This is a transcription of a column that appeared in South Africa magazine October 10, 1896. The column is titled "Domestic Announcements".

BIRTHS

SONS

BERRY, Mrs. F. G., Klerksdorp, August 30.

CARSTENS, Mrs. W., Port Nolloth, September 1.

HISCOCK, Mrs. W. J., Johannesburg, August 29.

KACHELHOFFER, Mrs. J. J., Fauresmith, O.F.S., September 1.

MARTINI, Mrs. E., Windsorton, September 6.

MELVILL, Mrs. L. F., Johannesburg, September 1.

OSWELL, Mrs. E., Johannesburg, August 28.

DAUGHTERS

BECKETT, Mrs. J. C., Grahamstown, August 28.

DICEY, Mrs. E. C., Swazieland, August 31.

MARRIAGES

COOPER-LOCK—On October 1, at Edmonton, Ernest Charles, second son of Francis Cooper, of Birkby, Shanklin, I.W., to Ellen Ethel, eldest daughter of Henry Lock, of Rowborough, Bowes Park, Middlesex.

HILL, F. G.—HAUPTFLEISCH, C. J., Wellington, September 9.

HOSSACK-CLARKE—On October 7, at Trimley St. Mary Church, Suffolk, by the Rev. H. M. Willis, M.A., Rector of the parish, assisted by the Rev. F. Graham, M.A., James Francis Clarke Hossack, F.R.C.S., Edin., only son of the late James Hossack, Esq., of Cape Town, to Marie Therese Clarke, only child of the late Major Clarke (formerly of the Indian Army), and adopted daughter of the late Colonel and Mrs. Laird, of Forfarshire, N.B.

JOHNSTON-LOW—On October 7, at All Hallows’ Church, Tottenham, by the Rev. A. Wilson, assisted by the Rev. J. Watts, Alexander Johnston to Helen Scott, only daughter of Walter Low, of Bellendrick, Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, and Strathmore, Tottenham, N., and granddaughter of the late Rev. Walter Low, of Lochlee.

WATSON, A.-MCLEAN. L. M., Johannesburg, September 3.

DEATHS

ADAM—On October 6, at 10, Fairholt Road, Stamford Hill, London, N., Stewart Adam, Chief of the Passenger Department Union Steam Ship Company, Limited, aged 46. No flowers, by request.

DU TOIT, J. S., Johannesburg, September 6, aged 68.

FLEMMER, H. C., Steynsburg, September 8.

HILL, J. W., Cala, September 2, aged 62.

NAUDE, S. F., Worcester, September 2, aged 74.

REID—On October 7, at 49, Maresfield Gardens, N.W., George Reid, of 79, Queen Street, E.C., and South Africa, aged 55.

RITCHIE, W. B. S., Bloemfontein, September 23, aged 29.

TENNANT—On September 30, at Modderfontein, near Johannesburg, suddenly, Charles Dalrymple, second son of the late William Tennant, of Whyteleafe, Surrey, and 9, Mincing Lane, London, aged 32.

TILNEY, Grey Town, September 1, aged 50.

WIGZELL, J., Kingwilliamstown, August 29, aged 46.

Miscellaneous articles on same page:

LITERATURE

A NARRATIVE OF THE BOER WAR. By Thomas Fortescue Carter (John MacQueen, London, and J. C. Juta and Co., Cape Town).—This reprint has been long wanted. Mr. Carter’s vivid narrative of events in which he himself took no inconsiderable and no inglorious part, met with such a favourable reception on its first appearance that it rapidly ran out of print. It was, and remains, the best work of its class; but that in itself would be poor praise. Albeit that the episodes of which it treats unitedly form the most humiliating chapter in the history of British South Africa, the book is as useful as it is fascinating. When Sir George Colley essayed to drive the Transvaal Boers out of Natal by force of arms, Mr. Carter proceeded with him as a “Special” representing an important combination of newspapers. He picturesquely and graphically described all the battles of the War by means of notes coolly and collectedly made, even in the hottest moments of the disastrous engagements. The notes in their collected form are as readable today as they were when they were so eagerly perused by the Colonists of Natal. The book, apart from its literary merits, has great and distinct historic value. It deals with facts in a laudably judicial spirit, and no South African reference library of any pretensions can claim to be complete without it.

