Friday 6 January 1871

DIED of bronchitis on Sunday 1 January, Mr. Edwin Albert LLOYD, aged 27 years and 7 months. Much regretted by all who knew him.

DIED at his residence, Allen, at noon on Sunday the 25th December 1870, after a long and most painful illness, William Frederick LIDDLE Esq, late Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate of the Division of Victoria East; aged 48 years and 10 days. Deeply regretted.

Monday 9 January 1871

DIED at Uitenhage, January 8th 1871, after a long and painful illness, Elizabeth, the much beloved wife of Mr. JONES Senr. of Port Elizabeth.

Wednesday 11 January 1871

MARRIED on Saturday 7th January at Trinity Church, Grahamstown, James B. BROWN Esq, Bloemfontein, to Jessie Marjory, third daughter of James BLACK Esq.

Monday 16 January 1871

DIED in Grahamstown on the 14th January 1871, George Wood, beloved child of Jonathan and Susannah AYLIFF, aged 2 years and 4 days.

Warrant of Apprehension
Richard Keats Henry D’ARCY Esquire, Justice of the Peace for the District of Aliwal North
To the Fieldcornets, Constables, Police Officers and other Officers of the Law proper to the execution of Criminal Warrants
Whereas upon information taken upon oath before me, there are reasonable grounds of suspicion against William DOUGLAS, a 2nd Class Private in the Frontier Armed Mounted Police Force, that he did on or about the 3rd day of January 1871 commit the crime of deserting from the said Force with intent not to return again.
These are, therefore, in Her Majesty’s name, to command you that immediately upon sight thereof you do apprehend and bring the said William DOUGLAS, or cause him to be apprehended and brought before the nearest Magistrate to be examined and answer to the said information, and to be further dealt with according to Law.
Given under my hand at Aliwal North this 5th day of January 1871
R.K.H. D’ARCY
Justice of the Peace
Description of DOUGLAS
An Englishman about 26 years of age; height about 5 ft 8 in; rather stout; round full face with light whiskers; walks in a slouching or slovenly manner; had with him his revolver (Hayton, Grahamstown, maker); he also took his troop horse, a chestnut about 15 hands high, with white blaze. DOUGLAS is supposed to have gone in the direction of the Diamond-fields.

Monday 23 January 1871

MARRIED on January 19th 1871 at King Williamstown by the Rev Z.Y. Rowe, Chaplain to Her Majesty’s Forces, Edgcumbe CORNISH to Elizabeth Maud, youngest daughter of Edward DRIVER Esq of Fort Peddie.

Friday 27 January 1871

Notice
The Funeral of the late Mr. Wm. R. THOMPSON will move from his residence in High-street tomorrow afternoon at half past there o’clock precisely. Friends are respectfully invited to attend.
Grahamstown
27th January 1871

FOUND DEAD near Freemantle, Western Australia, Captain David WATSON, formerly of the brig Layard, robbed and supposed to have been murdered.

DROWNED on Saturday 21st January 1871 at the Bethulie Drift, Orange River, William L. WILLIAMS; aged 22 years. The deceased was a native of Conway, Wales, formerly of Liverpool.

DIED at his residence in High-street, on Wednesday the 25th inst, William Roland THOMPSON Esq, in the 75th year of his age.

IN MEMORIAM
The Colony has to deplore the loss by death within the last few days of two men who may justly be ranked among the most enterprising and intelligent of its members. Information had only just reached Grahamstown of the death of the Hon. John BARRY, when it was announced that the lung illness of Mr. W.R. THOMPSON, of this city, had terminated fatally; and we may safely say that wherever this sad tidings reached, it was heard with unfeigned sorrow. Mr. THOMPSON was, we believe, the oldest resident of Grahamstown, as well as one of the most enterprising commercial men that has ever settled in this district. It is said, and we believe with truth, that the deceased exported to the Home market the first bale of manufacturing wool ever sent from the Eastern Province, while for many subsequent years he was noted as among the most active promoters of wool-growing, as well as one of its most liberal purchasers. As a public man, as well as an active merchant, Mr. THOMPSON was ever distinguished for his thorough independence and for the liberality of his political principles. Though too much engaged in extensive mercantile transactions to fill public positions, he was ever ready until towards the decline of life, to stand forward as the advocate of everything promotive of the public interest. In this respect he was second to none, either in zeal or ability. Having a thorough knowledge of this country, and an equal acquaintance with commercial affairs in general, his opinions were always regarded with respect and listened to with appreciative deference. Family trials, which are too sacred to be intruded on public notice, bowed down the energetic man in his last days, confining him almost entirely in the privacy of his private residence, well known for the fine specimens of the Kafir boom which, at the top of the High-street, soften and ornament the front of it. As a most affectionate parent, as a valuable friend, as an enterprising merchant, and as a useful and consistent citizen, the name of William Roland THOMPSON will stand enrolled amongst those who deserve well of their country – of one who laboured zealously to establish Grahamstown and to advance the interests of the colony.
Of John BARRY it may be honestly said that in his death the colony has also lost one of its most valued members. He was a thorough representative man, whether regarded under the aspect of Commerce or of Politics. Few men, if any, in the country had more extensive commercial transactions than the deceased and still fewer have enjoyed more fully the general confidence, or whose character have inspired more universal respect. As a member of the Legislative Council he was esteemed not more for his frank, genuine cordiality than for the unassuming consistent manner in which he gave expression to and maintained his public [obscured]. It will not be easy to replace him in the Council Chamber, nor will his name be ever mentioned there but with affection and respect. We do not venture to say all that personal esteem prompts us to utter in reference to the deceased, nor is it necessary, as the tribute we take over today from the Argus is so full (with small exception which we need not here specify) in such entire accord with our own feelings that were we to say more it would only be to utter in inferior terms what is there stated. We shall only repeat therefore that in the death of John BARRY and William Roland THOMPSON the Colony has to deplore the loss of two of its most valuable and distinguished members.

