Dear Friends of the Museum Issue 11 of 2012 Friends of the Museum Issue 11 of 2012 The brochure for the ‘Midbrak Meander’ is now available at the museum info office. Like other

GBR MUSEUM NEWS LETTER NOVEMBER 2012 Page No. 1

November 2012 Phone 044-620-3338 Fax 044-620-3176

Email: [email protected] www.ourheritage.org.za

3BEditor Rene’ de Kock

Dear Friends of the Museum Issue 11 of 2012

The brochure for the ‘Midbrak Meander’ is now available at the museum info office. Like other meanders one is expected to join the various routes at any local road intersection that you come across and then wander around to the various fascinating places that are displayed. It is quite exciting and could lead you to an amazing number of new and interesting places. To assist, our museum will be open on the second Saturday of each month and should we have space in the newsletter we will provide snippets of information pertaining to these places. This Twitter thing is catching on and due to my many Tweets (or so I hope to think) and the many active organizers involved, the October Art week end in Great Brak was heavily oversubscribed at all the events. Having attended the last evening I was absolutely enthralled at Jo Davis and his Saxophone/ Jazz Guitar performance. We need more of this sort of entertainment. This year the Muse as it will be known provided well needed funds for our museum. For more details on the persons concerned see the write up that follows.

The Muse is a guiding spirit or a source of inspiration.

The Muse has inspired English poetry since Chaucer invoked her in 1374. Muse comes from the Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa. As to the further origins, a clue is provided by the name of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and mother of the Muses.

Terpsichore, Muse of Music and Dance, oil on

canvas painting by Jean-Marc Nattier (1739).

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Access our new weather site on our web page. www.ourheritage.org.za which provides up to a fifteen day weather forecast for Great Brak River. Very useful for planning your holiday.

You can now follow us on Twitter at

Rene’ de Kock @HERITAGEMOSBAY

The GBR Museum is presently open Monday to Friday

between 9 am and 4 pm.

Are you Short of a book to read ?

A large collection

of Pre-owned books on sale in

the Museum ….Every week

day.

Proceeds go to museum funds

Available from the Museum at

R 160.oo each Postage& Packing

R 40.oo


I hope you saw ‘Carte Blanche’ two Sundays evenings ago with the program of visiting Soweto. R750.oo for a two hour visit including lunch.

Now that is a rip off. It takes me back to my recent taxi journey to Soweto and I can assure you that it costs nothing like that to enjoy a visit to Soweto but probably not Vilakazi street. And fancy having to pay to take photographs outside the museum? No wonder our tourists complain about exorbitant costs.

Enormous hands spelling out 'Vilakazi' in sign language Many people have often asked about the origin of the farm and area east of Great Brak River named Voorburg with early documents using Voorbrug. Dian Barnard now in his eighties writes ‘According to Margaret Franklin it was originally incorrectly Voorbrug and later changed to Voorburg, however during my lifetime it has only been known as Voorbrug. If there is no supporting evidence for the name Voorburg then we should accepted my belief that Voorbrug is in fact correct’. ‘As far as I know there is never a bulwark or defence structure in which the word "burg" might imply. "Voorbrug" is logical as the region before the bridge. It could have been a mere spelling mistake. Maybe the original document's informant had a heavy accent (brei) and then bridge sounded like ‘burg’. During my life time ‘Voorbrug’ was so well established that both the school and the postal agency were mentioned by that name. Even the farm where I was born is called by everyone Voorbrug even although the division council's plans indicated Dwarsweg’. Pauw Steyl also uses the spelling ‘Voorbrug’ in his book ‘The Postcart’.

Did you know that the Great Brak

River Museum has an interesting collection of History and

Artefacts on the local San and

Khoe people in our area?

Come and visit us this month to see the new additions

Good News! The Department of Water Affairs and

Forestry reports that during late

September 2012, our Wolwedans dam

water level is 101.0%

Visitors to the dam are

welcome but no fishing, swimming or boating is allowed.

To make certain of receiving your email newsletter, please ensure that your

museum member-ship is up to date.

Family members only R40.oo per annum. For newsletters by post, please add

R50.oo

News letter Index.

Dear Friends of the Museum ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 Enquiry Corner .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Great Brak River and Electricity ................................................................................................................................... 12 Muse Vir Museum. ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 OUR NATURE CORNER ......................................................................................................................................................... 17

The Glentana Wreck ................................................................................................................................................................ 7 THE MASTER BUILDER .......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Using Our Local Medicinal Herbs ................................................................................................................................. 11 WHAT’S NEW in Great Brak River ........................................................................................................................................ 19 What’s on, in and around the museum in Great Brak River this and the coming months? ...................... 3


What is on, in and around the museum in Great Brak River this and the coming months?

