MUNICIPAL GEYSER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1817, 1 August 1913, Page 4

MUNICIPAL GEYSER.

■ ft-: PLATS FOE HALF AN HOUR. Geyser display was in evidence outside tho office of Messrs. Thos. Cook and- Sons about noon, yesterday, when'for half an hour a healthy spout of water from a city fire-plug played to the height of tho telegraph, wires, attracting hundreds of spectators. The trouble was ca'iiscd by one of tho tramway men attached to the electric water-sprinkler haviii" given tho hydrant-lock a jar when withdrawing tho hydrant after filling the tank. This caused tho heavy cast-iron fitting to snap in half, releasing the ball and the full force of tho water in tho five-inch main on Customhouse Quay. The sudden ejection of the hydrant, thrown up by a solid body of water under pressure, knocked over the man who was moro surprised than injured. Tho water, rising to a height of 20 feet, mado a fino fountainlike effect, and also developed a break in tho main in front of tho State Firo Department's offico, in the Government Life insurance Building. This necessitated the tearing up of a length of wood-blocks to get at tho break. No fewer than nine cocks had to be turned off before the geyser subsided, leaving tho whole of tho blocks of buildings bounded by Grey Street, Customhouse Quay, Waring Taylor Street, and Featlierston Street waterless throughout tho afternoon. The work of repairing tho main is proceeding.