This is a transcription of a column in South Africa Magazine, December 19, 1896, titled Domestic Announcements:

 

BIRTHS

 

SONS

 

BRAND, Mrs. R., Kimberley, November 16.

BUCHAN—On November 21, at Sidlaw Cottage, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Mrs. James S. Buchan

DEAN, Mrs. W. J., Beaconsfield, November 13.

FELGATE, Mrs. J. W., Molteno, November 17.

GARDEN, Mrs. J., Winburg, November 16.

IMPEY, Mrs. F. W., Alexandria, C. C., November 15.

WALLACE, Mrs. H. E., Grahamstown, November 13.

 

DAUGHTERS

 

HARRIS, Mrs. J. C. Cape Town, November 20.

MCDONALD—On December 8, at Nevis Bank, Fort William, the wife of Mr. John McDonald.

 

MARRIAGES

 

BRIGHT, W. J.—MACRAE, A. F., Cambridge, Nov. 11.

DOE-ANDRE—On November 12, at St. Augustine’s Church, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, by the Rev. W. Quirk, Francis Blackburn Doe, eldest son of Rev. J. H. Doe, M.A., late Vicar of Eaton Bray, to Margaret Gertrude, fourth daughter of J. Lewis Andre, F.S.A., of Sarcelles, Hersham, Sussex.

HUGHES, W.-WESTAWAY, A., East London, Nov. 11.

KYLE-SMITH—On December 11, at Durban, John Tullis Kyle, third son of William Kyle, Millar Bank, Uddingston, to Jessie Grace, only daughter of the late Alexander Smith, Slater, Glasgow.

MEDLICOTT, J. E.—WEBB, A. L. W., East London, November 10.

NOBLE, J. N.—FRASER, C. R., Johannesburg, Nov. 11.

PIGG, A. H. G.—DAVIES, E. M., Barberton, Nov. 9.

 

DEATHS

 

CARR-GOMM—On December 10, at Simonstown, Cape Colony, Eardley Culling Carr, R.N., 1st Lieutenant of H.M.S. St George, second son of Mr. Carr-Gomm, of The Chase, Farnham Royal, Bucks, aged 35.

CHESTER—On December 14, at Johannesburg, from typhoid fever, Douglas James Chester, formerly of the City of London, aged 42, deeply mourned and lamented.

CLEMENTS, W., Grahamstown, Nov. 14, aged 77.

GALLON, Mrs. R., Palmietfontein, Nov. 14, aged 65.

OTTO—At Natal, South Africa, Grace Grey Miller Brown, wife of William Otto, and daughter of the late Matthew Brown, of Saltcoats.

SOGA, J. T., Taungs, Bechuanaland.

TAYLOR, Mrs. J., Mount Ayliff, East Griqualand, November 1.

 

IN MEMORIAM

 

SPILLANE—Lottie, the beloved wife of W. G. Spillane, who died at Pietermaritzburg, December 14, 1894.

 

Miscellaneous articles on the same page:

 

Mr. James Brister’s will, which lately reached the Master’s Office at Cape Town, contains many charitable bequests and legacies. A feature of the latter is that many of them are to be paid monthly. Dr. Hutcheon is a legatee to the tune of twenty guineas.

 

At a meeting of the Provisional Committee formed for the purpose of relieving the distress in the Zoutpansberg district, held the other day in Johannesburg, letters were read from Mr. Briscoe, the missionary of the Wesleyan Church, Pietersburg, in which he stated that there were 400,000 people in the district, and if they only got starvation allowance—1 lb. of mealies each per diem—it would take 300 bags of mealies per day to supply them, so that the quantity sent up by the Government would only furnish food for 10 days. It was pointed out that the poverty of many widows, children, and old men in the district was such that they had not the wherewithal to purchase mealies.

 

NERVES AND STIMULANTS

 

As our readers are aware, Sir J. Gordon Sprigg is a teetotaler, and when he met his constituents at East London the other day, he gave his experiences during the trying times which he, in common with all South Africans, has lately passed through. Mr. Malcomess had said that as the animal man possessed nerves, he consequently required a stimulant; but Sir Gordon Sprigg did not agree that it was necessary for the nervous system that a man should drink. He added:--“At one time I thought myself I had nerves, but when I reflect upon what I have gone through during the last seven months or so, I begin to doubt whether I really have any at all. That, I suppose, is the reason I do not find it necessary to take any alcoholic liquor. Either I have no nerves or else they are strong enough to sustain me without the adventitious aid of liquor.” Sir Gordon added that he was not, however, a professional teetotaler, and whether it was good for them or not, he believed that the great majority of people would still continue to drink.