Month & provisional date

Description Supported by

Contact person

November

New Enlarged Display of pre-owned books on sale in the Museum

Every week day. Both English and Afrikaans books

available from R2.oo each (specials)

The Museum for museum funds

The museum 044-620-3338

November

“Visit the museum this month”

We have opened a cleaning table for the restoration and conserving of

some of our artifacts. Come and lend a hand!

Contact the museum @ 044-620-3338 for

more details.

November

New Exhibition The Story of the Great Brak River People and

their Ancestors.

The Great Brak River Museum

The museum 044-620-3338

9th November 11 am Meeting at the Great Brak River Museum for all Members and

the Muse Committee.

The Great Brak River Museum

The museum 044-620-3338

1st December Emancipation of Slavery Day The Great Brak River Museum

The museum 044-620-3338

NEAR BY

3rd November Eden Guitar Ensemble will be performing live at the Botanical

Garden......4.00 pm

Garden Route Botanical Garden

082 3744263berylwhittaker100

@gmail.com

17th November Heritage Mossel Bay’s year end

function is a picnic at Langkraal

Heritage

Mossel Bay

Pieter van Reenen 082 475 7500 or 044 606 7142

© The content of this newsletter is copyright and it may only be reprinted by request in writing from the Great Brak River Museum Association.

Compiled & Distributed by the Great Brak River Museum. The Museum Association cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies,

editorial or omissions in the text. If you no longer wish to receive this e-newsletter, please will you reply to this email

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GREAT BRAK POST

Vir advertensies in die Great Brak Post kontak

Marji by [email protected] of 0825713127. Die Great

Brak Post is ‘n gratis maandelikse koerant wat

versprei word vanaf George tot Danabaai en

is ook op Facebook. Volblad tot

kleinadvertensies

LEEUKLOOF CHEESES

[email protected] cheese tastings by

appointment on the farm

Phone 083-375-1287

THE GARDEN ROUTE

BOTANICAL GARDEN

49 Caledon Street in George

Enquiries: Kristen at 044 – 874 1558

THE MIDBRAK MEANDER

[email protected]

Wander around Greak Brak and

Little Brak Rivers Enquiries: Ina at 044 – 620-3339

Or Joy at 082-493-3251


Muse Vir Museum. Ina Stofberg

‘n Ietsie oor die komitee-lede van Muse Vir Museum. Die Museum wil elkeen van julle baie bedank vir die harde werk, entoesiasme en puik program wat julle aan aangebied het!

DRIES EN ELAINE VAN DER WALT - 39@LONG STREET KUNSGALERY & THEATRE ON THE BRAK Dries en Elaine woon nou al 5 jaar in Grootbrak en Elaine beskou haar galery as ‘n absolute plesier en stokperdjie. Sy geniet dit baie om nuwe, interessante kuns en kunsvoorwerpe te soek en om kunstenaars persoonlik te ontmoet en te sien waar hulle woon en werk. Sy kies alle stukke self en wil haar galery laat bekend staan as ‘n plekkie waar jy uitsonderlike en die moeite werd kuns en kunsstukke teen redelike pryse kan bekom . Sy kry baie komplimente van toeriste vir haar galery wat nie terugstaan vir stads galerye nie. Die perseel is ook ideaal geskik vir intieme gesellighede en kan gehuur word vir dié doel. Elaine se galery is deurgaans gebruik tydens die kunstenaweek en sy en Dries was beide

intens betrokke by die tref van die reëlings vir die Muse vir Museum. Dus,‘n groot dankie aan julle albei. Kontak Elaine by 082 5763338 of besoek hulle webwerf: www.artat39long.wozaonline.co.za JACK VAN DER LECQ Jack, ‘n afgetrede argitek, is baie betrokke by die Mosselbaaise Erfenis-tak. Hy het ‘n groot bydrae gelewer tydens die kunstenaweek deur met die drukkers en grafiese ontwerper te onderhandel oor ontwerpe en pryse. Verder het hy ook die dorpsuitstappie ‘Met dapper en stapper’ begelei en hom wonderlik van sy taak gekwyt omdat hy deeglik voorbereid was en die geskiedenis van die dorp op die punte van sy vingers geken het tsv die feit dat hy voortdurend moes pendel Noord-Kaap toe om uit te help met ‘n ontwikkeling daar ( Dit ook terwyl die transportstaking aan die gang was wat dinge bemoeilik het). Baie dankie, Jack! HELEEN COERTZE. Heleen is ‘n bekende in interieurkringe en besit haar eie onderneming. Haar filosofie is: “Om die tasbare interieur te laat resoneer of te laat instem met elke individuele kliënt se eie binne ruimtes “. Sy het ook

