WORLD’S TOP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
It’s official – the world’s best extra virgin olive oil comes from De Rustica Estate in De Rust. A blind tasting, by a 26-man international jury, tested 1 000 olive oils at the 2023 International Evooleum Awards in Spain. The
De Rustica Estate Collection Coratina was adjudged “best in its class”. This test is completely uninfluenced by countries of origin because the blind samples were coded by a notary. This category won by De Rustica includes best monovarietal/single cultivar; best Coratina; best “mixture green and ripe fruity”; and best from South Africa. The De Rustica oil then went on to win the “absolute best olive oil” in all categories, winning 97 points out of 100. The Evooleum Awards, the biggest and one of the world’s most rigorous professional olive oil contests is promoted by Mercacei magazine and the Asociación Española de Municipios del Olivo (the Spanish Association of Municipalities of the Olive Tree). This year, among the top 100 countries were South Africa, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, China, Brazil, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Slovenia, and Tunisia. “This proves that the production of quality extra virgin oils is no longer limited to the Mediterranean Basin and that international expansion is unstoppable,” stated the organizers.
THE WINNER!
The De Rustica Estate, established in 2006, farms sheep, cattle, and olives. The trees are planted over some 140 hectares at altitudes ranging from 400-650m. The De Rustica’s factory produces about 200,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil a year and this product has proved to be a consistent winner of local and international awards. Owner, Rob Still, told Georgina Crouth of The Daily Maverick (May 5 edition) that the olive harvest is manually brought in by 200 people every day for about three and a half months. He does not agree with mechanical harvesting, from a quality point of view. He prefers to manually harvest his crop and so help provide jobs in this area of the Klein Karoo where unemployment is frightening. “We like to take off our olives at the opportune time when they vary from slightly green to perfect, but not overripe. A tree shaker, attached to a tractor, could not do this. Our workers use combs to remove the olives, which are collected in buckets and emptied.” Oils are continuously tested to ensure that they do not vary.
FASCINATING HISTORY
Way back in 1893 Piet “California” Cillie brought some olive trees from California to Paarl. Under his influence, Jan Minnaar of the farm De Hoop won South Africa’s first prize for olive oil. His oil was adjudged the finest olive oil produced in the British Empire at the 1907 London Show. At this time a young immigrant from Genoa, Ferdinando Costa, saw the potential of the climate and soil and started grafting on imported Italian material. In 1925, highly satisfied with the results he began planting on a large scale in the Paarl Valley. By 1935 he was pressing oil with a mill imported from Italy. Another Italian, Baron Andreis, planted olive trees in the 1950s and in 1972 appointed Carlo Castiglione to manage his farm and make olive oil. Carlo installed the first continuous cycle oil extraction plant in the country and by 1997 was bottled under the label Vesuvio Extra Virgin Olive Oil. By 2002, Vesuvio had won four awards in Italy. Then in 1992 Guilio Bertrand bought Morgenster and realized its potential for producing excellent quality wine and olive oil in the typical Italian tradition. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by SA Olive in 2012 for importing 90% of all cultivars grown is SA today and for establishing a top-class olive nursery.
HAUNTED
And, it appears there are ghosts in the De Rust area. Some years ago, a tale of a ghost train fired the imagination of Anglo-Boer War researchers who were exploring the Meiringspoort area. They sought out farmer Bertie Loock, who confirmed that lights similar to those of a train were often seen traveling down the railway line on his farm. This phantom train paused near the graves of Imperial Yeomanry soldiers Privates Jones and Collins and then slowly moved off amid the sound of whistles, chuffs and clanks. “However, no train ever appears,” said Bertie.
START OF A PRESS CORPS
There was no recognizable press corps in the British Army before the Anglo-Boer War. During the war, 88 newspapers and journals employed at least 263 war correspondents on the British fronts. Almost 300 writers arrived from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, and Continental Europe. Of course, there were also some South Africans. “About 26 correspondents reported for two newspapers or news gathering agencies, seven correspondents reported for three, and another three journalists for four newspapers or agencies. The total number of named war correspondents on the British side was, therefore, no fewer than 276, states Donal P McCracken, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in The relationship between British War Correspondents in the Field and British Military Intelligence during the Anglo-Boer War.
STARS OF THE SHOW
Principal role players were the Daily Mail, The Times, and the Morning Post. Reuters employed over 100 correspondents and stringers in Southern Africa during the war. Of course, these were not all here at once. Correspondents came and went, however, this is probably the largest number of war correspondents ever to cover an Imperial war in the history of the British Empire. Not all these war correspondents were male. Miss Bateman, Lady Briggs, and Mary Kingsley represented the Morning Post, Miss Maguire, Reuters, and Lady Sarah Wilson wrote for The Daily Mail. A few British journalists also covered the war “in a fairly leisurely style” from the Boer side. Some paid a high price. Six were killed, three died of disease, 13 contracted typhoid, six were wounded and 19 were taken prisoner. These figures do not include the unnamed German photographer who was caught by some British scouts on the top of Spioen Kop, piling up the bodies of dead British soldiers for a ghoulish picture. One of the scouts raised his rifle and, without a word, shot and killed the correspondent.
