ORAFs - Newsletter 07 February, 2016
Eddy Norris
Old Rhodesian Air Force Sods
Zimbabwe: Rhona Sargeant rh...@yoafrica.com
UK: Andrew Rogers andrew...@oracle.com
Australia: Fiona Waters fifw...@yahoo.com
South Africa: Jenny Brown rcbro...@gmail.com
On ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/281861249454
The cost of the book is US$60. Postage is US$15 if requested.
The Palace theatre, going back in the 50’s, I believe a female ticket operator, was shot by her husband, in the ticket booth. Unfortunately she did die.
Yes the Palace on a Saturday morning was for the kids and comic swapping, such nice memories. The little Palace, was the cinema, that always showed the Tarzan pictures, Jungle Jim and such “B” grade type movies.
But what lovely memories were they always full of magic to us youngsters.
Thanks Darryl.
Aiden Diggeden.
ORAFs has been advised that Aiden Diggeden, who we mentioned in the NL last week has since passed away. We also learned that Aiden is a Chaplin High School Old Boy.
Triangle Ltd.
ORAFs received an email from Pat Sligo along with a photo -
'I am attaching a copy of a pic I took in 1957 at the Fort Victoria Show with C.G. Gibbs holding some sugar cane just to show the height it grows at Triangle.
Having read Dr C.R. Saunders story of Triangle which you arranged to reproduce on the net, it brought back many happy memories of my days in the Fort Vic area and Rhodesia.
I used to go to Triangle at least once a month on business, and knew most of the staff there during 1954 to 1958, and saw the huge development start from the days of Nainby Starling to Tom Threlkeld as managers?'
Many thanks Pat. Brings to mind that reminder of Rhodesia being once referred to as the 'bread basket" of Africa.
Flo Hill.
ORAFs has been asked for contact details for Flo Hill, ex Radio Operator who worked in the comms section. If you can assist, kindly write to ora...@gmail.com Thank you.
FLY CAA BROCHURE.
Dave Vermaak forwards an old CAA Brochure from November 1954.
Dave remarks, ' Those halcyon days bring back such lovely memories, the times and the many friends and colleagues.'
Kind thanks to Dave for sending this in.
Dogs in the Military.
Stretch Merrington forwards a newspaper article regarding dogs used in the Air Force and Police. The article was featured in the Herald Newspaper dated 25th June, 1965. Kindly note the second photo shows Stretch Merrington as the handler.
Guard dogs of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force are primarily intended to warn their handlers of the presence of any intruder. But if need be they can be set free and will attack with vigour, as this picture taken at a training session shows.
Photo courtesy of Stretch Merrington. (ORAFs used the original photo that Stretch had been given rather than the same photo used by the newspaper due to the better quality.)
Many thanks Stretch - often unsung hero's, our beloved dogs of war.
Sale By Public Auction Of The Farm Chikurubi by Syd Polwarth.
As requested by ORAFS, herewith the first article dealing with my business memories of auctions, valuations, estate agency and antiques, almost exclusively during the time of my residency in Southern Rhodesia from arriving as an 11-year old in 1945 and leaving Zimbabwe in 1982.
In August/September 1945 a little pongo as my friend Micky Flint always refers to me as, arrived in Salisbury from Britain where I was born.
Duly I was enrolled at Selborne Junior School in Std 4 for the last term of that year.
1946 saw me at Allan Wilson School in Std 5 as Selborne did not, at that time, offer Standard 5 and the following year another move found me at Prince Edward School which tenure lasted until late January 1951. With the publishing of the Cambridge Exam results for 1950 behind me, I left school having passed but without a matriculation exemption as it had never been a family thought, wish or financial possibility that I would go to University. My poor Afrikaans was the let down and remains so to this day.
I had, as a Boy Scout first worked for J.W.Skea & Co during a Bob-a-Job Week stint and thereafter earned pocket money by being gainfully employed thereat during various school holidays.
Thus my first introduction to the world of business which I stayed in, in some form, until I retired in South Africa in 1994. Skea, himself a former pupil of The Boys High School as it was then known, was the complete professional auctioneer and whilst he never actively mentored me, he did put me on the right tracks and before I was 21 I had passed the necessary examinations of The Auctioneers, Estate Agents and Valuers Institute. Many years later I was to become the Mashonaland Branch Chairman in addition to being the Chairman of the Estate Agents Council for a while.