voorheen die Museum gehelp om verfkleure te kies wat sou pas by die era van die uitstallings. Heleen het onder andere die bekendstelling en bedankings gedoen by die Boekemania-oggend en was ook intens betrokke by die beplannig van die kunstenaweek. Ons is haar baie dankbaar vir haar bydrae. Kontak haar gerus by 082 457 7897. MARIE EN ANDRÉ ARNOLDI “Marie Arnoldi en haar

man, André, het hulle in Januarie 2006 in Grootbrak gevestig in bly op die Hoogte in ‘n huis met ‘n ongelooflike uitsig op die Outeniquaberge . Marie is ‘n afgetrede sakevrou en het ‘n besondere belangstelling in kuns en tuinmaak en het o.a. haar eie kunsgalery bedryf. Die Arnoldi’s is baie gelukkig in Grootbrak en maak graag ‘n bydrae tot die dorp en gemeenskap, soos wat hulle onlangs deeglik bewys het. Marie


is ‘n belowende kok en het heelwat van die heerlike verversings voorberei wat tydens die kunstenaweek aangebied is. Dit was agv haar ingewing dat die pianis, Neels Coetzee, ‘n goeie vriend van haar, hier opgetree het. Sy behoort ook aan die plaaslike boekeklub en was deel van die beplanning om Dr Marie Heese hier te laat optree. André Arnoldi, 'n afgetrede prokureur, het gehelp met die persverklarings en taalversorging. Baie dankie aan julle albei! LAASTENS WEEREENS DANKIE AAN AL DIE BORGE: MARNOL, TOTAL GROOTBRAK, BOLTON FOOTWARE, GROOTBRAK HARDEWARE, DE DEKKE ANTIEKE WINKEL, SPAR GROOTBRAK, SUIDERKRUIS SEKURITEIT, PINE CREEK, GROOTBRAK APTEEK.

The Glentana Wreck Deon Barnard

Deon Barnard. Writes: If I remember correctly, the Museum celebrated its centenary celebration in 2002. Coincidentally, it was exactly one hundred years in that year that the dry dock, "Durban dock" at Glentana went on the rocks. A photograph of

the Glentana Wreck in 2002

I would be surprised if the dock is not extensively represented in your

museum nevertheless I would like to tell you about an idea I had in 2002 and submitted to the organizers of the Glentana festival but which unfortunately ended up as nothing. If my information is correct, the insurance company, Lloyds of London who owned the dry dock wreck sold it to a Mr Parkes of Knysna. He gave it to the Searle’s family of Great Brak River and they intern sold it to a Mr. OPJ (Ockert) van der Westhuysen of Klipdrift in Zebra. As far as is known, the latter cannot sell it and their progeny are regarded as the legal current owners of the wreck. My idea was that a piece of the wreckage could be transported by ox wagon following along the same route used at that time down the slopes of the old Outeniqwa pass and thence to Great Brak River by a great grandson of Ockert vd Westhuysen. Mrs. Eulalie Munnik of Glentana would then ceremonially transfer it to Great Brak and hand it to the Museum. Thus the ownership of the wreck would be transferred to the museum and could become saved as a weathered historical artefact and preserved for posterity. If the idea is of any use, I am glad that I have mentioned it. Greetings and good wishes. Uncle Deon Barnard (Voorburg). As a side issue, the museum was recently offered a steel ladder from the wreck but has little place to store it.


EVOTOURISM IN MOSSEL BAY

MARTIN HATCHUEL, Barefoot Writer

Mossel Bay is going to become a major evotourism destination

It seems to have been created by Smithsonian magazine, although I would argue that it's something we've been doing in tourism ever since the 'grand tour,' which young ladies and gentlemen would take of 'The Continent' ‐ since many of them seemed to have added Egypt (with its Sphinx and its pyramids) to their itineraries.

And probably it goes back further even than that ‐ because we've always been curious about where we came from.

The last 100 years or so have delivered amazing advances in archaeology and palaeontology, and we here in Africa have received the lions share of the spoils since this really is the cradle of humankind.

Four names: Dart, Broom, Leakey, Marean.

The anatomist and anthropologist Raymond Dart (4 February 1893 ‐ 22 November 1988) is best known for identifying a fossilised skull ‐ which was found by miners in the Buxton Lime Works near Taung in Northwest Province, and given to him in 1924 ‐ as that of Australopithecus africanus: a distant ancestor of our species which lived between about 3.03 to 2.4 million years ago.

It was the first time anyone had described this extinct species of hominid ‐ and the establishment laughed at him. The panjandrums just *knew* that man had evolved in Europe, what!

That fossil, of course, would later become famous as the Taung Child.

