Transcribed from South Africa Magazine, 5 December 1903

 

DOMESTIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

[Announcements under this heading are charged for at a minimum of 5s., which in all cases must be prepaid. All notices must be properly authenticated.]

 

BIRTHS

 

ALLAN—On November 27, at Riet Vlei, Mafeking, to Mr. and Mrs. Harry D. M. Allan, a daughter.

CROUCH, Mrs. T. M. B., Observatory, October 29, a son.

DAVIES—On November 28, at “Trilby,” Oliver’s Hoek, the wife of T. Bowen Davies, of Castle Green, Cardigan, a son.

GARMAN—At Fair View, Johannesburg, on October 31, to Mr. and Mrs. John Garman, a son.

GROVER, Mrs. F. W., Wynberg, November 2, a daughter.

HOPPER, Mrs. A. W., Newlands, November 2, a son.

YOUNG—On November 29, at Boksburg, to Mr. and Mrs. John B. Young, a son.

 

MARRIAGES

 

CLEMENTSON, H. L.—MANN, M. F., Rondebosch.

HAMILTON—BROWN—On November 13, at St. Mary’s Church, Johannesburg, Frederick John, eldest son of David Hamilton, of Durban, to Myrtle Ravenhill, fourth daughter of the late Charles Brown, of Reading.

HUNTER—WILSON—On October 28, at St. James’s Church, Greytown, Daniel P. Hunter, to Alice Mary, youngest daughter of the late William Wilson, of Keate’s Drift and Hariun, Greytown.

LADELL, H. M.—EVANS, E. M., Wynberg, November 3.

SPREULL, J.—EDWARDS, J. F., Cape Town, November 3.

 

DEATHS

 

CHAMBERS—On December 2, at Briar Lea, Mortimer, Arthur Chambers, aged 63.

CLOETE—On November 11, at Ubi Cras, Mowbray, Emma Frances Cloete, eldest surviving daughter of the late Daniel J. Cloete, of Rustenburgh, and later of Springfield, Wynberg, aged 71.

FRENCH, Mrs. S. F., Cape Town, November 2.

VEITCH, J., Beaufort West, aged 39.

 

Miscellaneous articles on the same page:

 

SOUTH AFRICAN COLLEGE

 

FOUNDATION STONE LAYING

INTERESTING SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR

 

On Friday morning, the 6th ult., in the grounds of the South African College, Cape Town, the foundation stone of the new College buildings was laid by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson. Bertram Place, a large open square, where this interesting ceremony took place, was filled by an attentive and appreciative assemblage of College professors, students, clergymen, ladies and gentlemen, besides a considerable sprinkling of children.

 

The procession filed into the square to the strains of the National Anthem, played by the band of the Cape Garrison Artillery.

 

The Council and Senate of the College, with His Worship the Mayor and Representatives of the City Corporation and Founders of Chairs in the College, assembled at the College gates in the Avenue at 11:15 a.m., and received His Excellency, who was then escorted to the site in Bertram Place, where the stone was to be laid. The Rev. J. M. Russell, M.A., B.D. (Chairman of the College Council), commenced the proceedings with prayer.

 

The Chairman of the Council then requested His Excellency to lay the stone of the new buildings, presenting him at the same time with a silver trowel.

 

HIS EXCELLENCY’S SPEECH

 