A GRAND MEETING PLACE
Pretoria’s Grand Hotel was the general meeting place for these correspondents. Several were under a kind of lax house arrest, but they could chat with anyone who popped into the bar. So lax was the security that a guard once asked his journalist prisoner to look after his rifle while he went off to visit his girlfriend. This was just an odd incident and mostly the companies kept a strict eye on the newsgathering. Several foreign correspondents got into serious trouble with the British and Baron de Reuter recalled M J M Bellasyse, his general manager in South Africa, because of complaints that he was too sympathetic towards the Boers. But not all foreign correspondents were anti-British. Erland Mossberg, the war correspondent for the Stockholm Tidning, became the Swedish military attaché with the British Army after the fall of Pretoria. At least 13 war correspondents published their wartime experiences. Winston Churchill got two books out of the war and the American journalist Julian Ralph published no fewer than four accounts. With the exception of Michael Davitt’s and Frederik Rompel’s volumes, these published war accounts by war correspondents were generally sympathetic towards the British.
DASHING FELLOW
Then, there was the famous Australian Irishman, Arthur Lynch, who arrived in the Transvaal in 1900 to report for Black and White, Collier’s Weekly, and Le Petit Journal. He then proceeded to establish an Irish commando in the Boer Army. It briefly saw service in the Natal, then disintegrated. Lynch slipped out of the country, into Mozambique and made his way to Paris. In 1901, he stood and won the Irish parliamentary seat of Galway. On arriving in England from France to take up that seat, he was arrested, tried for high treason, and sentenced to death. The successful argument of the crown prosecutor was that Lynch had gone to the Transvaal as a journalist after hostilities had commenced and then taken out Transvaal citizenship and became a combatant for the enemy. Had Lynch become a burger before the war was declared, he would have been in the clear. Lynch was pardoned and released.
NEVER AGAIN SUCH A NEWSPAPER
On the whole, British and American journalists were sympathetic to the British cause. Most happily ate army food, used army fodder for their horses, rode out with patrols, viewed advances from the frontline, and drank the booze in the officers’ mess. Three journalists who had ridden into Bloemfontein before the British Army suggested to the authorities that they ride out and present Lord Roberts with the keys of the town, in token of submission. After that was done and Roberts agreed to hand over the Bloemfontein-based The Friend to the press corps, to be run as the British Army newspaper, one wrote; “Lord Roberts is the first General whom I have heard of whoever recognized and acknowledged the Value and Power of the Press by establishing a Newspaper as a source of Entertainment and Information for an Army in the Field.” Roberts then appointed Percival Landon of The Times, Howell “Taffy” Gwynne of Reuters, F W Buxton, formerly of the Johannesburg Star, and the American journalist, Julian Ralph as writers to run The Friend from March 16, 1900. Ralph later wrote a 471-page book on the experience, These four were soon joined by two other eminent journalists, Rudyard Kipling, and Dr Arthur Conan Doyle. Kipling said: “Never again will there be such a paper! Never again such a staff! Never such fine larks.”
WOOD-GATHERERS VANISH
On April 19, 1901, during the Anglo-Boer War Sarah Raal and two friends, Miss B van Schalkwyk and Miss Jacobs escaped from Springfontein Concentration Camp on the pretext of collecting firewood. They never returned and they managed to join the Burgher commandos. Sarah’s astonishing exploits with the Boer commandos in the southern Free State are documented in her book, Met die Boere in die Veld. Her family farmed at Olivenfontein, just south of Edenburg and her four brothers joined the commandos soon after war was declared. Three months later, her father also left for war. This left Sarah, her mother, and two young siblings to cope with the farming operations. Soon after, her father was captured, their farm was raided by the British, and all the crops were destroyed. Her mother and siblings were captured while en route to Jagersfontein station (now Trompsburg).
RECAPTURED
For several months, Sarah remained on the farm alone, managing the livestock with two loyal farm workers. When the English became suspicious about her presence on the farm, she loaded up her wagon with provisions, and set off with her farm workers, driving the sheep ahead of them. She wandered from farm to farm, until she was captured and sent to Springfontein camp. After she and her friends escaped, she joined her brothers in fighting under Commandant Nieuwoudt. Also, in this commando, were her uncle, Veldcornet Lubbe, who was later killed in a skirmish, and his twelve-year-old son, Andries. Sarah became a proficient member of the commando, participating in skirmishes and manoeuvres. She wore a dress, even while riding, and hid her remaining clothes in trunks in the hills. Sarah always carried a revolver. She was eventually captured and sent to Uitenhage camp, where she was reunited with her family on June 24, 1902. She returned home on August 22, 1902. She had sown her family’s money into the hem of her dress and this saved their lives.