Well, having attained as much secondary education as was deemed necessary by my parents & self, I was soon a permanent staff member at J.W. Skea & Co. at 35 Manica Road, cnr Kingsway (now a small shopping mall) with a simple warehouse facility at 71/73 Salisbury Sreet, at the corner of Bute Street, directly opposite the old Market Square, now a bus depot.
I thus became an auctioneers clerk, the person who, in those far-off days wrote in pencil and later ballpoint, what was sold and to whom the item(s) belonged, how much it realized and to whom it was sold. And, if a new buyer, also their name, initials and address. Sounds easy enough but when a decent auctioneer is selling at a rate of about 80 lots an hour, there isn’t a lot of time to spare. The completed sheets for every sale were known as the Vendue Roll of any sale.
It was on the Market Square that I conducted my first albeit very humble beginnings as an auctioneer. This involved no more than selling keenly sought-after but secondhand clothing from various deceased estates and usually to African buyers who were required to pay cash, with another member of Skea’s staff acting as my clerk.
Most readers will have attended some form of auctioneering, be it general saleroom work or house sale, cattle sale or, more than likely, a tobacco auction on the then two and later three Salisbury Floors – Tobacco Auctions, Tobacco Producers Floor and lastly Tobacco Sales, all now long gone.
With the passage of time, by age 23, I had changed jobs twice, first to a cattle auctioneering company and then to an estate agency, this latter to gain the necessary hands-on experience in that field.
Then came my first ownership position, albeit I was a partner in the auctioneer company that took over Skea’s Salisbury Street premises, upgraded to a full saleroom and by 26, these became my own first of my rented premises. Later addresses were Throgmorton House, Kingsway, Goldfields Building (opposite Parliament) in Baker Avenue, the former premises of Landau Trading in Speke Avenue, Gelfand House in the same street, just off First Street and finally Trafalgar Court next to the Red Cross Headquarters near the National Art Gallery and formerly occupied by The Golden Dragon Restaurant.
With that brief background in time, I fast forward to the sale by public auction of the farm Chikurubi, now the infamous Zimbabwe Prison of the same name.
My story relating thereto also requires a little background.
Chikurubi was once a Mashonaland and Salisbury Showpiece farm, owned by Dudley Arthur Waldren Edwards, a businessman and successful farmer who also operated Edwards Timber & Lime Co. from Chikurubi, was a shareholder and director of The Art Printing Works, and a steward of the Mashonaland Turf Club amongst many other achievements. A pillar of society would not be an incorrect description of the man.
He lived on Chikurubi on the Arcturus Road just beyond the suburb of Mandara with his wife and children, Ken, Chris and Rosemary.
Prior to receiving my instructions to sell, I had, as a youth camped on Chikurubi with the 2nd Salisbury Troop of Boy Scouts and fished for bass, successfully, in one of the dams on the farm. Whilst as a youngster I didn’t know much about farming, you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know this was the real thing. Edwards enjoyed the fruits of his labours and it showed.
My involvement came about because of first, Edwards’ fruitless efforts to break into the Asian Markets with the sale of iron ore, the source of which I do not now recollect.
Either his first or an early shipment was refused by the ostensible buyers on the grounds that it was inferior to what they had originally been offered and this led to a series of expensive but failed legal attempts by Edwards to recover his costs, expenses, purchase price etc nor do I remember what became of the shipment eventually.
Then Edwards suffered his second further blow when the government wanted to re-align the Arcturus Road by running it through part of Chikurubi, an attempt that Edwards again fought tooth and nail through the courts. He lost with eventually a physical standoff between an armed Edwards and some of his staff confronting the road building contractors and their equipment, who wisely retreated to fight another day.
Suffice to say that Edwards became bankrupt, his various holdings realized and companies liquidated.
My first intimation came about via a telephone call from the Master of the High Court who required my attendance at a meeting of the Trustee of the Insolvent Estate of Edwards, R.J.”Roy” Woodnutt and the Joint Liquidators of Edwards various legal entities, W.A.”Chippy” Pringle-Wood and K.T.”Ken” Wood, thereafter known to my staff and I as The three Woods. Their appointments by creditors and The Master encompassed the disposal of all of Edwards Chikurubi property and movables assets thereon and other assets wherever found. I cannot recall now into which of these two categories of bankruptcy the various assets fell save Edwards Timber & Lime fell into the Liquidation arena.