The Late John BARRY
The following is from the Argus of the 21st inst. It is lengthy, but concurring as we do in the sentiment so well expressed, we cannot permit ourselves to abridge it in any particular. It is a true and deserved tribute to one of the most estimable men with whom it has been our fortune to be associated in public life, and whose death cannot be regarded otherwise than as a loss to the whole Colony.
The Hon John BARRY dead! Such was the startling and sad intelligence which greeted the inhabitants of the city yesterday morning, and found its way at an early hour to the suburbs. Those who heard the rumour at a distance thought there must be some mistake. It was known that Mr. BARRY was seriously ill, but such a sudden termination of his sickness was quite unexpected. As train and tram reached town, however, flags half-mast high at several of the merchants’ stores only too certainly confirmed the intelligence.
It was a real blow to everybody. Who was there in town and country to whom John BARRY’s kindly greeting and gentle smile were not thrice welcome? We know of none. A more courteous, kindly gentleman never stepped. We have had to do with Mr. BARRY in many capacities, and in all he has shown the same kindly consideration for the feelings of others – the same generous courtesy. He had decided views upon most questions, but he never uttered an ungentlemanly word to a political opponent, or allowed bitter expletive to escape his lips. It seems sad to think of missing a face that never looked angry or harsh even when political or social contests were at fever heat.
It is scarcely right of us to speak of irreparable losses, for society has resources unrevealed until a stress is put upon them. We will not say, then, that Mr. BARRY’s place as a citizen, a merchant and a politician cannot be filled; but we may say it would be difficult to name a citizen of Capetown who will be more missed. He occupied with marked ability and efficiency so many spheres that it would be hard to say who could quite fill his place in either.
As the head of one of the largest mercantile firms in the Western province he was looked up to as one of the mainstays of a business extending its ramifications throughout all the country. We have often been told, and we can well believe it, that his judgement in business matters was singularly well balanced and sound. With a good deal of enterprise and a full knowledge of the demands upon a business house in these days of sharp competition, he yet possessed a large amount of caution and prudence. If we may use the word, he had to steer a business of great extent, and covering many interests, through one of the most critical times in the history of the Colony; and right well and successfully he performed the task. More than this it does not behove us to say of Mr. BARRY as a member of the firm which bears his name, but we may remark that his commercial knowledge was great and varied. Few men had a more extensive acquaintance with the endless ramifications of business life, or took more pains to keep pace with their latest developments. His judgement on questions of commercial policy was always well informed and sensible. We can say so confidently, as having had many opportunities of testing it. With few men was it more worth while to converse on any question affecting the commercial policy of the Empire.
As Mr. BARRY succeeded to the late Mr. Joseph BARRY in the management of the Capetown branch of the business, he took his place, though not immediately, in the hall of the Legislative Council. His presence there was a matter of congratulation to his friends and the public generally. It was felt to be fitting that one of the largest firms in the Province should continue to be represented in Parliament. The name of BARRY had been associated with representative institutions in the colony from the time they had a being, and no-one desired to see the connection severed. Mr. Joseph BARRY was a member of the first Legislative Council, and Mr. John BARRY of the first House of Assembly.
The selection of Mr. BARRY as one of the members for the Province when the Council was enlarged was more than justified by his political career. He spoke but seldom, and with no pretension to oratorical effect; but no member at the Council was listened to with more respect; and the judgement of none, particularly on questions with which he was familiar, had more weight with the House. It will be remembered that his habitual courtesy and gentlemanly bearing never failed him in the warmest debate. We can well remember how firmly but patiently during the currency discussion he maintained his position when our eager and impetuous Attorney-General was keeping up a running fire of good-natured but teasing [obscured] almost in his ear.
To us it is much that the Hon Mr. BARRY was a consistent, thorough-going politician. He never swerved from the Liberal principles he openly and manfully avowed at the time of his election. A thorough colonist in every sense of the word, he was one of the most hearty believers in free political life and in its full development who has ever taken his seat in Parliament. He held stronger and more uncompromising views on the question of Responsible Government than, perhaps, any member of the Liberal party. Cape Conservatism, he often said in the hearing of the writer, was ruin to the best interests of the country. It meant an indifferent Government and a community of languishing interests. We allude to this, not for the sake of associating party feeling with a public tribute to the sterling work of Mr. BARRY, in which all parties would desire to unite, but to show the heartiness of his convictions and his thorough faith in the political future of the colony. Liberals and Conservatives will alike respect a fidelity to political conviction, associated as it was with unfailing courtesy and respect for the opinion of others.
Without craving notoriety, Mr. BARRY was thoroughly at home in public life, or perhaps we should say, semi-public life. He readily joined any movement which he considered would be for the benefit of the community, and contributed generously to its support. He was one of that small class who refused to shirk any responsibility which the needs of their fellow men placed upon them. We may repeat the last words the write of this notice heard him speak in this world, as illustrating the genial spirit in which he worked with others. Turning to a friend at a committee meeting, held recently, he said “What! you here? – good! I hope we shall find ourselves shoulder to shoulder in many a good work yet!” This little speech, so characteristic of the ready, genial spirit of the deceased, was not prophetic. He was soon called to surrender the burdens, social and other, that he had taken up. But he had for years past worked “shoulder to shoulder” with his friends in many a good cause; and his fellow workmen will miss, more than they can say, his many, hearty computation.
It is not for us to enter a narrower circle and describe what Mr. BARRY was in his home and as a friend. Suffice it to say that he was loved most by those who knew him best. One of his closest friends remarked yesterday morning “John BARRY was an openhearted, noble minded man, appreciated most of all by the members of his family and his closest friends.” With [words] genuine and hearty as we know them to have been, and with the real sympathy with those who have been unexpectedly bereaved of a relative and counsellor, we may well close this brief notice.
Mr. BARRY’s career was singularly successful, as is well known to most of the colonists. He was born on the 4th March 1807, in the City of London. He came to the Colony in 1822, having lived several years previously at Brussels. In 1833 he was married to the daughter of Daniel Van REENEN of the Brewery, Newlands. Soon after arrival in the Cape he joined the late Joseph BARRY in business, when the firm of BARRY & Nephews originated.
His political career was equally well known. He was returned for Swellendam as a member of the Assembly in the first Parliament, and afterwards to the Council for the Western Province, which position he retained with honour to himself and advantage to the Colony until his death.

Wednesday 1 January 1871 [sic – should be dated 1 February]

DIED in London, Elizabeth, wife of the late William Hudder EVENS of Plymouth and mother of Mrs. Jane STYLES: aged 91 years
Grahamstown, January 31st 1871.

Friday 3 February 1871

MARRIED at Commemoration Chapel by the Rev G.H. Green, on Tuesday 31st January, Jonathan Burnham WAKEFORD, of Lesseyton, second son of Thomas WAKEFORD Esq of Bowden Ville, District of Queenstown, to Matilda Anne EDKINS, eldest daughter of John EDKINS Esq of this City.

DIED on the 14th January at Cawood’s Hope, Diamond-fields, Elijah HOLGATE, late Color-Sergeant Cape Mounted Rifles, and second son of Mr. Joseph HOLGATE, Port Natal. Friends at a distance please accept this notice.