HISTORY OF THE JOHANNESBURG WATERWORKS COMPANY.—By G. R. Andrews, C.E. (F. Davis and Sons, Durban).—This pamphlet has been written by the late Engineer to the Johannesburg Waterworks Company, and it purports to give a history of the Johannesburg Waterworks Company from its inception to the month of August of this year. That the water supply of Johannesburg has for a long time been scandalously insufficient, not to say dangerously impure, is a fact well within the knowledge of everybody having anything to do with Johannesburg. Some of the startling facts, therefore, within this pamphlet cannot be said to be in the nature of new discoveries. We have every sympathy with the writer in the conclusions he draws as to Johannesburg’s water requirements, but it is possible that, having quarreled with Mr. Barnato and Mr. Solly Joel, he has let his pen run a little ahead of his judgment in this brochure. Mr. Andrews held the appointment of Borough Engineer of Brighton when, as he puts it, Mr. W. Garland Soper “persuaded” him to go to Johannesburg, which he says was then a “miserable, wretched, God-forsaken place.” He says that if he had known what he had to face during the first nine months after he reached Johannesburg he would not have accepted the appointment for any money that could have been offered him. He found the Company “supplying dirty water, about the colour and thickness of cocoa; the people of all ages and nationalities dying on all sides through drinking the water supplied by this Company, which was off the surface of the streets, and the drainage of cowsheds, stables, and back yards of stores and houses, and for which those in charge of this Company are morally responsible.” He refers to some insults he says he received from Mr. Solly Joel and Mr. Barnato, and remarks that the state of tension became too great, and that he resigned his office during this year. He maintains that it is the house of Barnato that has made the profit out of the water supply, and that the shareholders have not seen “the prodigious profits that have been earned.” He contends that water can and ought to be supplied to Johannesburg at a maximum of 3s. per thousand gallons, which is about one-fifth of the present average charges, and about one-tenth of the price paid by some classes of the customers in Johannesburg. Without entering into the personal questions raised by Mr. Andrews, it is a truism that he will have done a very good service to the public if, by his pamphlet he hastens in any way the time when Johannesburg and its mines shall be supplied at a reasonable rate with limitless pure water.

FROM THE CAPE TO BULAWAYO (Townshend and Son, Vryburg).—This is a useful and timely publication. It gives in brief form just the class of information a man wants who wishes to go from the Cape to Bulawayo through British territory. The full title of the work is “From the Cape to Bulawayo, or how to travel to Rhodesia through British territory, by one who has done it.” This cheap book—it is only 2s.—contains a number of road maps, itineraries, and hints on transport and outfit.

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA (Offices of the Standard and Diggers’ News).—Parts six and seven of the Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa have special interest, the papers contained in them being “Further Remarks on Faulting Along the Main Reef,” by Mr. J. T. Carrick, D.Ph., “Criticisms on Mr. G. D. Stonestreet’s Paper,” by Mr. R. Louis Cousens, “A Few Observations on the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp Districts,” by Mr. M. E. Frames, and “Gold and Diamonds in the Transvaal and the Cape,” by Professor Jules Garnier.

MEN OF THE HOUR (Press Printing Works, Pretoria).—We have to acknowledge receipt of No. 1 of a Press special containing the portraits of a number of prominent men identified with South Africa. These are very well printed, and are accompanied by very readable biographical sketches. By the way, we notice that, according to the accounts of him, Dr. Jameson is “the son of a Scotch journalist and Writer to the Signet.” Something wrong here evidently; in this connection “Signet” is not the name of a publication, as apparently imagined.

LEAN’S ROYAL NAVY LIST (Witherby and Co., 326, High Holborn, and 4, Newman’s Court, Cornhill).—We have received the new quarterly issue of this most useful book of reference, which is as welcome as usual. It has, of course, with that care which distinguishes its editing, been brought up to date, showing the present stations of all the ships in our Navy and the full services of its officers. In a word, the present issue fully maintains the excellence of its predecessors.

A collision recently took place between two trains about 40 miles north of Mafeking. One engine was totally wrecked, and several trucks more or less damaged.

The Amended Transport Riders Law, which comes into force in the Transvaal in three months’ time, provides that any transport rider residing beyond the borders of the State, and wishing to ride transport within it, must be provided with a licence for which £2 per quarter per wagon must be paid. Any competent official may demand the production of the licence. Each wagon must have a board affixed, containing in plain letters the name of the owner, his residence, and State. Contravention of these provisions are to be punished by a fine equal to three times the licence payable and costs.

Mr. Littlejohn, General Manager of the African Banking Corporation, made a curious find (for a Bank Director) in a Kimberley mine recently. This was the remains of the skeleton of a white man in a coffin, supposed to be those of an early farmer in that part. It is not known (remarks a contemporary) whether the deceased met his death in a Bank Sweating Chamber, facing a big overdraft.

Regards,

Ellen Stanton

Email: harprulz@bellsouth.net