S.Polwarth & Co. (Pvt) Ltd was appointed to conduct the sales by Public Auction of all of these assets.
Because of Edwards belligerent attitude towards the road contractors, there was a fear that if my staff or I attempted to gain access to his homestead we would, at least, be threatened with violence.
Accordingly I was instructed by The Master to exclude any inspection of the homestead from my descriptive brochure regarding the farm itself. Unusual, but in the circumstances, understandable and never to be repeated in any other auction I conducted.
I should mention here that Edwards was the most litigious person I ever came across and used legal process to its utmost, without apparently considering the costs and ramifications thereof of which more later.
Thus commenced the preparatory work of arranging dates, times for viewing the assets by intending buyers, inpection and descriptions of all the assets and the printing and production of catalogues and advertisements.
Then preparing the assets themselves in the best light possible in order to obtain the highest prices achievable.
At that time I had the services of two additional auctioneers available, namely the late Robin Harvey Field and Ian Henry Ferreira, who continues to live in Harare, with the necessary experienced support staff to conduct a week long auction if necessary.
Importantly, for those readers who remember the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) they may also recollect that periodically this government department had auction sales conducted of their surplus and second hand vehicles and equipment.
Edwards had availed himself of these sales to acquire a very large number of vehicles, in particular lorries which he then proceeded to cannabilise for parts remembering that British and other sanctions made new spares both expensive and difficult to source. What remained thereafter for sale was this fleet, mostly non-runners and incomplete in some respect and occupying several acres of open ground. Fortunately the staff of Chikurubi were available to assist in advising of their condition albeit the usual auctioneers Conditions of Sale excluded any guarantees or warranties in this regard.
In itself an Auctioneers Conditions of Sale nowadays reads like the small print of an insurance policy but when I started work, the Conditions, 10 in all, were read aloud by the Auctioneer before any auction sale began. Like insurance, there is no excuse for not reading the Conditions. As to whether they are fully understood by the uninitiated is another matter and a separate subject outside the scope of this or any other article I may pen.
By far the biggest of Edwards Creditors was the government and it was to be expected that they may well prove to be the purchaser of Chikurubi, which came to pass with the exception of a small separate-titled portion. This latter was knocked down to and both sales confirmed by the three Woods to the Government for the farm and King Foo Tommee, for the small section. Tomme was the proprietor of The Golden Dragon Restaurant on the ground floor of Trafalgar Court which, as I have mentioned, several years later became my final Rooms.
This is how, sometime thereafter, Chikurubi Farm became part of the Rhodesian and now Zimbabwe Prison Services facilities. For anyone further interested I can only suggest you use Google Earth where Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison will be found in the NW of the original farm. It is a staggering enterprise that I cannot expand upon because after the auction I never had reason to re-visit Chikurubi.
This then is how Chikurubi Prison came into being. In another tale I shall outline some of the ramifications of this story.
Many thanks to Syd for sharing some of his memories with us.
Contact Sought.
I have been asked by a reader, also an ex Riverside student for contact details for 'Sebokolod'. I unfortunately don't know who Sebokolod is as the name would seem a pseudonym. Many articles on ORAFs have been submitted by Sebokolod.
If you are able to assist, kindly write to me at
ora...@gmail.com Many thanks.
Reminders from Our Rhodesian Past- Doomps Addams.
Following our Reminder of 07th February, 1976 of the Opening of Addams Barracks - See http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=526674&comments=1) Terry Leaver forwarded the following comment and photograph - Followed the links on the ORAFS page of today, and loved looking at the entry commemorating the opening of Addams Barracks. I served at Addams Barracks with 6(Indep) and 3RAR.
We were very fortunate to welcome Doomps’s Son, as a National Serviceman during this time, and I took the attached Photo which I am sure the family would love to see ( if they haven’t already seen it ! )
Thank you Terry - The family forwarded a photo of a painting they have of Doomps which I have added to this story.