DIED in London, Elizabeth, wife of the late William Hudder EVENS, of Plymouth, and mother of Mrs Jane STYLES; aged 91 years.
Grahamstown
January 31st 1871

DEATH OF MR. A. STRECKER
(From the Natal Mercury of Jan 17)
The following extract from a private letter refers to the untimely death of Mr. A. STRECKER, who was formerly connected with our printing office, and whose interesting contributions as a correspondent have often appeared in our columns:-
Potchefstroom, Jan 4 1871
By last post, from Mr. F, you will have learned the deep anxiety felt by Mrs. S, and all her friends here, in consequence of a report that your brother, Mr. Alexander STRECKER, whilst bathing in the Vaal River, had been drowned opposite the Hebron diamond-fields.
As far as can be ascertained to the present, it would appear that the previous day he arranged (with some gentlemen belonging to this town) to go down the next morning to the Post Office (he with a letter to post for Mrs. S) These gentlemen, not arriving as early as he had expected them, he it seems determined first to go and have a swim in the Vaal River (along the banks of which the diamond-fields are situated for hundreds of miles).
I must here remark that for the last six weeks we have had very heavy rains, usual at this season, and which generally fill our rivers to overflowing; the Vaal River is the principal one in this territory, being the Southern boundary between this State and the Orange Free State, and as so many large streams flow into it, it becomes, when overflowing, an almost raging sea or maelstroom. Another peculiarity must also be noticed: this extreme downpour of rain gradually breaks off from 30 to 40 miles westward from here, until it becomes a dry and arid climate in the Bastard lands, Kalahari desert &c, down to the west coast; consequently, although the rivers rush down, the residents there don’t see the rain. The diamond-fields are about 250 miles westward, consequently infinitely drier.
It would appear that when your brother went into the river it was at usual low depth; that shortly after he had been in, the river suddenly increased, and with such force as to carry him away at once to some great distance, and he must have struggled manfully against the overwhelming stream, as it appears it was three-quarters of an hour on foot from where he went in to the spot where he was last seen. Every exertion was made by those who witnessed the sad event to aid him, but fruitlessly, and to try and recover the body, which by last accounts had been done, and as Mr. A., Mr. F.’s partner, was on the spot, every attention would be paid to his remains, and they would be properly and affectionately interred.”

Monday 6 February 1871

The death at Stellenbosch of P.B. BORCHERDS Esq, late C.C. and R.M. of Capetown, is announced in the Cape papers. The deceased gentleman was 84 years of age.

Wednesday 8 February 1871

PEDDIE LICENCES
Return of Licences issued from the Stamp Office of Peddie during the month of January 1871:-
Wholesale Dealers’ Licences (£4):
Mrs. Sidney SMITH, Peddie; Frederick C. WEBB, Peddie.
Butchers’ Licences (£3:15s):
John PETRY, Peddie; Aaron C. BENNETT, Peddie.
Baker’s Licence (£3:15s):
Aaron C BENNETT, Peddie.
Apothecary’s Licence (£3):
Ferdinand A. PAUL M.D., Peddie.
Licence to Sell Gunpowder (£3):
Frederick C. WEBB, Peddie.
Hawker’s Licence to Travel with Only One Vehicle (£1:10s):
Hermann LUDWIG
Retail Shop Licences (£1:10s):
John PETRY, Peddie; Alfred SOLE, Peddie; Christoff KNBU, Bell; Heinrich HONZE, Bell; Ann PIKE, Doorn Kloof; Phillip POWELL, Falloden; Mrs. Sidney SMITH, Gulana; Mrs. Sidney SMITH, Newtondale; Charles KIDD, Newtondale; Robert Jones, Newtondale; Simon PEVERETT, Kennelworth; John McAULIFF, Southey’s Poort; Harriott DARLING, Buck Kraal; Frederick C. WEBB, Goxa; Charles KENT, Farm No. 683; Robert JONES, Gweabula; William HOCKEY, The Thorns; Mary WATSON, Breakfast Vley.
Game Licences (7s6d) for the Season:
Harry PAGE, Jan CAREL, a Kafir.
These Licences will expire on the 31st December 1871.
Holt OKES
Distributor of Stamps
Stamp Office, Peddie
31st January 1871.

Friday 10 February 1871

Notice to Creditors
In the Insolvent Estate of WILLOWS & ELSE
All Persons claiming to be Creditors under this Estate are required to take notice that the undersigned has been duly elected to, and confirmed in, the appointment of Sole Trustee of the said Estate, and that the Master has appointed the Third Meeting to be held before the Resident Magistrate of Grahamstown, on Wednesday the 1st March next, at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, for the proof of Debts, for receiving the Trustee’s Report, and also for the purpose of giving directions to the said Trustees as to the management of the said Estate; and all Persons indebted to the said Estate are required to pay the same to the undersigned on or before the above date, or proceedings will be instituted against them.
Thos. HOLLAND, Sole Trustee
Grahamstown, 26th January 1871

Notice to Creditors
In the Insolvent Estate of James WEATHERHEAD
All Persons claiming to be Creditors under this Estate are required to take notice that the undersigned has been duly elected to, and confirmed in, the appointment of Sole Trustee of the said Estate, and that the Master has appointed the Third Meeting to be held before the Resident Magistrate of Grahamstown, on Wednesday the 1st March next, at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, for the proof of Debts, for receiving the Trustee’s Report, and also for the purpose of giving directions to the said Trustees as to the management of the said Estate; and all Persons indebted to the said Estate are required to pay the same to the undersigned on or before the above date, or proceedings will be instituted against them.
Thos. HOLLAND, Sole Trustee
Grahamstown, 26th January 1871

Monday 13 February 1871

DIED at Capetown on the morning of 9th February 1871, after a short illness of four days, from dysentery, May, the wife of J. IRONMONGER, long resident in this City, and only left here on the 6th ult.

DIED at Quaggas Flats, Division of Alexandria, on Monday 6th February 1871, the Widow Susanna Elizabeth HOLTSHAUSEN, aged 83 years.

It is with no ordinary sorrow we chronicle today the death of another Cape worthy. We refer to the Rev. Alexander HAY, who died early this morning, after a protracted illness, the chief symptoms being, we are told, disease of the heart and softening of the brain. The deceased was a native of Aberdeen, but was educated for the ministry in the Baptist College at Bristol. He was invited, and accepted the call, to come to this country in 1845, since which date he has resided in this city, as Pastor of the Baptist congregation in Hill-street, the edifice in which they worshipped being known as Ebenezer Chapel. Mr. HAY, though notable for his quiet, unobtrusive deportment, was remarkable nevertheless for his sturdy independence and his outspoken utterances on every fitting occasion. As a Christian minister, and as a citizen, his deportment was alike unimpeachable. He was an able preacher of the Gospel, and an unflinching foe to everything in the shape of Ritualistic intolerance, or interference in any way with the free exercise of religious or civil liberty. Both as a Christian minister and as a man, he was held in deserved estimation. He has left a widow and seven children, two of whom are in England, - one, his eldest son, studying for the ministry. It need scarcely be added that the death of the Rev Alexander HAY is felt as an irreparable loss by his family; and by the Community in which he had so long dwelt. He was a good man, and it is consolatory to know that “The memory of the just is blessed”. He was in the 68th year of his age.

