any truth or is just an interesting myth, and my research hasn’t helped clear the waters. You’re an eclectic and well-travelled lot, has anyone been to the palace and noticed a large spider on the ceiling? If you have anything to share please do!

________________

*Sans souci means ‘without concern’ or ‘no worries’ and there is a suburb south of Sydney in New South Wales that also goes by the name Sans Souci.

When I hear that name I can’t help but think of that Aussieism no wuckers‘. I’m not sure King Frederick would be too happy about his palace being thought of as ‘No Wuckers Palace’ though…

Banana Alley Vaults, Melbourne

One of the place names I love the most in Melbourne is the Banana Alley Vaults.

Those three words don’t really belong together do they? The Banana Alley Vaults are at the end of the beautiful Flinders Street Station. They are situated under the rail line and they were originally called the Flinders Street Viaduct.

The Brisbane Courier 28 Sep 1917 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20184769

A post from My Town Melbourne about a tiny cafe under the viaduct (complete with banana yellow banana lounges out the front) prompted this post. I love the look of the whole row of frontages, they look like they are tiny cubbyhouses set into the wall. Clearly they are not all tiny as it is mainly a 24 hour gym under there now.

The vaults themselves have had a chequered history. After they were built they were used for storing fruit and veg for the markets which led to the name Banana Alley.

Businesses were housed under there over the years but they eventually fell into disrepair. In the 1970’s and 80’s the vaults were used by the homeless and the area developed a dangerous reputation before being refurbished by the State Government in the late 1980’s.

I was extremely pleased to find this 1879 drawing of the proposed viaduct in the archives. What an amazing thought that Flinders Street once looked like this!*

Illustrated Australian News 24 Dec 1879 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60094126

The Man and I had recently spent a weekend in the city staying in a hotel which had originally been the Commercial Travellers building and was right across from the Banana Alley vaults. Looking back through the photos I took that weekend I found one taken from the car on the very intersection that this drawing is representing (but not one of the vaults themselves… grrrrr!).

cnr Flinders and Williams Streets 2012.

In this photo a small part of the viaduct is visible on the left and the Yarra Family Hotel is the building on the corner of the drawing but has now been replaced with a big shiny….. thing …. I don’t know what is inside, it is just big and shiny and a disappointing replacement as far as I’m concerned.

________________________

*I found a webpage called Melbourne’s Lost Hotels, the second photo down is a great photo of the Yarra Family Hotel with horse and carts etc and the viaduct on the side, remarkably similar to this drawing!

Victorian earthquake. Then and now.

This one is for Meeks who, like me, experienced the 5.4 earthquake felt over most of Victoria on Tuesday night.

The Brisbane Courier 28 Nov 1913 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19916296

It sounds scarier that it really was, floor and windows shook and it sounded like a truck was going past the house, but that was about it. In fact, it could easily have been mistaken for a particularly violent washing machine cycle.

Meeka mentioned the fact that we rarely have noticeable earthquakes here in Australia so I thought I would post these articles for her.

A quick look through the old newspapers made me realize that this is pretty much how earthquakes are in Australia, after all, we don’t generally have tall buildings or apartment blocks waiting to be shaken down, we mostly live on the ground around here.

Western Mail 14 May 1897 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33135473

Some woman was on the telly explaining how her goldfish acted strangely, and we were subjected to regular replays of security camera footage of things falling off shelves in a supermarket.

The next morning at school drop-off a small friend of number 2 son, whose mum and dad own the local pub, excitedly told me the story of the glasses falling off the shelves and smashing on the floor but that was about as dramatic as it got. I’m not saying that earthquakes are not scary, far from it. It just makes me glad we spread out, not up!

Northern Star 10 Jan 1911 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72266712

I have added this last small one because it amused me, not because it was particularly interesting or funny. I just loved the way its wavy lines look as though it was printed during the earthquake it is reporting.