ORAFs has included the report given on Doomps in the RoH -
'Killed by a terrorist hiding in a tree when deployed with Major Peter Burfords, B Coy, 1st Bn RAR near Madziwa during Op. Hurricane. Doomps was a farmer from Odzi.
Addams Barracks, the original home of both 5th and 6th (Indep) Coys were named after him. Later in 1979, the barracks became the home to 3RAR.'
Many thanks to Terry.
Ye Olde Restaurants and Hotels of Harare.
Richard Graydon forwards an article that has been around for a while but maybe some have yet to have read.
The once much-loved George Hotel Avondale closed January 4, 2011: sold to Multi-Choice as new HQ. A planned valedictory meal in the grotesquely named Freckle and Phart pub, or depressing dining room, reminiscent of railway architecture circa 1946, aborted as it was semi-gutted well before closure.
Previously Charleston Hotel (ex-KamfinsaPark) also shut: "Due to ever rising rent hikes," I heard. Both places underwent major changes in clientele, facilities, ambience, even cleanliness but are fondly remembered for special functions. The George, especially, for wedding receptions.
Since independence Harare lost the popular Windsor Hotel on Baker (Nelson Mandela) Avenue. It housed the Colony, where Edwin and Rachelle played twin pianos to international cabaret standards to discerning diners in formal finery. Lincoln Room had fantastic value for money food in luxurious surroundings. It closed late November 1980 when set three-course lunch, featuring baron of beef rolled to the table, carved to order was $1,50.
1890 was the cocktail bar. Popular with lunchtime philanderers, it shut 2:30 sharp, when top-up topers moved next door to Branch Office (ex-Blue Room) opening 10:30 to 10:30. Some heroic boozers returned to 1890, which shut at 11:30. Egg and I was in the same building, as was Lion's Den:
The day the Windsor closed (earlier than announced to avoid vandalism seen at Meikles' Long Bar by "souvenir hunters") beer was 38c; bar lunch 35c.
Opposite was a complex housing the raucous Round Bar and Le Coq d'Or where little French was heard. The building was owned by an American religious sect which left the country at UDI.
Premises were banned from selling drink or tobacco; dancing was proscribed. For years they thought it was a library!
Picture the indignation when they found the country's most bawdy, boozy, bare-knuckled, bra-less nightlife had flourished there for years! Playboy was nearby, as was La Boheme: nothing to do with opera, it offered strippers of often venerable years and was a target of an inexpertly thrown grenade during the troubled times.
Three major Chinese outlets closed after 1980: Golden Dragon, a hang out of pre-independence Ministry of Information people, the bar a favorite with international journalists; Bamboo Inn with dark, dingy but somehow appealing pub run by an Irishman called (of course) Paddy. Mandarin had no bar, but hacks and hackettes gathered round a service hatch as if in a Fleet Street club.
Down the way Pink Panther! Run by two aged sisters from the Caucasus, they served delicious kebabs at the original site, later Linquenda House. One also owned the Georgian Grill.
PP later became Alfredo's then Front Page: restaurants with lively pubs, gregarious regulars, liberal hours. The "Page" owners: a blonde and a brunette belonged in international glamour magazines.
Pino's in Union (Kwame Nkrumah) was arguably the best seafood joint around, but gained notoriety when someone complained and the ebullient eponymous Portuguese proprietor whacked him over the pip with a flamb pan.
Bombay Duck between Jameson (Samora Machel) and Central was run, improbably, by ex-BSAP troopie, Tug Wilson; it served iridescent curries all hours for next to nothing.
At Msasa, Red Lantern, run by S-W African (Namibian) Germans specialized in eisbein, knackwurst and bratwurst I can still smell and taste. Beverly Rocks was an hospitable hostel : good food, great music, lovely gardens (now a government training centre.) Going east, the old Jamaica Inn was run by various characters including an ex-Federal hangman and Commonwealth boxing gold medal winner. Good stop there on the way to or from Three Monkeys Marandellas (Marondera) for lunch. (Now a religious institute.)
Glen Lorne's local was the festive Highlands Park , run by ex-Kenya big game hunter Toby Royston. Great dinner dances, lovely Sunday lunches, cream teas in the garden. Spaniards, Marlborough (ex-Quorn) served incredibly good food, except soup: always watery, insipid and costly.