Wednesday 15 February 1871

DIED on the 13th inst, the Revd. Alexander HAY, for nearly 27 years Pastor of the Baptist Church in this City, aged 68.
Grahamstown, 13th Feb 1871.

Friday 17 February 1871

BIRTH at Grahamstown on the 15th February, the wife of Mr. H. WEBB, Stemkamps Flat, of a son.

Monday 20 February 1871

Notice to Creditors
In the Estate of Henry FULLER, deceased, formerly of the Division of Albany, Farmer.
All Persons having Claims against the above Estate are requested to file the same with the first undersigned within six weeks from this date; and all Claims due to the said Estate must be paid within the same period.
J.J. H. STONE
W.M. FULLER
John FULLER
Executors Testamentary
Grahamstown, 15th Feb 1871

Wednesday 22 February 1871

BIRTH at Grahamstown, February 21st, the wife of Mr. G.G. LOCKE of a daughter.

MARRIED at Commemoration Chapel, February 22nd 1871, by special licence, by the Rev G.H. Green, assisted by Rev W. Sargeant, Thos. LANGFORD Esq JP, of The Retreat, Grahamstown, to Miss Caroline FLOOKS. No cards.

Wednesday 1 March 1871

To the Fieldcornets, Constables, Police Officers and other Officers of the Law, proper to the execution of Criminal Warrants
Whereas information hath been laid before me, C.H. HUNTLEY. Resident Magistrate of Albany, upon the oath of William McCLUCKIE, that William Henry SMITH, a Scotchman, lately in the service of William McCLUCKIE Senr, did, on the 9th day of February, commit the crime of theft.
These are, therefore, in Her Majesty’s name, to command you that immediately upon sight hereof, you do apprehend or bring the said William Henry SMITH, or cause him to be apprehended and brought before me, to be examined and to answer to the said information, and to be further dealt with according to Law.
Given under my hand at Grahamstown, this 13th day of February 1871
C.H. HUNTLEY, Resident Magistrate
William Henry SMITH is a Scotchman, has sandy whiskers, is about 5ft 10ins in height, rather stout and round-shouldered; is about 40 years of age. Had on a tan-coloured cord suit.

To the Fieldcornets, Constables, Police Officers and other Officers of the Law, proper to the execution of Criminal Warrants
Whereas information hath been laid before me, C.H. HUNTLEY. Resident Magistrate of Albany, upon the oath of James GIBSON, that James CAIRNS, a currier in his employ, did, on the 11th day of February, commit the crime of Desertion from Service.
These are, therefore, in Her Majesty’s name, to command you that immediately upon sight hereof, you do apprehend or bring the said James CAIRNS, or cause him to be apprehended and brought before me, to be examined and to answer to the said information, and to be further dealt with according to Law.
Given under my hand at Grahamstown, this 13th day of February 1871
C.H. HUNTLEY, Resident Magistrate

Monday 6 March 1871

Uitenhage
A serious accident happened to Mr. F.H. BRICE on Monday evening, at about 7 o’clock. Mr. BRICE had just purchase a bottle of liquid ammonia, which he carried in his hand; the cork came out with an explosion, and the whole of the contents of the bottle were discharged in Mr. BRICE’s face. He was got home and Dr. DYER was speedily sent for, but it was not for some hours that the pain could be alleviated. The eyes, throat and lungs seemed to suffer most, and for some hours Mr. BRICE was subject to frequent paroxysms of suffocation. He is still confined to his bed, and has not yet been able to use either his eyes or his voice. There is hope, however, that no permanent injury will be the result. – Uitenhage Times.

Friday 10 March 1871

MARRIED on the 1st inst at the D.R. Church, Adelaide, by the Rev P. Davidson, James William GREEN of Balfour to Helena Maria Catherine, second daughter of D. VAN DER MEULEN Esq of Bedford.