Professor Robert Broom (30 November 1866 ‐ 6 April 1951) was a doctor and paleontologist whose interest in palaeontology was heightened by Raymond Dart's discovery. He joined the staff of the Transvaal Museum in 1934 and unearthed and described Paranthropus robustus ‐ which lived 2 million years ago ‐ at Kromdraai, in Gauteng in 1937. Then, together with John T. Robinson, he discovered the fossilised remains of Plesianthropus transvaalensis in 1947. (You'll know P. transvaalensis as Mrs. Ples, of course, although she was later reclassified as an adult Australopithecus africanus ‐ a grown up version of the Taung Child ‐ and is now thought actually to have been a male.)

Further to the north, Louis (7 August 1903 ‐ 1 October 1972) and Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 ‐ 9 December 1996) were excavating hominid fossils in the Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania's Serengeti Plains, where Homo habilis lived around 1.9 million years ago, Paranthropus boisei lived 1.8 million years ago, and Homo erectus appeared about 1.2 million years ago.

And, together with Raymond Dart's work, and Prof Broom's discoveries, their finds seem finally to have convinced academia that man's evolutionary journey began in Africa.

The Olduvai Gorge site is significant because it revealed a more developed use of stone tools ‐ which indicates an increasing intellectual capacity ‐ and because centralised collections of stone tools and animal remains indicate social interactions and communal activities.

And all these sites and discoveries have attracted a steady flow of visitors and attention: Maropeng, the Cradle of Humankind, Olduvai Gorge ‐ they're all well known names in tourism today.

But then Curtis Marean and Peter Nilsen came along.

Geneticists have theorised for some time now that all people alive today stem from a small core population which probably only survived a global ice age because they found themselves living under climatic conditions they could tolerate ‐ and the SACP4 Project has the evidence to show that those conditions occurred in the Mossel Bay area of the Southern Cape Coast.

But it wasn't only the climate that was right: the ocean's rich harvest was ideal, too, and Mossel Bay's legendary seafood became the key which unlocked our potential as a species ‐ because it provided us with the omega‐3 fatty acids which were vital for the development of our powerful modern brains.

The South African Coastal Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, and Paleoanthropology Project (SACP4) ‐ under Curtis Marean, an associate director of the Institute of Human Origins and professor at the School of Human Evolution and


Social Change at the Arizona State University ‐ was created to study archaeological remains that were discovered during the environmental impact assessment phase of Mossel Bay's Pinnacle Point development. A 1997 survey of the property had revealed a number of stone age sites ‐ including evidence that people had inhabited the caves in the cliffs below the present‐day club house for tens of thousands of years.

Prof. Marean began working on the finds with South Africa's Dr. Peter Nilsen ‐ and a team of almost 50 scientists from around the world ‐ in the early 2000s, and in 2007 they announced their results: that the inhabitants of the Caves had systematically harvested the coast for food; that they'd produced complex tools that were more advanced than ever before (with tiny stone blades embedded in other materials); and that they'd regularly used ochre for pigmentation.

This, they said, was the earliest known evidence for modern human behaviour.

But the SACP4 Project has ‐ and will continue ‐ to reveal much more: amongst others, it's working to develop a picture of climate and environmental change in the period from 400,000 to about 30,000 years ago. Through the study of fossilised isotopes found in the dripstone formations in the caves, the scientists are able to make deductions about the water which filtered through from the vegetation above ‐ and by correlating this with what they know from the archaeology on the floors of the caves, they expect to be able to learn how we as a species are likely to adapt to climate change.

Other important discoveries quickly followed after 2007‐ one of which was that here was the first evidence for the use of heat to produce improved quality stone tools (the command of fire allowed humankind to migrate out of Africa and into Europe around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, and would eventually lead to the development of technologies like bronze smelting and ceramics production).

So why is all of this significant for Mossel Bay?

Firstly, it puts Mossel Bay at the forefront of research done at the universities of Cape Town, Barcelona, Bradford, Bern, CNRS‐Bordeaux, Wales‐Aberystwyth, New South Wales, Wollongong, Florida, and Boston; at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; at the State Universities of Arizona and Louisiana; at the Greek Ministry of Culture; at the Geological Survey of Israel; at the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), Iziko South African Museums, the Dias Museum, the South African Council for Geoscience, and the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (the CSIR) ‐ all of which have representatives on the SACP4 team.

But more importantly, the proposed proclamation of the Pinnacle Point Caves as a World Heritage Site, and the development of a Gateway Museum below the Cape St. Blaise Lighthouse (which will explore the emergence of modern human behaviour, and which has the backing of the local Municipality, the Western Cape Government, and the SACP4 Project) will create a major new tourist attraction for the town ‐ and, indeed, for South Africa as a destination.