There's not been another Harare establishment like Sandro's. Starting as a private club, it retained clubland ambience till the end. Five star cooking or basic bar lunch, often polished cabarets; journalists and businessmen rubbed shoulders with cabinet ministers. Sardinian Sandro also ran Eros: fine Mediterranean food and friendly bar and Sandrock's, for back-packers.
Close by was Taco's with usually picaresque punters pinting.
BB House has recently been rebuilt; Ramambo Lodge was there. Never my Favorite, tourists liked its rustic furniture, Shona sculpture, marimbas, game meat. I preferred a previous operation: Flanagan's with foot-stomping trad jazz Saturday lunches (Bob Gilmour and the Bobcats.) Fish and chips, tripe and onions, steak egg and chips, curry and rice 75c. Covered Waggon/Homestead served scrumptious salads: a favourite with females, when ladies who lunch lunched in town!
I played dominos in The Chalet as a suitcase bomb exploded at Woolworths nearby with many fatalities (the mother of my children was due to be there.) Regulars helped survivors. (Barbours was the real target.) On more pacific Chalet days, great juicy joints were trundled in at lunch; patrons sliced their own for 50c with pickles, mustard, horseradish, chips and rolls. The city's best pies were served in a motor sport-theme cocktail bar. There was a civilized snooker room (not a crummy pool hall.) It became a motor parts store, then a Spar.
Tipperary's on Fife Avenue, came and went unlamented, as did the adjoining Khyber Pass; Cassidy's, Glenara, had fleeting popularity; now a car showroom. Park Lane (now GMB HQ) the Kiya Nyama steakhouse there unrivaled outside Bulawayo . Howff, Chisipite, a Scottish theme pub/restaurant with super sing-along nights, memorably good prawn specials. In the same suburb, Sports Bar enjoyed a brief dedicated following, earning no stars from moi, unmourned when shutters fell as Innscor concentrated on "core" business.
Clovagalix, Fife, caught fire once too often, becoming Cafe Med, Borrowdale.
Caruso's 4th/Samora was a great Chips d'Oliviera club-cum Portuguese pub/restaurant. As Vila Peri it moved to 3rd/Baines where the usually grubby Pointe is now. Next door was Fat Mama's, previously Spago's. Now Mama Mia's it thrives at Newlands.
The Cellar, Marimba Park was tops with journos and the printing trade, serving wonderful whisky prawns, real rosti; upstairs bar often seemed the centre of the universe. Kamfinsa's Bizarre Bar (later IT, previously Buster's, The Cockpit, etc) was hugely popular with yuppies, briefly with buppies; once a license to print money. New owners cut corners. Now it's a swimming pool sundries shop.
Meikles closed Mirabelle, The Causerie, Flagstaff and Captain's Cabin; Bagatelle, there, and La Chandelle, The Sheraton's fine French restaurant no longer routinely open; Aviator's Arms is shut to non-residents. Monomotapa lost 1001 Horsemen and Bali Hai, but gained La Francais from Avondale.
When everywhere else closed, you could get ABFs at Al's Place The Kopje.
Probably unlicensed: whether you ordered whisky, brandy or rum it came from one bottle; gin, cane, vodka, white rum another. High Chaparral (ex-Nick's Bar), Avondale opened all hours : a good greasy spoon where coffee and steak rolls helped avoid the worst "mornings after." Especially after Le Matelot (ex-Lighthouse), opposite where I squirmed as West End stage stars died a death. Aphrodite, Strathaven, was a superb Greek restaurant; Demi's near State Lotteries closed due to commuter omnibuses' anarchistic parking. Up the street, Copacabana served wonderful Portuguese food, having previously been a great Chinese (White Lotus?) Himalaya , nearby, did colossal searing noon curries at minimal cost but was avoided after dusk.
Variously Rosedale's, Rose Bowl and Rose & Crown the Hatfield outlet was a superb Sunday lunch venue with live entertainment. One of the best seafood platters I've eaten here was at Kentucky, also Hatfield.
On a positive note there's a flurry of recently opened ethnic restaurants, tea, coffee shops and lodges; Jameson's Tiffany's re-opened after many years. Sadly, few seem to have the character or characters in which the closed establishments were so rich, but time will tell.