Monday 20 March 1871

LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS No.1
Trade, Stores and Stocks
All things at the Diamond Camps are so liable to change that the facts of yesterday are today but memories. Description is cheated by this want of steadfastness. The writer who tells what he sees, feels that tomorrow his narrative will have the air of a falsehood. A week often suffices to produce a revolution, while a month gives time enough for a deluge or a creation. I have before me now a photograph of the Klip Drift and Pniel camps pretty much as they were when I saw them last, six months ago. Then the picture was as true to its original as a photograph can be. Now it is in all important respects, as far as the Camps are concerned, a misrepresentation. The form and fashion of the places have altered, and in nothing so much as in the facts and features of trade. Six months ago there were but two places in Pniel that were worthy of the name of stores. Just at the point where the hill gives way to the sand, Mr. DIXON of Graaf-Reinet had his Red, White and Blue House, so called because its iron walls were painted in alternate breadths of those colours. It was a store of size and well placed for conspicuousness. There it stands in the photograph, lording it over the camp in almost solitary grandeur. It stands still, but Pniel now has, of this kind, lords many. In those early days the only other store of note was Mr. BERLYN’s – a wooden building with canvas tenements and a forest of flagstaffs on which the flags of all nations were hoisted with a most cosmopolitan liberality. Besides these, RADLETT had a tent, CALLAGHAN a shanty, and PARKER a house or salon. Such was commercial Pniel six months ago. Here and there, perhaps, a someone’s wagon showed its wares, but of stores, with anything like a settled habitation, there were not more than half a dozen, and only two of them could boast a shop window. There was not one hotel. The sound of billiards was not to be heard in the Camp. ROTHSCHILD, commonly called “the Baron”, alias the “Diamondiforous Auctioneer” was in all the blushing honours of a first appearance, hammer in hand. There was but one doctor, and he had time to dig. Today all that is changed.
Shortly after entering the Camp, and while yet upon the brow of the hill, the newcomer has on his right hand the lofty wooden store of Mr. James HALL, with its lean-tos and outbuildings, surrounded by a neat stone wall, and immediately opposite, on the left, WHILEY and BRITON’s spacious warehouse – a fine iron structure, of many apartments and departments, including a well-stocked bar. A little further down the hill is a neat building, more like a tasty seaside cottage than a store. This is Mr. MUNDT’s place of business. Next in order is the aforementioned Red, White and Blue House, attached to which is a bakery, also a butchery built of stone, with a thatched roof. A little to the right is the packing case in which the Diamond News is printed and published.
We have now got down to the level of sand, which stretches out from the foot of the hill to the gentle rising ridge where the diamonds are. The business street takes a curve to the west from the Red, White and Blue House, not much, but enough to bend the line. Making our way to the claims, we next pass that multifarious place of business known as JARDINE’s. This is a brick building, roofed with canvas, with a yard fenced in with poles. JARDINE’s is a general store, an hotel, a canteen, a bakery and a place of gossip. I shall have much to say about JARDINE’s in another paper. Immediately opposite this omnium gathering is the store of Mr. MOSS, late of Cradock. Mr. MOSS, with an eye to comfort and snugness in the winter, has backed his shop of iron with a lean-to of brick, fixing in one corner a little fireplace warranted not to smoke. Next to JARDINE’s, on the same side of the street, is the surgery of Dr. HALL, a tent with a fly over it, as cool as a grotto, and as fragrant as a druggist’s shop. On the other side of the way is first DANZIGGER’s miscellaneous and slightly mysterious establishment, looking like a little bit of Monmouth street, a fragment of a marine store, a snatch of an old world fair, and a suspicion of a smuggler’s cave – the whole thing under canvas, some slabs of zinc and the sky. Next door, if one may say next door to such a place, is the wooden store of VON HESS & Co. On, and cheek by jowl with that is “The Harp”, by Patrick KEIGHLY. “The Harp” is an exaggerated wagon tent, with a door and two little windows set in front. “The Harp” has a signboard all ablaze with gold. In the centre is the very harp that once through Tara’s halls – so to speak – charmed Grahamstown; while around and about it is the appropriate motto “All Friends Welcome”. After “The Harp” with a street between them comes Mr. KINLEN’s store, all of wood. Then Mr. CONNOLLY’s store, wood again. Then the store of George SOLOMON, wood again, but having at the back a neat canvas house. Opposite to these is Mr. MELLIER’s modest shop. Now we come to a part of commercial Pniel which is a little complicated and evinced from a total want of design. The building almost loses itself in a perfect tangle which baffles all powers of description. It turns several corners and doubles on itself like the course of a hunted hare. If anyone can fancy an octagon overtaken by an insane desire to square the circle and at the same time involve itself in a Chinese puzzle, he is the man who can fashion forth the Pniel labyrinth, beginning at Solomon’s and ending at Jericho. I cannot. All I can do is to count, with the help of my fingers, the places of business which I have discovered in that perplexing quarter. First let me mention STOLZENBACH and [NIJE]’s establishment – a very excellent boarding house; then, somewhere or other, comes a butcher’s shop in canvas, then a butcher’s shop in brick, then a butcher’s shop in wattle without the daub. Giving to the winds “the order of thought” as theologians say, as well as of place and time, let me tell of PEARSON’s Emporium canopied under brown canvas of mighty spread, of the auction house of M. VON KROUT, ALEXANDER’s hotel, billiard room and dining tent, the stand where Hyam BENJAMIN’s store is to be, NUTZHORN and PAGEL’s hotel and billiard room, HURLEY’s store, the post office, the tasty little draper’s shop outside which a crinoline always hangs, the barber’s stall, the Digger’s Cider Booth, and CALDREY and RODIER’s agency offices. Having got out of this Pniel business Babel, I may say that to the east of it are the Natal store kept by Mr. BREALER, the sausage shop presided over by Mrs. SWEENEY, and the butchery kept, not too clean, by Mrs. STEINEKAMP. Westward from babel is a street almost at right angles with the main line of entrance, in which are many shops. Here you have a photographic saloon, with a frame and glass at the door containing several ladies in their best clothes and worst expressions. Here “the Baron” has his auction mart and cracks his jokes over “cradles” and “babies”, “pickaxes” and “the ace of spades”. Here you have LEVER’s soda-water manufactory and somebody’s smithy; and there you have VAN WYK’s butchery and CALLAGHAN’s store. On the other side of the way are BROPHY’s shoemaker’s shop, BERLYN’s warehouse, STEYTLER and STEYTLER’s offices in all the glory of variously coloured letters, and Dr. de MORGAN’s surgery, Pniel side.
I have not done yet. To the west of the main street is the Market-square, on the one side of which are RADLETT’s large wooden store, Mr. Advocate GREALEY’s offices, the Committee tent, Dr. GIBSON’s surgery, Dr. ROBERTSON’s surgery, and a druggist’s shop. On another side behold a coffee shop and another druggist’s shop. South of the square and west of the main street is the wonderful establishment of Messrs. HALMAN, SMITH & Co of Durban, Natal – a monster hotel of iron which covers a little desert of sand and cost £500 in transport alone. I must describe this place at length under another heading. Close to this Megathorium – none of your common place “mammoths” for me – is the Club, kept by Mr. Secretary and Registrar TURNER, a gentleman who has acquired his name from the fact that he can “turn his hand to anything”. Nigh at hand is WELCH’s Soda Water and Lemonade Manufactory, while around and about are several carpenter and blacksmith’s shops. Not quite done yet. Leaving the Upper Camp and passing through the claims to the long line of tents by the river, we have another group of business places, bakeries, eating houses and canteens. Perhaps a dozen or so. Now all is pretty well told, as far as list making goes and Pniel is concerned. In my next we must take the ferry and pay a visit to Klip Drift.

Wednesday 22 March 1871

MARRIED at St.George’s Cathedral, Grahamstown, on Tuesday the 21st March 1871, by the Very Rev F.H. Williams DD, Dean of Grahamstown, Joseph Randell PINNICK, son of Mr. J.R. PINNICK of East Cowes, Isle of Wight, to Eliza Ann Jordan, eldest daughter of Mr. Thos. FRANCIS, of this city.

Friday 24 March 1871

BIRTH at Fern Rocks, on Feb 27th, Mrs. D.R. TROLLIP of a daughter.

MARRIED at Commemoration Chapel on the 22nd March 1871 by the Rev G.H. Green, Alfred BRITTAIN, Queenstown, to Margaret WEBB, eldest daughter of John WEBB Esq, Market-square, Grahamstown. No cards.

MARRIED on the 15th March at Harrison, near Whittlesea, by the Rev W.B. Philip, Frederick John, eldest son of Mr. John EVENS, of this city, to Emily Eleanor, second daughter of Mr. Thomas STUBBS, late of Grahamstown.

LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS No.2
Trade, Stores and Stocks
“Over the water to Charlie”. Klipdrift has been called so many names that it may as well have another, for the sake of the singular applicability of the foregoing quotation. It was at first termed the “Rich Kopje” in consideration of the many diamonds found in its bosom; it subsequently took the name of the river drift hard by, remarkable for its stony bed; in the course of its many revolutions it chanced for a week or two to be called Parkerton, after the President; some have proposed to designate it Hayville, in honour of the Administrator who so promptly sent it a Special Magistrate. I don’t suppose it will be called “Charlie”; still I must be allowed to say “Over the water to Charlie”, although I mean, in point of hard prosaic fact, to take you and myself over the Vaal to Klip Drift, to count the stores there. While we are being rowed across, either by an Italian, a Malay, a German, a Dutchman, a Mozambique, a Lower Albany man, a Bay boatman or an old salt, let us take a glance at the Ferry itself, from a business point of view. A ferry is a place of business on the water and boats are but workshops on the loose, so that I am strictly in keeping, in saying a word or two about them in these commercial chapters. It is impossible to cross the Vaal at the ferry without boats, at any time, let the river be high or low – unless you choose to swim. The Drift at which it is possible to walk across in the winter is a long way up from the site of the Camps, and hard to ford at the best of times. Thus all communication between Pniel and Klip Drift is by boat. When the river is full and the current is strong, the fare is one shilling a head each way. For the greater part of the year it is sixpence a head. These charges are attractive and boats abound. As you near the ferry you are hailed by half a dozen voices shouting “Boat, sir!”, “Boat, sir!”, “Give me a turn today, sir!”, “That’s her, the green boat, sir!”, “No sir, she’s leaky, take mine – The Star!” The owners of the voices carry you away at once to the Bay sands or the Capetown jetties. You see the same weather-beaten faces, the same eyes in all the livery of mourning, the same gnarled and scarred hands, the same shoeless and stockingless feet at the end of the same rolled-up trousers. It is hard to believe that they and you are five or six hundred miles away from the salt-sea wave, and that the water which laps the gravel at your feet is yellow with the sand and soil of the “interior”. Sentiment, however, does not last long in the society of boatmen. You select the “Lizzie Lee”, and as you seat yourself in the stern, the rejected owners of “The Black Hawk” tell you that you are “booked for a down passage, as the Lizzie is sure to be capsized”. The captain of the Lizzie replies in the language of passion, high-toned with triumph, and amidst a volley of polite nauticalisms you push off into the stream, and in four or five minutes are at Klip Drift. About a dozen boats are in constant work at the ferry. Some of them are owned by the men who work them; most, however, are the property of diggers and parties. The boats’ names I recollect are the Star, the Lizzie Lee, the Warhawk, the Queen of the Vaal and the Diamond. The last time I crossed the river, I did it in the company with the late lamented and resigned Manager pro tem of the Klip Drift Branch of the Standard Bank. I could not help repeating those touching lines of dear old DIBDIN:-
Then fare-thee-well, thou trim-built wherry
Oars and coat and badge farewell
Never more at Chelsea ferry
Shall your Thomas take a spell
That I cannot “take a spell” in the “trim-built wherries” of the Vaal is still one of my digging regrets.
Having arrived at Klip Drift, you are in the midst of stores. Klip Drift is all stores. It was once a digger’s camp of vast stretch of canvas and wealth of population. That was the time when the Rich Kop, the King Williamstown Kop and the Colesberg Kop were in their glory – when diamonds were unearthed daily and found generous buyers. Then the river bank for miles was covered with tents, while scarce a wooden hut or an iron roof was to be seen. Much business was done by early birds in those days, with but little show. Now, the Kops having been worked out, the diggers have gone and the tents are few. But, strange to say, as the camp has melted away stores have multiplied. Mr. STRONG, late of Port Elizabeth, is now almost the only digger at Klip Drift. He blooms alone, like the last rose of summer, while around him on all sides flourish a forest of green Bay trees. Klip Drift is a long, pretty well laid out, but rather straggling street, with a bulbous development towards the east end where it widens down to the ferry. When I saw it first it had not more than three or four places that were not made of cloth, and these were small and mean. Mr. Joel MEYERS was doing a roaring trade within the shelter of a few deals, and Mr. William SCHULZ was coining money under a few sheets of iron. Mr. SCHIFFMAN still abode in tents, and Mr. PINCUS in rags. SANGER’s hotel was almost too new to use. Dixon YOUNG was thinking of opening his billiard room, and the Music Hall was beginning to lift its tall head and drink. Now, the main street of Klipdrift is second only to the main-street of Port Elizabeth. Let me tell the tale of its signboards. For no earthly reason but the necessity of beginning somewhere, I begin with the west end, and will take the north side of the street first, commencing with Mr. POOLE’s house of general refreshment and universal supply – a Robinson Crusoe-like structure of poles, reeds and thatch, close to which is WILLIS’s butchery. Next in order is Mr. PINCUS’s spacious iron warehouse, followed closely by the Standard Bank. This is a neat affair in wood. It is not a noble pile, being somewhat “limited”. The windows are far up the walls, like the windows of a prison, and iron bars abound. Within, the arrangements are those of a pantry, lattice work and shelving being particularly conspicuous. Before you enter, you expect to see a janitor with keys; after you enter you look round for a cook in his apron. You are greatly astonished at seeing a singularly fine looking man clothed in smiles, ready to accommodate you with gold and paper at, of course, a per centage. Next to the Bank is the establishment of Mr. William SCHULTZ. This is one of the largest and best built business places on the Diggings. It is partly of wood and partly of stone, has a deep stoep and verandah in front and a roomy vault beneath the floor of the back store. It has space for a stock of the value of £10,000. I hope I am not revealing secrets when I say that Mr. SCHULTZ has in his kitchen one of the most charming of Boston Beauties that it has been my good fortune to see. GERTENBACH and BELLEW’s druggist’s shop has now to be noticed, and then, with a marquee between, comes JONES’ Masonic Hotel and Billiard Room, shouldered by Mr. LASKER’s watchmaker and jeweller’s shop. This is neatness and snugness itself. Boarded in front, its sides are of canvas and its roof of iron. Within the canvas is a wall of iron wire, and within that, as an interior lining, is a wall of green baize. The shop window is wide, and handsome with the shining wares of the craft. Above it is a flaming signboard. Next to LASKER’s is MICHAELIS’s general store – a busy little place, at the side of which are the law offices of R.W. MURRAY Senr. Then comes the auction mart and stables of that remarkably smart man, Mr. MALAM, who can knock you down with his hammer, and jolt you down by his mail cart to the Hope, in a style that defies competition. After him and his follows Mr. SCHIFFMAN’s green house – a store of the first-class, large and compact. But the establishment of Mr. Joel MYERS, next in the line, is the most imposing building on the Fields. To an iron house, fifty by thirty, is added a brick store of the same dimensions, having a handsome stone front. PAVEY & Co.’s warehouse has now to be catalogued, and a long and lofty warehouse it is, worthy of its managing man, Mr. T. Melville DU TOIT. PAXTON’s soda water manufactory being passed, you are close to J. and H. PARKIN’s iron store and HILL and PADDON’s eastern establishment. Cross the gully and you come to R. ATTWELL’s store, a canteen or two and R. REED’s druggist’s shop and lemonade and soda-water manufactory. Recrossing the gully and passing up the south side of the Klip Drift main street, you come to SANGER’s hotel, including a bar, a billiard room, a restaurant and sleeping apartments. Close to it is Mr. TROTTER’s store. Then comes a break in the line of buildings at a part of the street which opens into the Market-square. Passing this the Music Hall – that building famed for revolutions, councils, law courts, Christy concerts, Sunday services, public dinners, pistol shots and strong drinks, is reached. The Music Hall is of brick, sun-dried within and burnt without. Under the shelter of its western gable nestles the surgery of Dr. de MORGAN. Mr. NORRIS’s store is next in the line, at the back of which Mr. Attorney HARVEY’s tent shakes in the frequent breeze. Further up stands the iron store built by Mr. Isadore GORDON, of the Bay. The lofty establishment of Messrs. BACK and RAPHAEL follows, shouldered by the manufactory kept by Mr. James STRONG, whose syrups are the delight of the diggings. The Port Elizabeth store, by MYHILL & Co, must next be mentioned – a well-appointed place. Nor must Mrs. SCHUARDT's restaurant be forgotten – a substantial building of stone. Then comes Mr. BAYLY’s place of business, where the largest looking-glass on the Diggings may be seen by anyone not afraid of his ugly face – I don’t mean Mr. BAYLY’s face, which is unexceptionable. Messrs. HILL and PADDON’s Westend Store has now to be enumerated. It is the most westward business place of all, excepting a very complete accommodation house kept by a careful host whose name I forget. So much for Klipdrift’s grand business street – a very striking creation of the Diamond Fields and the marvellous growth of a twelvemonth’s work. About the Ferry on the Klipdrift side are several butchers’ and bakers’ shops, a sprinkling of canteens, a tailor’s board, a cobbler’s lapstone and a carpenter’s bench. A little to the north of the Main street is the new Post-office, a neat stone building. Mr. CAMPBELL’s residence is to the west of the camp, removed from it by about five minutes walk. It consists of three tents and a couple of wagons, surrounded by a square stone wall, from one angle of which rises the British ensign. As the Special Magistrate has opened an Insolvent Court, he may be looked upon as a business man.
In my next I will review the store arrangements of Hebron, Cawood’s Hope and Robinson, and chance a remark or two on the business prospects of the Camps.