In fact, the benefits of the archaeology are already beginning to seep into the economy: regular digging seasons bring large numbers of people into the town for weeks at a time. And the number of interns and volunteers who are attracted to Mossel Bay (and who spend between one and twelve months there) is growing steadily ‐ and not only in the sciences directly related to the SACP4 Project, either, but (partly because of the rich marine environment of the Bay, partly because of the number of different disciplines involved) also in marine biology, hospitality, and even communications and film‐making. And there's more, too ‐ because people from local communities have already been trained in archaeology, and now work permanently for the Project.

This influx of highly educated people, the resulting exchange of knowledge and ideas, and the inevitable transfer of skills can only serve to improve the lives of the people of Mossel Bay ‐ and to create a whole raft of new opportunities in tourism.

Because, if Taung, Sterkfontein and the Olduvai Gorge have revealed exciting things about our evolutionary ancestors ‐ Mossel Bay is revealing mind‐blowing things about our actual forefathers. About the people ‐ Homo sapiens ‐ from whom everyone alive today can trace their ancestry.

And everyone's going to want to know about that ‐ which is where evotourism comes in. I cannot wait.


Enquiry Corner Your Editor

Dave Bohl writes from the UK,

I was interested to read Gaynor Jantjies article on Jack Juries rugby career.

The attached photo is of Fred Outhwaite who played for 'The Pirates' in 1922-24

He came from my rugby club in Liverpool, England.

I am trying to find a bit more about him, I wonder if you could ask for any info in the next issue of the newsletter, or Jack himself.

Dave has some information on him before he came to South Africa but little afterwards. Does anyone have information on Fred Outhwaite or any other member of the team? Please contact me on 083-448-1966 or email to [email protected]. A copy of the above photo is on display in the museum. Other members were:

Back Row: J Grebe, N F Squier, J Theron, H Westenraad, E Sierra, E Fouche, G Simpson, P Vaughan, G Lotz, N T Terblanche

Middle Row: H Swart, Mr B Fitzroy, Breakell Clotz (Captain), Mr E C Black, F Outhwaite.

Front Row: E Terblanche, O Terblanche, W S van Wyk.


Using Our Local Medicinal Herbs Gaynor Jantjies

This month Gaynor provides an unusual use for the Sour Fig (Suurvy):

Also known as the Ghoena (Used here for dry scalp)

Cut the Ghoena in big pieces, put in a pot with water and boil.

When done boiling, pour into a bucket and leave to cool off.

Wash hair in it and leave it for ten to twenty minutes before rinsing it off.

The trick is NOT to add more water after it has boiled. Rather boil a lot and leave to cool.

When done wash hair with regular shampoo.

Provided by Rina Baardman-Lewis

Of all our botanical curiosities, the vygie family is surely the strangest. From the purple and cream sheets of sour fig, to the celadon of the stone plants, they are all colours and forms. The leaves are usually grey-green with a film of wax almost like that of a ripe plum – touch them and the bloom is gone. Some leaves are round, some cigar-shaped; others, like the beak of a tortoise, smooth or stippled. Common Name: Sour Fig, Hotnotsvy, Suurvy, Perdevy (Afr), ghaukum (Khoe) Scientific Name: Carpobrotus edulis – yellow flower, Carpobrotus acinaciformis - pink flower

Description: Perennial mat-like creeper

Culinary Uses: Ripe fruit can be cooked in syrup – to make sour fig jam, a delicacy in the Cape Add the fruit to curry dishes

Parts Used: Leaves, flowers and fruit

Medicinal Uses. It is said that it can be used for/as: Skin conditions----Leaf pulp and juice contains tannins Antiseptic, Antibacterial, Anti-fungal Vasoconstricter effect -reduce fluid loss from wounds and burns Enhance tissue regeneration Apply pulp/juice to eczema, wounds, burns and to stop bleeding also for blue bottle stings Gargle – infections in the mouth and throat Treat ear/tooth ache and oral and vaginal thrush Chew and swallow juice to treat mouth/stomach ulcers, dysentery, digestive troubles, diarrhoea,

tuberculosis, diuretic and styptic Rub juice against a babies gums when teething also for nappy rash

In California in the United States of America, where many houses are destroyed through fire, as most of them are built of wood, lots of people plant big mats of sour figs around their houses as firebreaks. MOUNTAIN HERB ESTATE AND MUSEUM COLLECTIONS.


Great Brak River and Electricity A contribution by your editor.