Written by an unknown Harare Journalist -
Corporal Owen Gregg's WW2 Photographs Part 1.
Cpl. Owen Gregg 776420 was a member of the Ground Crew of the famous 237(Rhodesia) Squadron in East Africa in the 1940s, and made a wonderful
photographic record of the men at work and at play, and the aircraft in their care. The photographs are now in the possession of his son, Allan Gregg, who has kindly allowed them to be used by ORAFs. We will publish a selection at intervals, consisting mainly of the aircraft, but also some recording the daily life of the men.
The road convoy North from Rhodesia to Juba in the Sudan. Photo courtesy the Allan Gregg Collection.
At Juba they transferred to Nile Steamers on the White Nile, for the onward voyage to Khartoum. Photo courtesy the Allan Gregg Collection.
Westland Lysander 11 at Khartoum. Photo courtesy the Allan Gregg Collection.
Short Nose Blenheim of 223 Squadron. Photo courtesy of the Allan Gregg Collection.
Many thanks to Lewis Walter for making this article possible for ORAFs readers to share in viewing this private collection. Also many thanks to Allan Gregg for his permission as well.
Lewis Walter also extends thanks to Peter Huson, Mitch Stirling and Nick Baalbergen for identifications and information.
The Pebble and the Tyrant by John Mussell.
Not many people can resist the childhood compulsion to collect pebbles. Some of us are foolish enough to retain the habit into advanced age. The untilled area in our garden is surfaced with “chuckies”, among which are a good number of pebbles collected from various beaches. A couple of these stones, I am ashamed to say, were taken illegally from Chesil Beach in the UK, a World Heritage site. Dare I claim justification for this wicked act considering that during previous centuries over a million tonnes of these pebbles were removed for industrial purposes? Even so, it is estimated that 180 billion of these little oval stones remain in a strip 29 km long, 200m wide and 10m deep. At a visitor rate of a million per annum with each person taking one pebble, it would take 180,000 years to deplete the stock.
This story links a unique pebble with a particular tyrant. First the pebble—my pebble—which I deem to be the only known one of its kind—is as rare, for instance, as the 3,000 carat Cullinan diamond, but not quite as valuable. The second of the pair is the so-called tyrant whose name has recently been vilified and his monument desecrated in Cape Town, namely Cecil John Rhodes.
The pebble is better described as a rough four-centimetre chip of concrete that was picked up by me while walking across Jameson (Samora Machel) Avenue in 1980 on leaving the office in Milton Building.
On reaching the street, I was horrified to see people with sledge hammers and other demolition equipment in the act of removing Rhodes’s statue, and breaking up the high plinth on which it stood. The road having been closed to traffic was strewn with smashed concrete. Picking my way through the rubble, I noticed a pocketable piece. My heart said, “Take a souvenir of this historic event.” My mind said, “Careful mate, there’s new politics here.”
The heart won. Glancing furtively for adverse reaction and detecting none, I picked it up and have hung on to it ever since.
As for the man, a bucketful of negative information has been dominating world media with more than words filling the bucket. For all his faults, however, surely history must eventually lean more towards favour than disfavour. There’s no need to dwell on his record here; it’s all been said before as in a quote from Shakespeare where Anthony says at Caesar’s burial, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”
Historically Rhodes stands alone. As a political and business leader, he gave his energies to the realization of his dream of a railway from Cape to Cairo and made bequests of his assets to the educational, commercial and industrial development of the region that provide ongoing benefit to this day. If there is a need to look for a tyrant in the accepted sense of the word, Cecil Rhodes is an unlikely candidate. The label may be more fittingly applied to some of the leading twenty-first century politicians of southern Africa.
Should the students of Cape Town University wish to claim first shot at tipping Cecil Rhodes off his pedestal, they might be reminded that employees of the City of Harare beat them to it by thirty five years when they removed him from his place of honour in Jameson Avenue. Ninety years earlier than that, it was achieved—at least metaphorically—by railway engineer Arthur Lawley when he chose to engage in verbal fisticuffs with that tough, impatient man, thus confirming that Rhodes bashing is not a recent phenomenon. The incident is related in a book by Lawley’s fellow contractor, George Pauling, writing of the days when railway lines were being laid at the rate of a mile a day—the four hundred miles from Mafeking to Bulawayo having been put down in four hundred days:
“In view of my many associations with Mr Rhodes it might seem churlish to attempt any serious criticism of his character. While recognizing his many great qualities, which history will endorse, I cannot refrain from suggesting that, probably in common with all other great personalities, he had his weaknesses. He was particularly susceptible to the plaudits of the public, which made him bumptious; and at times he seemed utterly heartless. But no criticism, however much it may be justified, can challenge his right to the title of “Colossus,” so far as the development of South Africa is concerned. As indicative of the peculiarities of great men I prefer to limit my observations to a more or less amusing incident which came within my own knowledge.
