1906: Nelson’s 1906 Darwin Awards
July 28, 2020
By AHNZ
Without The State who would accidentally commit suicide by blowing up privately-funded monuments? Today in history, 28 July, 1906, two Government employees did just that in Nelson.
From 1880, Nelson had a very nice drinking fountain that also lit the the corner of Trafalgar and Hardy streets. This was a monument to John Symons, a metalworker (ironmonger) who became a general store owner of success and esteem. When Symons died overseas his friends created a memorial worthy of a self-made metal man.
“Symons was remembered by his friends as “a most remarkable man” who said a “thin veil of eccentricity” covered a “kindly disposition and a warm heart”.
“His friends erected the six-metre tall gas lamp and drinking fountain in his memory at the corner of Hardy St and Trafalgar St in 1880. It cost 170 pounds.”
“It was a fitting tribute and most likely a useful addition to the city, providing light and water. ” – Nelson’s Symons Memorial lamp sheds light on city history; Stuff (2017)
The 1880 memorial was blown to bits 26 years later. Two of the five council workmen employed by the Government to sweep the streets decided that gas engineering was part of their job description. The pair were lucky to survive after one tried to evaluate the escaping inflammable gas by setting fire to it with a match!
SERIOUS GAS EXPLOSION.
NELSON FOUNTAIN DEMOLISHED.
A MAN DANGEROUSLY INJURED (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NELSON this day. At 6.40 this morning a sensation was caused at the junction of Trafalgar and Hardy streets by a terrific gas explosion, the noise of which was heard half over the town- It appears that two corporation men, Kenning (the foreman) and Vercoe (a labourer), were in the vicinity of the Symons’ memorial fountain, which bore a cluster of four or five gas lamps. A smell of gas was noticed, and one of the men struck a match to locate it. Immediately an explosion occurred, blowing the pillar and fountain into the air and shattering the ironwork and glass, which were scattered in all directions. Vercoe, who was nearest to the perforation of the trough communicating with the gas outlet, was thrown violently to the ground some distance away, with his head severely cut, and other injuries. He was removed to the hospital in an unconscious condition. His state is critical. Kenning was also thrown down and bruised and cut about the face and bands, but he was not seriously hurt. ….As soon as the match was lit the escape of gas caught alight, with the result stated. Had the accident occurred at night, when there would have been crowds of people in the street, the effects would have been much more serious.”- Auckland Star, 28 July, 1906; Papers Past
Properly speaking, a Darwin Award is when someone of our species does something foolishly deadly and removes themselves from the gene pool. Only one of the the Monument Exploders, Vercoe, died and he had already reproduced¹. In death and injury, the men taught the people of New Zealand an important object lesson in safety with matches.
For the next 86 years there was no Symonds’ Memorial lamp² but in 1992 for Nelson’s 150th celebrations a new replica was created. It is still in Trafalgar Street but further along the road so as to be less of a traffic hazard. I wouldn’t be surprised it this monument would come to a nasty end one day too and that, once again, we will have the Government to thank.
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1 Comment to a closed Facebook group
2 Old reports call it Symonds’, for the whole family. Current name is Symond’s in memorial to the one man himself
Image ref. Trafalgar St, Nelson with a touch of flames added by AHNZ; Nelson Provincial Museum
Image ref. The aftermath; F. N. Jones, jun. Auckland Weekly News; Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections
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