The Governor, who was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, in the course of his speech, said: Seventy-four years ago this College was founded in a very small and humble way. As far as I can make out, for five years nobody took very much notice of it, and it was not until 1834 that the Government gave it a subsidy of £200 a year. It was not until 1878 that it was incorporated. That is just 25 years ago. Now it has grown to a College with a name throughout South Africa. We have sixteen professors with six assistants, and notwithstanding the fact that the College has now restricted itself mainly to University work—and thereby, I believe, has lost a few pupils—the number of pupils is now 250. Well, I think that is a decidedly encouraging record, and I am glad to find that, encouraging as it is, you are not satisfied with it, but want to make it better. The College has decided that, subject to the aid of those in Cape Colony who take an interest in education, the College shall have a habitation worthy of its name—(hear, hear)—so that it may grow to possess historical associations in connection with its buildings as well as with the work it does. It is a beautiful idea that we can look forward to the establishment in this city of a College which we can look at, which we can see the home of culture and order and of method, and a temple of peaceful study and reflection. I can see in my mind’s eye the student of the future sitting at his window looking out over the smooth and velvety green sward which no sacrilegious foot should be allowed to profane, listening to the murmuring of the fountain, or, perhaps, pacing the cool cloisters, or walking under the chequered shade of ancient trees, discussing or meditating great deeds and high achievements, or pondering, it may be, undisturbed, schemes for the advancement of his fellow-subjects or for the regeneration of mankind. It is the wish of the College Council that the very atmosphere of the place should urge and sustain the student in strenuous effort, and that the students who have passed through the College should look back upon it with love and veneration not only for its associations, not only for the debt which they owe to their Alma Mater, but also for its attractiveness and its beauty.

 

Referring to the financial side of the matter, His Excellency said that of the £100,000 asked for £37,000 had been collected. In conclusion, he declared the Fancy Fair in the grounds, in aid of the funds, open.

 

Sir J. H. De Villiers, in thanking His Excellency for his presence, observed that the College had sprung from small beginnings. They had had as yet no millionaires to help them, although one gentlemen, Mr. Stow, had given £10,000 to the fund. The Chief Justice concluded his address by impressing upon the College authorities the necessity of looking for help chiefly from the old College boys and from South Africans generally.

 

Several young ladies and little girls then stepped upon the platform and handed purses of gold towards the fund to the Governor.

 

After the blessing, pronounced by the Rev. J. M. Russell, the opening ceremonies came to a conclusion.

 

The Fancy Fair was thronged during the day. Bertram House itself was transformed into a luncheon hall; while the various stalls, presided over by leading ladies of the Peninsula society, included all sorts of attractions.

 

 

MORE FIRES AT DURBAN

 

On the afternoon of the 5th ult., smoke was seen issuing from the roof of the new wing of the Belgrave Hotel, which was only opened to the public on the previous Monday. The alarm was given, and the Fire Brigade was quickly on the scene, but the pressure of water was not strong, it being the middle of the day, when the town consumption is the greatest.

 

The building being a high one, the fire got a good hold before the steam fire engines could be got to give the required pressure. The fire steadily burned down to the ground floor, but the efforts of the Brigade had to be concentrated on preventing the spreading to the other wing of the hotel and the adjoining building, which was successfully accomplished. By three o’clock the fire had been got under, but not before the whole wing had been gutted. The visitors living in the hotel were mostly at lunch at the time, but the majority got their belongings away safely, while some valuable new furniture on the lower floors was salved. The damage was estimated at about £500, and is covered by insurance policies.

 

The fire at Messrs. Sparks and Young’s premises, which, it seemed, after weeks of smouldering, had at length been extinguished, broke out again recently in the storage chamber. This fire, as have the other minor conflagrations, occurred in the charcoal insulation of the storage chambers, owing to the fact that the debris had not yet been removed from the building.

 

 

In the case of two native boys charged with placing stones on the railway line at Thaba ‘Nchu, the Chief Justice of the Orange River Colony remarked, at the Bloemfontein Criminal Sessions, that there was need for the establishment of a reformatory. If the Colony could not afford its up-keep, it should combine with the other Colonies. The boys were sentenced to a caning.

 

 

Mr. E. Collins, Postmaster of Uitenhage, has retired after 32 years’ service, and was presented by the inhabitants before leaving with a handsome tusk walking stick engraved with his monogram. He has been succeeded by Mr. Adkins, from Cape Town.

 

A strange spectacle was witnessed recently on Mr. Cawood’s farm, near Cradock. Two lean and hungry lammer-vangers swooped down upon two full-grown ostriches, and chased them across the veld. The ostriches separated, and the lammer-vangers then confined their attention to one. Fortunately some native boys were near, and the evil-looking falcons were driven away with sticks and stones, after having displayed an unusual amount of temerity. If the natives had not been at hand, the helpless ostrich would undoubtedly have been killed.

 

Regards,

Ellen Stanton

Email: harprulz@bellsouth.net