On Eagle Street, an ornate Victorian drinking fountain sits in the midst of towering buildings, Moreton Bay fig trees and oblivious foot traffic. It was erected in the memory of a young volunteer fireman, James Mooney, who died of scalding and burns in March 1877, trying to save a block of buildings in Queen Street.
For reasons best known to the city fathers, the town water from Enoggera Dam was turned off each Friday afternoon. Presumably, no-one anticipated a fire breaking out on Saturday. And presumably the water for domestic bathing was sourced elsewhere, or Sunday devotions would be quite a noisome ordeal.
A fire broke out yesterday evening about a quarter past six at Mr. Hughes’ grocer’s shop next the Cooperative Butchers’ shop in Queen street, which put the greater portion of that block in jeopardy for some time. From what we could learn of the origin of the fire, it appears that Mr. Hughes, who is also a wholesale wine and spirit merchant, got some rum out of bond yesterday, and had it placed in the back store. One of the casks had a leakage at the tap, and a little before the time mentioned a candle was taken into the place where the rum was and left standing there at a short distance from the cask, and it is conjectured that the escaping gas and rum took fire and communicated it to other portions of the stores.
During the progress of the fire, and shortly after its commencement one of the most energetic of the firemen (a number of whom were present under the command of Superintendent Beattie and Deputy Walsh), Mr James Mooney, was very severely burned, owing to the bung being blown out of a rum cask which he was near, scattering the burning liquid all over him. By the exertions of Sergeant Driscoll of the police, and another man whose name we were unable to ascertain, the burning clothes were extinguished, and the injured man was taken home, where he was shortly afterwards attended to by Dr. O’ Doherty.
Mr. Hughes also narrowly escaped a severe burning, as his clothes got on fire, which was fortunately soon put out by Mr Hughes’ presence of mind in rolling himself on the floor. As usual on Friday evenings, the Enoggera water was turned off, so that the Fire Brigade, as far as their apparatus was concerned, was of no use, but the men, and a number of the police, and the employees of the store worked in a manner deserving of all praise, and it is in a great measure due to their exertions that the meanest part of Queen street, viz. Refuge Row, is not now a mass of smoking ruins. Brisbane Courier (Qld.: 1864 – 1933), Saturday 24 March 1877, page 5
The poor man died in agony the following day.
WE regret to have to announce that the accident which befell Mr. James Mooney, at the fire in Queen-street on Friday evening, has resulted fatally. The injuries received by the unfortunate young man were not at first considered to be of a very dangerous character, but it appears that the shock to his system proved too severe, and he only lingered till yesterday morning about nine o’clock, when he died. Mr. Mooney was a very energetic member of both the Fire Brigade and the Engineer Corps, having been a corporal of the latter force since its formation; and his untimely decease will be much regretted, not only by his Volunteer comrades in both corps, but by a large circle of private friends, amongst whom he was a great favourite. The fire-bell was tolled yesterday for about an hour when his death became known. Brisbane Courier (Qld.: 1864 – 1933), Monday 26 March 1877, page 2
The fact that this young man was a hard-working volunteer meant that the idea for a public memorial galvanised the shocked and grieving town. The idea of a fountain, or at least a drinking fountain, took hold quite quickly. (Perhaps as a reminder of the lack of available water on the fatal night.) Townspeople raised the funds with a generous start-off donation from the Council. In 1877, tenders were called for the design and building of the memorial, and it seemed a quite straightforward process – choose a design and build it.
Wrong.
The memorial languished in the planning stage for three years. Designs were sought and rejected, tenders were called again, and a council election meant that no-one was willing to allocate the funds until after the outcome was decided. I suppose that in a rapidly changing world, one can take comfort in the permanency of some things. Not the memorial itself, so much as the Council decision-making process.
In 1879-80, the drinking fountain finally became a reality. It was a highly ornate confection in sandstone, porphyry, marble and granite. And look who it memorialised – those distinguished members of the Council who took credit for its creation. Needless to say, the press and public (who had raised a lot of the money) were puzzled.
A considerable amount in subscriptions was promised, and we believe paid for that purpose, but what became of the movement and the money we are unable to say. We scarcely think that the funds went into the Corporation exchequer, for if they had done so surely the fountain would bear a tablet to Mooney’s memory. But it is only the names of the aldermen which embellish (!) it. Brisbane Courier (Qld.: 1864 – 1933), Thursday 10 June 1880, page 2
And so it remained for over a century. The young fireman’s name was affixed – officially – to the fountain as part of a Bicentennial civic improvement program. It had been unofficially Mooney’s memorial fountain for 100 years.
Moreton Bay and More 