KAROO ASH HEAP REVEALS LINKS TO THREE WARS
Two well known researchers recently made an interesting find in the Karoo. Dr Johan Loock and Cobus Dreyer, from the University of the Free State, were conducting studies to evaluate the impact of a proposed extension electric power line on artefacts and the ecology in the area of farms such as Leeukloof, Bultfontein and Gansfontein, northwest of Beaufort West. Archaeologist Cobus Dreyer says many cultural and historic finds were made along the route. “We found were substantial surface scatters of Later Stone Age flakes and pottery, lower and upper grinding stones and fossilised remains of lizard-like reptiles. We also saw many rocks smoothed by animal rubbing. Then, at a long-forgotten ash heap near the old Bultfontein farmhouse we found three cartridge cases which were really captured out interest.” From inscriptions on their head stamps Cobus and Johan discovered that these cartridges dated back to three different wars. This posed the question of how they got there.
FOUND THE ANSWERS, BUT THE MYSTERY REMAINS
The oldest was an 8×57 Mauser cartridge. Its headstamp 3 99 P revealed it had been manufactured as military ammunition in March 1899, at a factory in Polte, in Marburg, Germany. “Such cartridges were used during WWI and in the 1915 German South West African Campaign,” says Cobus. The others were ,303 cartridges. The older, stamped K35 VII, was manufactured by Kynock Witton in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. “Such cartridges were used for military training and for target shooting.” The other, also a British cartridge, was manufactured in 1944. “Its head stamp – U44 VII – indicated it had been manufactured by the SA Mint in Pretoria for the Union Defence Force also for military, training and target shooting purposes,” said Cobus. Well-known geologist, military historian and expert shottist Dr Johan Loock concluded: “Since the ,303 calibre cartridge cases date from post-World War I and WWII respectively, the ammunition could have been used by members of the Union Defence Force or local Commandos for target shooting practice. The 8mm Mauser cartridge, however, posed somewhat of a mystery. We speculate that the ammunition could have been brought to German South West Africa by the Deutsche Schütz Troops during World War I. How the cartridge case landed up in the Karoo is not clear. The most likely conclusion is that it was collected by a member of the South African Defence Force during the 1915 German South West Africa Campaign and brought here. This just proves that the Karoo is a never-ending source of intrigue and that the area still has much to reveal.”
WEATHER BOOK NOW AVAILALBLE
Peter Alcock’s long awaited book on weather-related myths and folklore is ready at last. Entitled Rainbows in the Mist: Indigenous Weather Knowledge, Beliefs and Folklore in South Africa, it can now be ordered from the S A Weather Service at a cost of about R380-00. This easy to read volume, researched over many years, is the first publication of its kind to explore weather phenomena and indigenous knowledge, including the heavens, in this country. Many topics are covered, ranging from the significance of the Pleiades, to historical rain ceremonies. A number of weather myths and projects, such as the ill-fated Kalahari Scheme designed to change the climate of southern Africa, are discussed. This scheme caused a great uproar in the early years of the last century. South African place names linked to the stars and weather form an integral part of the book, so do poems that describe or refer to the weather.
Continuing a closer look at droughts
DRYNESS ADDS TO THE DRAMA
The Khoi-san named the Karoo “The Great Dry”. They knew it as a great thirstland and even in their day droughts haunted the vast plains. Nelspoort farmer Pieter Lund, who farms at Bleakhouse, has studied the droughts for years. His family lived through several (his father’s story appeared in Round up No 84 – September 2010), As the region, and the Beaufort West area in particular, currently struggle in the grips of drought Peter has prepared some stories for Round-up. Other researchers are also taking a closer look at Karoo droughts, one is Arnold Hutchinson who reports that the Gamka Dam in the Nuweveld mountains is totally dry. “As the water level dropped and the dam eventually dried hundreds of fish died. Local farmers initially made great efforts to save as many fish as they could, scooping our barrels full and transferring them to dams, but in the end, they could no longer manage and hundreds of fish became a feast in the food chain. Hundreds have become part of the cracked, dusty, dry dam bottom,” he says.
AND THEN CAME THE RAINS
The year 1877 was a traumatic one for the Molteno and Jackson families who farmed at Nelspoort. In The Jacksons of Nelspoort, Dr A O Jackson records that a drought which started two years before had taken severe toll of the stock. “He writes that two-thirds of the small stock and many head of cattle were dead and that they had had to kill thousands of lambs just as they were born,” says Pieter. “Men were heartbroken – women wept. Most farmers agreed they had not experienced such a drought before. Many wondered whether they would survive. It was extremely serious and there were no high product prices to help them through. All but the most urgent expenditure was curtailed. Farm hands were laid off and George Holden, a most trusted employee was asked to find employment elsewhere, (everyone knew that it would be a case of “if he could” but no one dared voice the words.)” In The Life and times of Sir John Charles Molteno, his son, Percy, refers to the effect the drought had on his father, at the time was Prime Minister of the Cape. “Owing to the terrible drought which devastated the Colony in the later years of his administration, his private affairs were in need of his personal care.” The next year, 1878 was also a poor one with very little relief, and then the rains came. “They wreaked their own sort of havoc. In 1879 floods were reported across the arid zone and these torrents caused almost as much devastation at the droughts,” writes Peter.