OFFICERS UNDER “MARIBOU”
British military intelligence only came into its own during the Anglo-Boer War. The Department had existed since before 1873. At the outbreak of war, it was headed by the lanky, quiet, taciturn Anglo-Irish, Major General Sir John Charles Ardagh who was known to his staff as Marabou. He was the second son of the vicar of Rossmire in County Waterford. He had intended to follow his father into the church but later decided to join the army. A gifted linguist, mathematician, and artist, he took first place in the exams at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and received his commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1859. He also served as a military engineer and surveyor in many places and in April 1875, was attached to the Intelligence Branch of the War Office. While serving in the Netherlands was made deputy quartermaster for Intelligence. He saw service in places such as Turkey, Bermuda, Serbia, the Dardanelles, Bulgaria, Egypt, and India before being appointed director of military intelligence for the Anglo-Boer War. On October 20, 1899, one of his intelligence reports fell into the hands of the Boers and was later published. After the war, the Royal Commission absolved him of blame. A handful of other intelligence officers were sent out to set up spy and guide networks in South Africa. They served, under Major David Henderson, in the Cape, and Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Manning in Natal, In January 1900, six intelligence officers were attached to Lord Roberts’s staff, under Lieutenant Colonel George Henderson.
COME TO THE CAPE
The Government embarked on an extensive scheme to bring settlers to the Eastern Cape in the late 1870s. It was referred to as the German Immigration Scheme, but a number of families from Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland, also took up the offer. The idea began when the Surveyor-General’s 1876 report showed that there was still a “considerable extent of unalienated Government land” in various parts of the Colony, which was ideal for agricultural purposes and for attracting immigration”. On June 28, 1876, the House of Assembly adopted a motion to survey such land so as to attract suitable immigrants from Northern Europe. The House defined what type of settler was required and on August 17, 1876, the Commissioner of Crown lands, John X. Merriman, entered into an agreement with William Berg to bring immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia. According to this agreement, William Berg was to co-operate with J C Godeffroy & Son of Hamburg, to bring 1 500 adults to South Africa. (Two children under twelve counted as one individual). The Immigrants were to consist of “Norwegian, Swedish, and German peasants who were respectable and who could be engaged in agricultural pursuits”. Married couples with children were preferred; young women could come out under the care of a guardian, and only a certain number of single men would be accepted. The age limit was fixed at fifty years.
NO ONE MENTIONED THE DROUGHTS
Ten ships, the La Rochelle, Fedrasa, Wandrahm, Godeffroy, Caroline Bahn, Sophie, Adele, Papa, Saturnas and Uranus, were chartered. Each ship was to carry 100 or more immigrants. They brought out about 1900 people as well as another 35 who had paid their own passage. Each ship carried a doctor, who was paid £30 for the voyage. The agreement stated that, if necessary, the immigrants could be kept on board the ship for a period of eight days after their arrival. In return, the contractor was to be paid £15 for every immigrant introduced to the Cape and approved by the Immigration Board. The immigrants were not required to refund their passage money and would be charged no customs duties on personal luggage. They could take up Crown land – at least twenty acres for each adult – at the rate of ten shillings per acre, payable in ten yearly installments of one shilling per acre. Another clause stipulated that each lessee should erect a dwelling house to the value of at least £20 on his land and that after the two first years, he should have cultivated at least one acre of his leased ten acres.
The Government agreed to convey immigrants from their point of arrival to their chosen locations and to advance money to purchase seeds and agricultural implements. This all sounded most attractive, but then no one told the immigrants of the unrest on the frontier, nor of the severe weather and droughts. These broke hearts and killed the enthusiasm of many farmers.
HE LOVED THE SEA
Dr. Evelyn Oliver Ashe (Round up 353) who died at Kimberley on April 27, 1926, aged 61, might have lived in the dryland, but he loved the sea. He took a long whaling trip before settling down to practice. he distinguished himself in everything that he took up, and those who knew him never forgot his tall, manly figure and cheery face. He was always ready to help any fellow student, stated the British Medical News on August 22, 1905. He received his medical education at the London Hospital and Owens College, Manchester. He obtained the diploma LSA in 1888, and graduated from MB London with honours, in the same year. In the following year, he took the MD degree and obtained the FRCS England in 1892. After holding house appointments in London Hospital he emigrated to Kimberley in 1892, as senior house surgeon at Kimberley Hospital. He started general practice about two years later but retained his connection with the hospital. He was also a surgeon to the De Beers Consolidated Mines. He became a member of the British Medical Association in 1890. He was extremely highly esteemed in Kimberley; his funeral procession was nearly a third of a mile in length and included the mayor, ex-servicemen, nurses, and scouts. “He was outspoken, bluff, fearless, adventurous, had an excellent sense of humour, a kind heart, boundless generosity, and all the qualities of the best type of Englishman,” said a friend in a eulogy.
CALLING ART LOVERS… A-frame boards will pop up outside about 30 houses in Prince Albert to announce annual the Open Studio event A two-day Winter Workshop be held before the open house begins.
…AND BOOK LOVERS This year’s Richmond Book Bedonnerd Book Festival will quite possibly be the last due to a lack of support and funding by the Northern Cape Government. Anyone interested in attending this swansong from November 1 – 4 should contact Darryl David
