Uncle John’s Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader Read Free Page B

NOW: Condominiums.
    ATTRACTION: Pink and White Terraces
    LOCATION: Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand
    STORY: Called the eighth wonder of the world, the Terraces were once New Zealand’s most popular and famous tourist attraction. They were two naturally occurring “staircases” of silica shelves that looked like pink and white marble. Each terrace (they were two miles apart) was formed over thousands of years. Geysers spouted silica-laden hot water which flowed downhill and then crystallized into terraces as it cooled. But on June 10, 1886, a nearby volcano—Mount Tarawera—erupted, spewing lava, hot mud, and boulders. The eruption destroyed the village of Te Wairoa, killing 153 people, and the hot magma completely destroyed the terraces.
2,200 people are quoted in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations . Only 164 are women.
    WHAT’S THERE NOW: Shapeless rock.
    ATTRACTION: Jantzen Beach
    LOCATION: Portland, Oregon
    STORY: When it opened in 1928, this 123-acre amusement park on an island in the middle of the Columbia River was the largest in the United States. It housed a merry-go-round from the 1904 World’s Fair, four swimming pools, a fun house, a train, and the Big Dipper—a huge wooden roller coaster. More than 30 million people visited “the Coney Island of the West” over its lifetime. But after World War II, attendance started to decline and continued steadily downward until the park finally closed in 1970.
    WHAT’S THERE NOW: A shopping mall.
    ATTRACTION: Palisades Amusement Park
    LOCATION: Cliffside Park and Fort Lee, New Jersey
    STORY: Built on steep cliffs on the west side of the Hudson River, it began in 1898 as a grassy park for picnics and recreation. In 1908 it was renamed Palisades Amusement Park and rides and attractions were added. It boasted a 400-by-600-foot saltwater pool (“world’s largest”); the Cyclone, one of the biggest roller coasters in the country; and then in the 1950s, rock ’n’ roll shows. Attendance grew during that period because of heavy advertising on TV and in comic books. (There was a hole in the fence behind the music stage kept open to let kids sneak in to avoid paying the 25-cent admission fee.) By 1967, the park had gotten too popular. The city of Cliffside Park was tired of park-related traffic, litter, and parking problems, so it rezoned the site for housing (it has great views of Manhattan). The park was shut down for good in 1971. Plans to retain the saltwater pool were scrapped when vandals destroyed it.
    WHAT’S THERE NOW: High-rise apartment buildings.
It cost $3 million to build the Titanic …and $100 million to make the movie.
    ATTRACTION: Crystal Palace
    LOCATION: London, England
    STORY: This massive 750,000 square foot structure originally housed the Great Exhibition of 1851, then was moved from Hyde Park to south London in 1854. Designed to evoke ancient Greek structures, the Crystal Palace featured dozens of columns, girders, and arches made of iron, and 900,000 square feet of glass. The building and surrounding grounds housed artwork and treasures from all over the world, including 250-foot-high fountains (requiring two water towers), gardens, and life-size replicas of dinosaurs. The coronation of King George V was held there, as was the annual English soccer championship. But after 1900, attendance started to dwindle. The Palace was closed on Sundays, the only day most Londoners had off from work. Then, in 1936, the Palace caught fire. The blaze was visible for miles. The building wasn’t properly insured, so there wasn’t enough to pay for rebuilding. All that was left were the water towers, later demolished during World War II out of fear Germany could use them to more easily locate London.
    WHAT’S THERE NOW: A sports-arena complex.
    ATTRACTION: Old Man of the Mountain
    LOCATION: Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire
    STORY: In 1805 surveyors Francis Whitcomb and Luke Brooks discovered this rock formation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Viewed from the