Manaus Drinking Fountain

Location: Manaus, Brazil

Historic photographs of the city center at the intersection of Avenue Sete de Setembro and Avenue Eduardo Ribeiro show a trough/drinking fountain.

This location was also the route for tram 53 of the Manaus Railway. Image dated 1909.

A photograph dated 1906 taken from a different vantage point showing the fountain in Praça XV de Novembro (November 15 Square, this date in 1889 commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil), reveals the fountain with a lamp pillar not evident in the previous images.

The design appears to be a Macfarlane No 27 manufactured by the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland. It was advertised as well suited for Street Crossings, Squares, Market Places, etc., as it afforded drinking accommodation for a large number of horses and drivers, and effectively lit a wide space, with the least possible obstruction to other traffic.

It provided a drinking trough for horses with small basins for dogs at ground level. The trough was a 6’6” diameter circular cast iron basin supported on legs in the form of horse hooves. Fetlocks transitioned into an acanthus scroll motif at the interface with the trough. The water was regulated by a small patent cistern, which was self-acting, and when the troughs were full the ball rose and shut the water off.

The central stanchion supported a central column with flared bases and pilasters. Four projecting consoles suspended cups on chains that allowed humans to drink from spouting water (the water flow was operated with two bib valves which released water when pressed). Horses drank from the large basin.

A dedication shield located directly above the consoles was adhered to the fluted shaft. The decorative capital, enriched with acanthus and rosette with a dog tooth frieze, supported a central gas lantern (#230) roofed in with scales of opal glass which allowed the lantern to cast the light downward. The terminal was a crown.

Glossary

• Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration. It is symbolic of a problem that has been solved.
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Dog tooth, pyramid shaped carving
• Fluted Shaft, a long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
• Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure
• Rosette, a round stylized flower design
• Stanchion, upright bar, post or frame providing support
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

Temperance Fountain

Location: Skaneateles, NYS

At the end of the 19^th century, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Skaneateles donated a public drinking fountain to the village in order to supply fresh water to both horses and men. Mrs. Frances Julia Barnes, a Temperance Reformer and the General Secretary of the Young Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, dedicated the fountain in August 1895. Raising a cup she offered a toast, “To the health of our village in the best of all drinks, cold water.”

Source: https://kihm6.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/ice-water/

Located at the intersection of Jordan Street and Genesee Street it became an obstacle to the introduction of trolley cars and was removed in 1901.

Source: https://kihm6.wordpress.com/2013/06/

The manufacturer of the drinking fountain/horse trough is unverified as designs by M.D. Jones of Boston, Massachusetts and J.L. Mott of New York are very similar.

Seated on a square block the base with fluted pedestal supported a wide basin decorated with foliate frieze and a fluted cornice. A decorative pillar in the centre of the basin delivered water via the mouths of lion mascarons which was retrieved using a metal cup suspended on a chain. A covered water filler protected a float valve which maintained the water level in the basin.

At the extension of the pillar a candelabra console offered two lamp fixtures with a central capped urn finial.

Glossary:

• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Cornice, a molding or ornamentation that projects from the top of a building
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fluted, a long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
• Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue

Maiden Drinking Fountain

Location: Sandusky, Ohio, USA

In the mid-19th century, Voltaire Scott and his father bought a hotel on the south west corner of Water and Wayne. He also built a park across the street, and with continued improvements a pond was created in 1895 containing the famous Boy and the Boot fountain manufactured by J.W. Fiske Ironworks. Four other statues which were installed, including water spouting dolphins and maids of the mist, were damaged in the tornado of 1924 and removed to the city greenhouse.

As part of the construction of the park a drinking fountain at the entrance on Wayne Street was surmounted by a statue of a young maiden. This statue was also damaged during the tornado and is currently housed at the Follett House Museum.

Although Voltaire Scott had willed the contents of his park to the city with funds to maintain it, the park was leveled and turned into a parking lot in 1935.

I have been unable to discover the manufacturer of this fountain seated on a square base. Four square panels at the base and a second level of arched panels with pilasters contained bas-relief including lion mascarons. One of these lion heads spouted water into a demi-lune basin for use by humans. A metal cup was suspended by a chain. A second demi-lune basin at ground level offered water to dogs and small animals. The capital supported a statue which may be a depiction of Venus bathing.

Images source: http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html

Glossary:

• Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
• Demi-lune, half-moon or crescent shape
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure

Man and Beast Fountains

Location: Rhode Island, USA

Following an apprenticeship with Hope Iron Works in Pawtucket, Henry F. Jenks started manufacturing fountains of his own design in 1871. Through his efforts modern drinking fountains were placed in convenient places about the city.

A drinking fountain for man and beast was installed at Exchange Street in Pawtucket. The same model was also located at Point Street in Providence outside the Fire Station.

Exchange Street, Pawtucket

A modification of the fountain with a lamp post was erected in Prospect Street, Pawtucket and in 1891 the town of Pascoag decided to purchase a similar fountain and placed it in Pascoag Square which would later become known as Fountain Square. It proved to be very popular as four horses could drink from it at the same time.

The same model with lantern stood outside the Farwell worsted mill on Pine Street in Central Falls.

Henry F. Jenks’ drinking fountain for man and beast was manufactured in cast iron with a fluted circular moulding creating a trough at ground level for the use of dogs. Arched panels contained the image in bas-relief of a woman dressed in classical robes raising a cup/bowl in her right hand and a pitcher in her left hand. The manufacturer’s name, Henry F. Jenks / Pawtucket, R.I. was inlaid on the pedestal and one movable panel offered access to plumbing. A horse trough, 56 inches in diameter, in the form of a basin was 4 feet 3 inches above ground level (a comfortable height for horses to drink with ease) and had the capacity to hold a barrel of water (42 gallons).

The centre of the basin contained a jamb from which four dolphin mascarons spouted water into the basin with the overflow falling to the dog trough below. This design prevented contagious distemper. Drinking cups were attached by chains for the use of humans.

The fountain was provided with self closing faucets and the pipes within were constructed to resist freezing in cold temperatures. Fountains were supplied both with and without an ice box attachment as desired. An ice box was placed near the sidewalk underground, which was provided with coils of tin lined pipe on which ice was placed to cool the water flowing through the coils to the outlet of the fountain.

The highly decorated finial, with floriated relief and a studded band, terminated in an orb. The structure was also offered with a gas lantern extension.

The years 1914 and 1915 saw an epidemic of glanders in several sections of the Atlantic coast states, and many cities closed their existing horse drinking fountains, as it was believed that the disease was spread by the common use of bowls or troughs. Instead, drivers were asked, or required by ordinance, to carry with each horse-drawn vehicle a pail for watering horses. It remained to provide facilities for filling these pails, and this was done in different ways. In Boston, New Bedford and some other cities, fountains of the horse bowl type known as the H. F. Jenks pattern were adapted as follows: The bowls were removed and replaced with new castings containing three or more self-closing faucets, designed with a special view to being non-freezable. This appears to have given entire satisfaction.

Glossary:

• Annular; circular, ring shaped
• Attic base, a column base with two rings
• Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fluted Shaft, a long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
• Fret, running or repeated ornament
• Jamb, a projecting vertical post containing sculpture
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.