We are not sure when the Searle factory first introduced electric lighting to the factory but the little village of Great Brak River had electricity way back in 1910 which was long before George or Mossel Bay. But what provided the power? In 1910 the Company hitched an electrical distribution system to the furrow turbine, which then generated electricity at night and this was used for several houses in the village. ‘The George and Knysna Herald commented: 'As we stated some weeks ago the power is obtained from the turbines on the mountain streams. This must prove a general boon and we congratulate the owners on their energy, both electric and otherwise.’ And what form of power was used before 1910? In 1866, the German engineer, Nikolaus August Otto, was awarded a patent for his ‘free piston atmospheric gas engine’, which he presented the following year at the Paris Exhibition, winning the Grand Prize. It was to become the world’s first commercially successful internal combustion engine design. Manufacture of Otto atmospheric gas engines began in Germany and Britain by 1869 and within five years the Otto engine was being used as far afield as Victoria, Australia. After the introduction of the improved ‘four-stroke’ Otto gas engine in 1876, the invention was further popularised, becoming an economical and efficient alternative source of industrial power to steam engines for small-scale enterprises. The introduction of the suction gas producer was of particular importance, enabling gas engines to be freed from their earlier dependence on reticulated town gas supplies enabling their application in a wide range of rural industries. Gas engine use peaked in 1900 but continued to be used until the 1950’s

The Searle Factory Gas

Engines circa 1910 Jan Nieuwoudt in printing out some of the museum’s glass slides came across the picture of these suction gas engines that were used to provide the power to the shoe factory. The factory electrics can be seen in panels on the rear wall and are similar to that found in the 1924 hydro power station. Whilst these engines were installed prior to 1910 they may have been in operation as late as 1924 when the hydro turbine came on line.

Suction gas plants were in use for producing combustible gas to power small gas engines of about 7 to 35 kilowatt. The gas engines in the picture were probably 35 kilowatt or more and turned the large flat belt pulleys which in turn drove the line shafts which then operated the smaller machines again via open flat belt drives.


The photograph on the left is a scene of the Searl’s shoe factory circa 1917. One can see the many open flat belt drives. This would give the modern safety engineer nightmares. To drive the gas engines, you need a suction gas producer. Coke is burned slowly in a small producer or container. The air required to maintain the combustion is drawn through the producer by the action of the engine piston during the suction stroke. The air is heated and sprayed with water vapour before

entering the producer, where a chemical action results in a gas being given off. This gas containing large quantities of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide is then cooled and is drawn into a cylinder together with a further proportion of air resulting in a combustible mixture being formed.

A Typical ‘Hornsby-Stockport’ Suction Gas Producer & Gas Engine (on the right), circa1905 The engine on the museum’s veranda is an American Gasoline Engine manufactured by the Associated Engine Manufacturing Company of Iowa USA. (AMANCO) The Engine dates from circa 1914 to 1916 according to C H Wendell’s book of American Gasoline Engines. The engine is of the hit and miss type with igniter ignition rather than spark ignition via a magneto and is between 4 hp to 6 hp (3 to 4.5 kilowatt).

Unfortunately all the brass manufacturer’s plates with the serial numbers have been removed;

otherwise we could date it to the exact year of manufacture. With most engines the brass and copper


fittings disappear first for scrap metal.

A Tangye Robson Two-Stroke Gas Engine in the Victoria Museum, Australia.

But did you know, gas is making a comeback in motor cars and if the Fracking project in the Karoo goes ahead (we sincerely hope it does not), we will have a lot more gas. Gas has been used for generations to run stoves, furnaces, water heaters and other appliances. Vast global supplies are projected to last well into the next century, so it should be no surprise that gas will remain significantly cheaper than petrol on an energy-equivalent measure. In a properly tuned engine, gas combustion delivers 20 per cent lower carbon emissions and about a 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases compared with the cleanest petrol engines, all without damaging existing catalytic converter systems. So right about now you’re probably wondering: why aren’t we putting this stuff in our cars?

As it turns out, there are very few technological barriers to overcome. In fact, converting existing vehicles to burn gas isn’t particularly challenging. It was done by many car owners during world war two.

Globally, more than 13 million vehicles now run on LPG. South Korea, Poland and Turkey top the list with about two million apiece; Poland and Turkey each have about 70, 000 dispensing sites, four times that

of the Koreans.

Two fuel rails and two sets of fuel injectors feed the same port in the intake. The computer starts the car on gasoline, then switches to natural gas when the engine is warm.

South Africa’s total of fewer than 300 is a drop in the ocean, but the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) aims to change that. The AIDC has partnered with the national taxi body Santaco and Sasol in a minibus taxi LPG conversion project that is expected to boost our total LPG vehicle park to about 400 vehicles and 9 refueling sites.

Gauteng, which accounts for less than 2 per cent of South Africa’s land area, is home to 44 per cent of South Africa’s 7,5 million registered vehicles. Its 32 000 minibus taxis provide the largest carbon footprint in this segment, with about 100 000 km covered a year. They’re the most frequent road users, and constantly on the move.