 

In Natal, regulations have been published permitting chilled meat to be carried over the railway from Harrismith to the Transvaal.

 

The other day Mr. Lukas Meyer, member of the First Raad and ex-President of the New Republic, celebrated his fiftieth birthday. His eldest daughter, Miss Lettie Meyer, is shortly to be married to Mr. Lodewijk de Jager, of Ladysmith.

 

THE LADIES

 

It will be welcome Christmas news to Doctor Jameson’s myriads of friends to hear, on reliable authority, that he seems at last to have turned the corner, and is, saving relapses or other unforeseen circumstances on a fair way to recovery. Until Tuesday great anxiety was felt concerning his condition; the extreme weakness, coupled with great despondency, interfered materially with any progress towards recovery. The knowledge that his officers are still at Holloway is a source of perpetual worry and anxiety to Doctor Jameson, and he would not be the man his friends know him to be if this were not so. One can only wish and hope for the best, and trust that Government will not wait until more valuable lives are in danger before the officers who are still retained at Holloway are liberated.

 

I am very glad to be able to state that Mr. William Knight, of Witwatersrand fame, is rapidly recovering from the dangerous malady which attacked him some time ago. He had already grown so weak that the least exercise was an effort, when he consulted a celebrated physician, well known to several of the leading men in South Africa, for the cures he has effected. Since then, about three weeks ago, Mr. Knight’s recovery from the worst symptoms has been very satisfactory.

 

Our young folk will be having a gayer time than ever this Christmas, and South Africa is, as usual, well to the fore with entertainments.

 

The news of the destruction by fire of Groote Schuur, Mr. Rhodes’ uniquely beautiful residence in Rondebosch, has come as a great shock. Placards of immense size, reporting “Mr. Rhodes’ house burnt down,” dealt the first blow, and then, little by little one realized that the five words contained on the placards had spoken absolute truth. Although I have never seen Groote Schuur, many friends have been visiting Mr. Rhodes there, and from all came the same most enthusiastic accounts, and occasionally a vivid description of the interior of the house and the exceptionally liberal hospitality dispensed there by its generous and large-minded owner. If ever a place deserved the designation of “Liberty Hall,” it was, indeed, Groote Schuur. Not only luxurious rooms and servants were at the disposal of the visitors, but horses and carriages and coachmen all complete. There was no necessity to fit in one’s plans or movements with other visitors’, each did exactly as he liked, or went where he liked, and thereby best pleased his host.

 

When the mail arrives, may we have the reassuring news that at least some of Mr. Rhodes much-prized treasures and curiosities were saved. It will certainly be interesting to know the origin of the conflagration, though there is but poor consolation attached to that.

 

Just when one commenced to think that the chapter of troubles in the book of Rhodes had come to an end, comes a fresh calamity, which is quite out of one’s reckoning. Stoic and strong-minded as the world knows Mr. Rhodes to be, the destruction of the home of which he was so proud, and which, to bring to such great perfection, he had spared neither pains, trouble, nor expense, must be a very sore and heavy trial to him. Could he rebuild the house and re-collect all the countless valuables and curiosities which it contained, with the sympathy of the people, friends, and admirers of all nations that goes out to him in his loss, I think that even a more beautiful Groote Schuur than the last one would be the result.

 

The Cycle Carnival in Johannesburg has been an emphatic success. It brought together the biggest number of people ever known to have assembled at one time at any one function in Johannesburg. That seems to me to be saying much, for the Johannesburg citizen is nothing if not a pleasure-seeker. Where there is fun there he is to be found, and whatever he may have to miss occasionally, sports rank first and foremost on his programme of pleasure. From all accounts, the floral decorations of the “steeds” and their riders—in addition to effective and appropriate fancy costumes adapted by the latter—were superb. No wonder the prizes were substantial in value, and competition very keen.

 

Influenza, the fiend, is busy amongst South African friends. With sincerest regret I heard that Mrs. Kirkwood and Mr. and Mrs. J. Macalister were attacked by that hateful malady. Mr. James Kirkwood, of Johannesburg, has been visiting some South African friends in Somersetshire. I hear that he thinks of leaving for the Cape during the month of January. All the nicest people are returning to South Africa, away from this uncertain climate, best described as the “unexpected.”

 

To all my readers I wish a very happy and bright Christmas

 

INKOSIGAS.

 

Regards,

Ellen Stanton

Email: harprulz@bellsouth.net