Saturday, December 21, 2013

HELLISH END FOR NUNS’ BANK

The  overgrown  Heritage listed Townsville  church   building, above, battered  in Cyclone Yasi,   recently  featured in  Little Darwin, has  gone up in  smoke. Originally a bank in the  goldmining boomtown  of  Charters Towers , it    became  the residence of  the Sisters of  Mercy who taught at  St  Mary’s Convent , West End , not far  from  where  Communist  author  Jean  Devanny   found  her  earthly  tropical   paradise .  There was  another fire  in Townsville that night and in the excitement the Townsville  Bulletin got  the two  mixed up  and in its report, sporting  another inappropriate  photo of a smiling  reporter,  said  the  cause of  the  old  building  fire  could  have  been  a faulty airconditioner with    flammable  vapors    . Nuns  with  airconditioners-what   next ?  And as  the  building  was not connected to electricity, this  must surely rate as  a  Christmas   miracle .    ( Vallis  Photograph )