For taxi operators who frequent the LPG conversion route as part of this project, it seems a no-brainer. They get a fully government-funded LPG conversion kit to the value of approximately R15 000 (fully installed) sourced from Voltran in Germany and DT Gas in Poland. They are reimbursed for profit lost during conversion and get the first fill-up free. On top of that, they can expect potentially less maintenance and lower fuel costs. MUSEUM ARCHIVES, AIDC AND WIKIPEDIA.


THE MASTER BUILDER A CONTRIBUTION FROM YOUR EDITOR

(Latin architectura, from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton, from ἀρχι- "chief" and τέκτων "builder, carpenter, mason" Was Jesus a carpenter?

The first thing you need to know is that the word in the New Testament translates as “carpenter” didn’t actually mean “carpenter” as we understand the word today. In Mark 6:3, we’re told that Jesus was a tektwn (pronounced tech-tone — perhaps the original of today’s slang word “techie”).

A tektwn was someone who could do a little of everything — carpentry, yes, but also architecture, boat-building, and cabinetmaking. A tektwn cuts down trees and squared up the logs so they could be used as beams in buildings; did panelling, cladding (bonding materials together) and carving; made doors and door frames, windows, and locks, and such furniture as stools, tables and chests; made yokes, ploughs and shovels; he even occasionally built bridges. Think of the tektwn as a sort of first-century super handyman. Whilst portion of this article appeared in the Heritage Mossel Bay newsletter we thought it proper to reprint it here as it rounds off what we know about the early architects of Great Brak River. They may not have been architects but master builders. Until such time as someone turns up something in or on an old photograph we will have to let the issue rest there. They may even have been one of Oudtshoorn’s architects such as Otto Hager, George Wallace (Snr. and Jnr.) or Charles Bullock Throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans, such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times there was no clear distinction between the architect and engineer. In Europe, the titles "architect" and "engineer" were primarily geographical variations referring to the same person. Dr Kevin L. Burr writes: For centuries the ‘master builder’, the one who was responsible for both the design and the construction of a project, had sufficient design and construction expertise to oversee a project from inception to completion. Eventually, increased complexity required a higher level of specialization, leading to the separation of the designer and the builder. Since that separation, the role of the designer and the builder has continued to shift and evolve. The exact roles for both today are unclear. However, in integrating design and building team efforts the entire construction industry continues to grow and provide new opportunities

for advancement. The successful project delivery of the future must promote a higher level of collaboration with the build team. The complexity of projects is getting more and more arduous technologically while also maintaining the demands of sustainability. An architect at his drawing board. This wood engraving was

published on May 25, 1893, in Teknisk Ukeblad, Norway's leading engineering journal. It illustrates an article about a

new kind of upright drawing board delivered by the firm J. M. Voith

All building plans of Mossel Bay and Great Brak River’s older buildings were burnt during a fire in the 1960’s hence we often do not know who the architect was. Hazel Yonker (Oudtshoorn’s history fundie) recently suggested that many of these buildings were designed by the builder who was a master of his trade and probably used existing sketches for the basic design. In most developed countries, only qualified persons— those with

the appropriate licensure, certification, or registration with a relevant body, often governmental — are legally permitted to practice architecture. Architecture is a profession in which technical knowledge, management, and an understanding of business are as important as design.


Alongside is a photograph of the Dutch Reform Church Parsonage opposite the Dutch Reform Church in Oudtshoorn.

141 High Street built in 1881. Architect: Otto Hager. Mid-Victorian style with Neo-Classic influence.

Ignoring the stone cladding, the building looks like many of Great Brak River or Mossel Bay’s early buildings. A master builder would make modifications to the size, the finishing materials etc. Oudtshoorn being very dry, one could use metal railings and décor. (all bought from a catalogue and on several years’ delivery).

Oudtshoorn has unique architectural styles - much of which has to do with the ostrich booms of the 1880s and the early 1900s.

With massive inflows of capital, the feather barons were able to build fantastic Ostrich Palaces in the Art Nouveau, Victorian, and Neo-Renaissance Revival styles - for which they employed architects like Karl Otto Hager, George Wallace (Snr. and Jnr.) and Charles Bullock (who was known for the turrets and lace with which he decorated his buildings).

Particularly unique to Oudtshoorn is the use of sandstone, which dates back to the 1860s, when the first Scottish stonemasons (remember Mossel Bay used Cornish stonemasons) arrived to help with the construction of buildings like the St Jude’s Anglican Church (the oldest stone building in the town, it was completed in 1861), the Oudtshoorn Synagogue, the CP Nel Museum and dozens of Feather Palaces both on the ostrich farms and in the town.