Monday 27 March 1871

LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS No.3
Trade, Stores and Stocks
There is no difficulty in getting to Hebron from Pniel and Klip Drift. Twice a week passenger carts are on the road, both ways. Messrs. GILFILLAN and HARRIS are the whips, and SANGER’s Hotel is the Klip Drift place of starting. The distance is about twenty five miles, and the fare is ten shillings. There are two half-way houses on the road – mere tents, at which the traveller can certainly get beer if coffee is impossible. The last time I passed one of them, the proprietor was busy on his back watching the flies on his canvas ceiling. It was too early for beer, and I asked for coffee, to which the proprietor, still on his back, replied that “his coffee kettle had been jumped”. At the next half-way house I was fortunate enough to be in time for the last cup, consisting of the grounds of the first with a little luke-warm Vaal water, a compound which I cannot recommend, as it neither cheers nor inebriates. Upon the whole, business is not brisk upon the road to Hebron, and the half-way houses are more to be pitied than blamed. Nor does Hebron itself impress the visitor – I was never encamped there – with a sense of stir. The Station is one of three divisions, like a dragon fly. It has its upper, middle and lower camps just like a dragon fly with its head, thorax and body. Hebron straggles, and spreads itself out. Hence a want of apparent life, mining or commercial. When I last saw it, about a month ago, there were not more than a dozen stores there, and still business seemed rather dull and overdone than otherwise. Of the dozen the majority were kept by traders from Natal and the Transvaal. Hebron is generally the first camp the Natal parties visit; hence the presence there of so many Natal houses is to be accounted for. I cannot recollect the owners’ names very well. WEBSTER Brothers’ store I can call to mind, partly because WEBSTER is a Queenstown name, and the firm a Queenstown firm, and partly because I slept my last sleep at Hebron on the counter of the said store. FORSSMAN and ALLEN have a place of business at Hebron, I can remember that; but then ALLEN is a well-known and very well liked name at Port Elizabeth. EBDEN of Pniel has, or had, a branch business at Hebron. I saw the name of STOCKDALE over one open door. Beyond this I can do no more commercial directory business for Hebron. Say! I dined off very good salt beef, bacon, mutton pie and cheese at The Albion kept by Mr. COE, and I very much admired the sign board of the Royal Oak, on which was painted a genuine old British tree of that name. Since I have left the Fields, Mr. James ATTWELL, I observe, has given Hebron an auctioneer.
Robinson is immediately opposite Hebron, the river rolling between with a wide and rapid sweep. A ferry connects the two, served by a few boats. When the water is low, there is a ford for wagons. Robinson is called Robinson after a very fortunate man who some time ago lived in Bethulie, where he was in business, but who last year or the year before, or the year before that, was wise or lucky enough to lease a farm on the Vaal, which farm is Robinson. An attempt has lately been made to call this place Diamondia, or Diamantin, or some other equally diabolical name. I cannot agree to this. Robinson is a fine old English name, and Robinson it shall be for me to the end of the chapter. Mr. ROBINSON, for some time after the discovery of diamonds on his farm, with a fine sense of the privileges of property and the advantages of monopoly, for which I admire him, did all the business of the camp himself. He bought diamonds and sold all sorts. The stories told of the bargains and the wealth of ROBINSON beat fable. I have heard it said that he had at one time, as a second collection, no less than two thousand diamonds. But I must say that I never saw them in his hand. He is said to have great interest with the Corannas. The last big diamond found – the one of 107½ carats – was it not bought by ROBINSON? It is generally understood that he has inherited the famous old lamp of Aladdin and does business by its light. At present Robinson is thrown open to the commerce of the world, and there are other stores than the old original, - not many.
The other great camp is Cawood’s Hope. This camp, like Robinson and Pniel, is on the south, or Free State side of the river. But the nearest way to it from the great central diggings of Pniel and Klip Drift is by cart from the latter camp. It is about nine miles from Klip Drift to Gong-Gong, and Gong-Gong is about seven minutes boating from Cawood’s. A cart runs to the Hope from Klip Drift every day. Mr. MALAM, the great whip, is the proprietor. When I left there was some talk of putting on another line of stage coaches. The fare is five shillings. There is but one half-way house. It is a tree. You may know it by the multitude of bottles and corks about it. The corks are drawn and the bottles are broken. It is the custom of all travellers on this road to stop for refreshment at the half-way house. But it is also their custom to refresh themselves at every mile-stone, without stopping. The mile stones occur at about every tenth revolution of the cart wheel. Consequently much business is transacted on the road to Cawood’s. It is customary for friends to chalk on the bottom of each passenger cart before it starts “Glass, with care – this side upwards”. There used to be much game on the road to the Hope – pouws, partridges, koran and ducks – but they have been frightened away by the noise of corks. At Gong-Gong there is one place of business. It is a place of refreshment. I can only recollect one place of business at Cawood’s. It was a place of refreshment. Wait a bit – there was another. That also was a place of refreshment. The first was BENNING’s. The second was Dixon YOUNG’s. I have a faint recollection of another place of business, in which I took some ginger-beer, qualified, so I suppose; that too was a place of refreshment. This was long ago. I am indulging in reminiscence. By this time Cawood’s has I doubt not a score of first class stores with regular stocks of dry as well as wet goods.
Many miles down the river from the Hope is a Camp rejoicing in the name of Sifonell, sometimes spelt Sivenell, and sometimes pronounced with emphasis in a Cockney style not to be described phonetically. I believe that neither orthography is correct. Indeed the English language has neither characters nor sounds for the word, which is the name of the tribal chief of the place. The name of the commercial chief is GLYNN; and the camp ought to have been called Glynville. Mr. GLYNN is a genius. He went to Sivenell when that Camp had but put down its first pegs. In his mouth – Mr. GLYNN is an Irishman of the usual eloquence – Sivenell was blarneyed into the seventh heaven of diamondiferous splendour. Letters inspired by his imagination and written in all the poetic fervour of a Crampton, made Sivenell the home of luck and the temple of fortune. For a while people crowded there. The chief – a good man – would not allow a store in the camp, all stores on the diggings being more or less – chiefly more – bottle stores. Mr. GLYNN, with a business eye of unsurpassed brightness and penetration, saw his advantage. He opened a store on the opposite side of the river, and established a ferry; put a boat upon it himself and charged a shilling fare. The result was that every customer who wanted a bit of baccy, a pound of flour, or a refresher, had to use the boat and pay a shilling in to the GLYNN treasury. This was a fine stroke of business. It is sometimes said by unthinking men that this colony is not ripe for responsible government, because it has not “fit” men. Who so fit for the Chancellorship of our Exchequer as Mr. GLYNN? No man has a sharper eye or a neater hand for a tax. I never heard of any other man of business at Sivenell, but Mr. GLYNN.