WATER, BUT THE SHEEP COULD NOT DRINK
Another man who wrote of drought in the Karoo was Clarence de Jager. His father farmed at Kuilspoort near Beaufort West. In his memoirs, transcribed by A P Smit, Clarence recalls hauling water for livestock out of a deep well on his father’s farm. “A contraption resembling a windlass was used. One bucket filled with about 20 litres of water was drawn up as a similar sized empty one went down. In this way enough water was raised to fill the drinking troughs. This was an immensely slow and arduous procedure. And, then even when the water was in the troughs the sheep had to be carefully monitored. No more than 50 could be allowed to drink as a time because even in their weakened state they could easily trample each other to death.” Clarence states that in times of severe drought the animals were so badly weakened from thirst and their throats so dry that they could no longer drink naturally. Water had to be forced down their throats.
MIXING IT WITH FROGS
During one severe drought the water level in the deep well on the De Jager farm dropped so low that buckets could no longer be filled. Clarence’s father became so desperate that he ordered his son to remove his shoes and socks and climb down into the well. The buckets were then lowered, and Clarence filled them using a smaller container. Climbing down was scary, but conditions at the bottom were worse. It was dark, dank, slippery, slidey and smelly – but worst of all there were hundreds of frogs in the murky depths and these squirmed around Clarence, crawling over his feet and jumping against his legs as he laboured. This was a most unpleasant experience, but Clarence laboured on, slipping on the muddy bottom and becoming soaked by water sloshing out of buckets on their way to the top. When his father called a halt and told him to climb back out again, he was more than delighted to leave the dark depths and return to the warm sunshine he said.
LEFT HOME WITH A HEART FULL OF HOPE
Henrich Bergmann, 18, came to the Cape from Bavaria in 1849. He was among the first Jews to arrive in South Africa, but the reason for his emigration has never become clear. Political turbulence coupled to a growing anti-Semitic atmosphere in his homeland may have decided him, perhaps his reasons were economic, or maybe he was simply an adventurous young man in search of his fortune, says one of his descendants, Adam Yamey, who researched his life and has now turned it into a novel. . Henry, as he became known, survived an arduous sea voyage lasting 108 days during which sailors mutinied and steerage passengers revolted over poor food and meagre rations. He left home full of hope and departed from London on May 12, 1849, but it was an inauspicious start – the ship was becalmed in the English Channel for two weeks. Then, when they finally made it out to sea, they were beset by storms. They caught birds “as big as swans” to supplement their diets, almost ran out of water and were blown off course before Table Mountain was at last sighted and they were able to land safely at Cape Town harbour. Then to Henry’s horror he found that the gentleman to whom he had a letter of introduction had gone to Port Elizabeth. Like most young travellers of the day he had little money and by the time he found lodgings – costing £4 a month – he was almost destitute. Yet, these rooms, with food, were the cheapest accommodation he could find, so he decided to move into the interior where living was cheaper and the likelihood of finding a job easier. Adam’s poignant tale, entitled Aliwal, is set in Graaff-Reinet, Lady Grey and Aliwal North.
MYSTERY STILL SHROUDS THE END
Henry’s path took him to Graaff-Reinet where he met Phoebus (Feibusch) Caro, a Polish Jew and manager of Mosenthal’s trading store. Caro had been a steerage passenger bound for Tasmania, when his ship ran aground near the Cape. He was one of 90 people who survived, and he too had arrived in this country almost penniless. He identified with Henry’s plight and offered him a job. Henry did extremely well, rose to become a partner and in time was asked to open a new branch in Aiwa North. Once again he made a great success of this opportunity. He gained, recognition, wealth and respect, but he was lonely. So, he returned briefly to Europe to search for a bride. In this too he was successful. He fell in love with Charlotte Jenny Schuster, whose father was an ‘aristocratic’ banker in Frankfurt. They married and returned to Aliwal North, where an accident almost cost Jenny her life. She recovered, but by then Henry was on a roller-coaster ride into the exciting world of gold prospecting and mining. He believed he was on the road to riches, but sadly it cost him his life. He died by his own hand on July 15, 1866. The town was so horrified that no one wished to bury him, then two Afrikaner brothers, Koos and David De Wet, proved themselves his friends in life and death and he was laid to rest on their farm.