Whenever Mr. Rhodes became excited or intensely interested in anything he was apt to talk in a peculiarly high-pitched voice. On the occasion of his first meeting with Lawley, which occurred during the building of the railway from Beira to Umtali, the (stage)coach which conveyed Mr. Rhodes and his party, including Dr. Jameson, from Rhodesia arrived about three days later than had been expected, and whether the delay had affected the temper of Mr. Rhodes I cannot say, but, without warning, he proceeded to swear and to abuse Lawley in the presence of the whole railway camp, until by a gradual crescendo of unparliamentary language he reached his high falsetto tone. Lawley, who is usually able to provide a quid pro quo when it is a question of language, realizing that, without any apparent reason, he was being stultified in the eyes of his subordinates, invited Mr. Rhodes to say who the h— he thought he was, and told him, in a flood of railway vernacular, that there was no necessity for him to squeal like a damned rabbit. Mr. Rhodes, obviously astonished at Lawley’s unexpected daring, walked off to a neighbouring clump of trees. Lawley, acting on the instructions which had been telegraphed to him, gave orders for the luggage from the coach to be put on the waiting train, and then notified all concerned that the train would leave in five minutes, and that all those who were not aboard within that time could reach their destinations as they chose. Mr. Rhodes entered the train just at the last moment – so much so that his carriage door was not closed when it moved off. On the journey a stoppage was made take in water and Mr. Rhodes sent Dr. Jameson to Lawley with an invitation to join him in his compartment. Lawley did so, and Mr. Rhodes, who had calmed down, resumed his natural method of speech, expressed his deep regret at the occurrence, and asked Lawley to shake hands with him.
From that day Mr. Rhodes and Lawley remained the best of friends. During his periodic visits to the railways, Mr. Rhodes invariably accepted Lawley’s hospitality which was on several occasions reciprocated at Groot Schuur.”
Extract from: The Chronicles of a Contractor by George Pauling, with acknowledgement to the Rhodesiana Reprint Library Vol. 4, Books of Rhodesia, Bulawayo 1969.
Thanks John. It would seem there are a few unworthy recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship fund. I am still wondering why if hated so much did one apply for a Rhodes Scholarship? That in itself speaks volumes. One also has to remember that there are many recipients of this scholarship that have gone on and done great things and who have also appreciated Rhodes for enabling them to further their studies.
Many thanks to all who wrote in and assisted with the articles for this weeks Newsletter, as always it is much appreciated. ORAFs wishes to thank all producers/owners for any materials used in this NL. No monetary gain is obtained nor intended through the use of materials.
A reminder to those that "borrow" - kindly ensure that you give credit to the owner of the materials and ORAFs. A lot of work goes into preparing photos in particular and many of these are from private collections and it is only respectful to these families that they be acknowledged. Thank you.
First Friday evening of each month.
Contact Johnny Ness and or Tony Cowell for details AFA (Gauteng) Monthly Prayer MeetingFirst Saturday afternoon of the month at Dickie Fritz Shellhole.
Contact Cheryl Grover for details
First Friday evening of each month.
Contact Neville Mare (RhAF) for details
Fruit of the week - Monkey Bread. Piliostigma thonningii. Family; Caesalpiniaceae.
Shona: mutukutu, musekesa. Ndebele; ihababo.
This tree grows to a height of 6 - 9 m. Bark; brownish-grey. Flowers: white with crinkled petals.
Fruit: large brown pod which does not open. The pulp round the seed is edible and the fruits are eaten by cattle. This tree is common in the Highveld woodland. Africans use the roots for medicinal and magical purposes.
Comments are always welcome, send them to ora...@gmail.com