Wednesday 29 March 1871

DIED at Grahamstown on Monday 27th March 1871, Elizabeth Alice, eldest daughter of John and Sophia Elizabeth SWAN, of Port Alfred; aged 23 years 3 months and 7 days – deeply regretted by all who knew her. Friends at a distance will please accept this notice.
Mr. and Mrs. SWAN tender their sincere thanks to those Friends who so kindly assisted them during her illness.

Friday 31 March 1871

DIED at Grahamstown, March 29th 1871, Dorothy SANSOM – aged 80 years; relict of the late George SANSOM, one of the British Settlers of 1820. Sincere thanks are tendered to the Friends who assisted during her illness.

LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS No.4
Trade, Stores and Stocks
Having gone the round of all the Camps and counted all the stores, I proceed to the stocks. There are two kinds of stocks at the Fields. It is, perhaps, of that sort with which I am the least familiar I have now to write. Let me, however, say a word or two about the stocks concerning which I know most. Mr. TRUTER, Free State Magistrate at Pniel, carried on a most thriving trade with about the poorest stocks I have ever seen. The fine old wooden anklets which form one of the most agreeable features of village life in England are easy chairs in comparison with the stocks at the Diggings; but I never saw a foot in the keeping of the former, while, at Pniel, the holes were never empty. I often used to wish Mr. TRUTER’s stocks had run out. There are few sights more humiliating than to see poor human nature held fast by the leg in the stocks. The helpless creature cannot hide his shame, nor can he carry his punishment with even the show of dignity. One thing I can say for the Pniel stocks. They were under canvas at first, and are now under thatch. At Klip Drift while there were any stocks – they were sold, I believe, the other day to pay the debts of one of the revolutionary governments at that Camp – but while there were any, they stood in the eye of the sun on the open square, and many a time have I saw a poor fellow lying in the blaze with a rag over his head – a rogue perhaps, but still a man. Then the government of the day was too poor to have the holes bevelled, and the sharp edges cut the skin. The stocks were, however, undoubtedly deterrent. They had a moral influence. I, myself, never saw them but I felt encouraged to keep my hands from picking and stealing, so that my feet might never get into that grip. But let the moral stocks go. At present I have to do with the stocks commercial.
I have heard the total value of the business stocks on the Fields estimated at a quarter of a million. This I cannot but consider to be an exaggeration. In all probability, however, a calculation of the amount of the capital involved in trade at the various camps, reckoning in stock, buildings, transport and services, would not fall very far short of that sum. There is one house alone at Klip Drift which is said to have stock to the value of £15,000 in its stores. The stores of the firm had cost at least £2,000. I can refer to another house which has under its roof goods to an almost equally heavy amount, and here again the stores have been costly. The Royal Masonic Hotel at Pniel cost £500 in transport from Durban, Natal, of building material alone, and scarcely less than £3,000 must have been spent before the place was opened. How much Messrs. SOLOMON, SMITH & OUTING’s stock and fittings cost I cannot tell. Mr. LASKER brought up with him from Capetown a large, choice and valuable selection of watches, jewellery and instruments. All the fifty or sixty stores, of the first and second class of importance, must, if they wish to do business, keep on hand a varied assortment of goods, and most of them do so. Every shop has its clothing, provision, liquor and ironmongery department. Some stores keep furniture on hand. It is possible to supply yourself with a piano, a four poster, a chest of drawers and a Boston Beauty on the diggings. The supplies of wood are often heavy. There is enough of champagne, claret, sparkling Burgundy, F.C. cognac, Cango, old Tom, and Natal rum to float a man of war in more than half-seas. Half a dozen soda-water manufactories have tidy little sums invested in machinery and bottles. Will anyone guess how much capital is in the Diamond News office? The diggers eat pretty much meat, and the butchers have to keep both flocks and herds. The camps take into store large quantities of Transvaal breadstuffs, while the quantity of tobacco vanted is enormous. What does the capital of the great diamond buyers – UNGER and others – and the Standard Bank, amount to?
Properly considered, all the property on the Diggings may be viewed as so much business stock, as the whole of it is engaged directly in the business of diamond digging. The value of the machinery, implements, carriage, cattle and capital engaged in this department of business must be very great. It would add, we should say, a hundred thousand, at least, to the quarter of a million supposed to be engaged in commerce. It is perhaps forcing language to say that the Pniel Missionaries drive a flourishing business in licenses. Undoubtedly, up to the present, they have found the Pniel kopje – a bit of land not much bigger than the ground that High-street stands upon, taking in the houses – to be a capital stock in trade. The business is, however, falling off fast.
The question is often asked, Is not trade overdone at the diggings? There is not a trader in the Fields who will not answer such a question in the affirmative, and that, too, without the least hesitation. But traders always consider that the competition is excessive and that supply is ahead of demand. In this case, however, there can scarcely be any doubt about the matter. [Stocks] have been hurled into the Fields without regard to the conditions at the Camps and others have been put up with equal inconsideration. This would be less [con…ly] the case if a better system of distribution and a quicker circulation could be maintained. [rest of article illegible]