DYNAMIC BROTHERS HELP OPEN THE HINTERLAND
In the 19th century most Jews leaving Germany in search of better lives chose to go to the United States. Before the discovery of gold and diamonds very few came to South Africa because it was considered a wild place. Those who did come to “this wilderness” faced great difficulties. Most were forced by the Dutch East India Company to convert to Christianity. Some claimed to be Spanish, says Professor Sander Gilman, an expert in German cultural history, because they did not want to be known by the derogatory term of “Rhineland traders”. Nevertheless, many played a vital role in opening up the hinterland, particularly the Karoo, and building up the economy of this vast inland area. Among them were Maximilian Thalwitzer, Gabriel Kilian and the Mosenthal brothers. Max specialised in developing Merino sheep and exporting wool and Gabriel was a general merchant. Joseph Mosenthal, Gabriel’s cousin who came to South Africa in 1837 to assist him. Within a year he was offered a partnership. In 1841 after the death of his two sons and Alexa Waldeck, the first of his four wives, Joseph returned to Kassel and persuaded his brothers Adolph and Julius to join him in South Africa. They eagerly accepted and arrived in Algoa Bay in November 1842 with a shipload of goods to sell. Within days the Mosenthals had opened a store in Port Elizabeth and within weeks had expanded to Graaff-Reinet. Soon branches were popping up all over the country and they needed staff. Almost half the Jews who came to South Africa between 1845 and 1870 came as a result of Mosenthal’s rapid expansion and need for manpower, writes Adam Yamey in an article in Stambaum. “These brothers certainly made a major contribution to the development of the hinterland.”
IT WASN’T REALLY CRICKET
Early Beaufort Westers were great cricket fans. As the sport increased in popularity, a pitch was laid out near the present-day swimming pool and several clubs were formed. All went very well until 1867 when Captain T Tinley, a fiery former ship’s captain, came to town to act as magistrate. He was not a cricketer – he preferred croquet. Tinley did his best to promote croquet, but it was totally unknown in this far-flung part of the hinterland and it didn’t catch on. He tried to start a club, hoping locals would acquire the skills, but this too did not flourish, and he was upset. One day in 1871 in a fit of ire he stomped onto the field during a cricket match and tore down the wickets. Pandemonium broke out. Players and spectators were greatly affronted, and hot words filled the air. Municipal secretary, J H de Beer, tried to calm things, but Tinley set about him with his walking stick which was broken on the poor old man raised his arm. A visiting lawyer, Mr Blore, stepped out onto the field to try and calm things down, but he fared less well than De Beer and quickly gave up. “Fortunately, however, before any more injuries could occur, the irate Captain Tinley stormed off,” reported a bystander. Sometime later The Beaufort West Courier reported that a Beaufort West magistrate caused a furore by fencing the cricket pitch and turning it into a croquet ground. Tinley was not named, but perhaps it was him. This time a local lawyer jumped the fence and planted cricket wickets on the croquet lawn much to the amusement of the cricket fraternity. Cricket flourished in Beaufort West and croquet survived, but only until about 1926.
ON THE TRAIL OF THE CHRISTIES
Sheila Bennet is on the trail of the Christies.” I know John James Christie of Arbroath on the east coast of Scotland qualified as a doctor at Edinburgh University and came out to South Africa. I also know that he was the only medical man in the Beaufort West area for years and that he married Miss Meintjies, the magistrate’s daughter. I have not been able to find her Christian name, nor any details of her birth and death. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated. John and his wife had a son called Johannes Jacobus, but he was also known as John James (just to confuse the issue). He married Theresa Vigne and later became the Civil Commissioner/Magistrate of Kimberley, I believe. If anyone could confirm this for me, I would be delighted. Does anyone know whether John Christie (senior) and his wife had any more children? Someone told me they had a daughter who married a Mr Pocock, I would love to know if this is true. John (junior) and Theresa had four sons and a daughter. Their third son, Harold, was my grandfather.”
TAKE YOUR SEATS PLEASE IF THE POST IS LIGHT
Post coach travel was not cheap in the 1850s. Contractors for the route between Graaff-Reinet and Port Elizabeth announced in the Graaff-Reinent Herald of Wednesday, February l, 1854, that they were prepared to carry passengers and parcels on their mail carts at fees payable in advance. They reserved the right to carry passengers and clearly stated there was no guarantee that passengers would always be able to make the journey. Passengers were warned that “if the mail was heavy” they would not be allowed aboard. Tickets for passengers either way cost £4\10\- and there was “no reduction for return fares”. Each passenger was allowed to carry 10lbs (4.5kg) of luggage. The charge for parcels was 1\6d per lb (0,45kg) and no single parcel weighing more than 10lbs (4,5kg) would be carried, nor any bundle exceeding 40lbs (18kg), stated the advertisement. Bookings had to be made at the offices of G Hurford in Parsonage Street, Graaff-Reinet or at J T Reed and Company, in Port Elizabeth. The contractors warned the public against sending letters or newspapers in parcels. There were heavy fines for doing this – such items had to be paid for and posted separately.
PATIENCE REWARDED AFTER LONG STAKE OUT
A Cradock shopkeeper was seriously troubled by items continuously vanishing regularly from his store. All attempts to catch the culprit had failed. John White mentioned his concern to friends who, in typical frontier style rallied to assist him. For three weeks they hung about as inconspicuously as possible in and around his shop. Their efforts were successful and “Old JW” was so delighted he published “his most sincere and heartfelt thanks” in the Grahamstown Journal of November 20, 1847. He thanked his friends for “the diligence they showed, and the extreme hardship they suffered watching by day and night, frequently in inclement weather.” He pledged himself ready to return the favour if ever it was needed.
He that can have patience, can have what he will ~ Benjamin Franklin