Many of the best examples of the Oudtshoorn style can be seen on Baron van Rheede Street.

The Le Roux Townhouse Museum and "Arbeidsgenot", home of C.J. Langenhoven, the Afrikaans lawyer and author of part of our National Anthem, provide interesting and authentic glimpses of life as it was once lived in the Klein Karoo. Many of the older buildings in Oudtshoorn showcase fine examples of traditional Karoo architecture. See below.

57-61 Baron van Reede Street. Church 1860. Architect: Sophie Gray (wife of first Bishop of Cape Town). Rectory: 1861.

Mimosa Lodge 85 Baron van Reede Street. 1907. Architect: Charles Bullock. Owner: R. Sladowski.


OUR NATURE CORNER

PHOTO’S AND TEXT; SALLY ADAM

I was innocently weeding around the baby avocado tree when I felt a sharp stinging in a finger. On inspecting my hand I found a large baboon spider (Harpactira tigrina) with its jaws firmly embedded in the digit. Fortunately this was not one of the more venomous species and the stinging passed after 30 minutes or so. Baboon spiders

are very large and hairy and if provoked, rear up aggressively, forelegs in the air. They live underground, in silk-lined burrows. They are popular as pets and have been known to live as long as 25 years in captivity. Intrigued by some vertical silk caves, I poked behind the curtain to find out who lived there. It turned out to be an Olorunia species, Grass funnel-web spider.


Sadly, my first sighting of the pretty Coppery Grass Lizard was when my horrid terrier happily presented me with a corpse! Initially mistaking it for a snake, I realised it must be a lizard once I spotted the tiny vestigial limbs. The tail is extremely long compared to the size of the body and the animal uses its tail to allow it to "swim" through grass. Although not a threatened species, the grass lizards are vulnerable to grass fires. They are very habitat specific and are restricted to montane and highveld grasslands and fynbos on rocky hillsides.

One of the typical life zones on mountains is the montane forest: at moderate elevations, the rainfall and temperate climate encourages dense forests to grow. Holdridge defines the climate of montane forest as having a biotemperature of between 6 and 12 °C.

As elevation increases, the climate becomes cooler, due to the lower air pressure . The climate becomes harsher, with increasing amounts of snow, causing the dominant life forms on mountains to be different from that of surrounding lowlands. The characteristic flora and fauna in the mountains tend to strongly depend on elevation. This dependency causes life zones to form: bands of similar ecosystems at similar altitude.


WHAT’S NEW in Great Brak River Your editor

Welknie Barkhuizen who has opened his barber shop at 63 Long Street provides the following information:

The red and white pole outside barber shops references a time when barbers were expected to perform bloodletting and other medical procedures to heal the sick; red represented blood and white represented bandages. "Barber surgeons" in Rome also performed teeth extraction, cupping, leeching, bloodletting, surgery and enemas.

The original pole had a brass wash basin at the top (representing the vessel in which leeches were kept) and bottom (representing the basin that received the blood). The pole itself represents the staff that the patient

gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

At the Council of Tours in 1163, the clergy was banned from the practice of surgery. From then, physicians were clearly separated from the surgeons and barbers. Later, the role of the barbers was defined by the College de Saint-Côme et Saint-Damien, established by Jean Pitard in Paris circa 1210, as academic surgeons of the long robe and barber surgeons of the short robe.

However, today's barber poles represent little more than being a barber shop that cuts hair and does shaves. Barber poles have actually become a topic of controversy in the hairstyling business.

Barber pole, ca. 1938, North Carolina Museum of History

In some states in America, such as Michigan in March 2012, legislation has emerged proposing that barber poles should only be permitted outside barbershops, but not traditional beauty salons. Barbers and cosmetologists have engaged in several legal battles claiming the right

to use the barber pole symbol to indicate to potential customers that the business offers haircutting services. Barbers claim that they are entitled to exclusive rights to use the barber pole because of the tradition tied to the craft, whereas cosmetologists argue that they are equally capable of cutting men's hair too (though many

cosmetologists are not permitted to use razors, depending on their state's laws).

A Barbershop in Bucharest around 1842. Woodcut. As shown in this

image, the barbershop also provides an opportunity for social contacts.

The barber's trade has a long history; razors have been found among relics of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 BC) in Egypt. In ancient Egyptian culture, barbers were highly respected individuals. Priests and men of medicine are the earliest recorded examples of barbers. In early tribes, a barber was one of the most important members, as it was believed that certain evil spirits were able to enter a person's body through their hair, and

that cutting it was a way to drive them out. Due to their spiritual and religious beliefs, barbers even performed religious ceremonies, such as marriages and baptizing children. During these ceremonies, they would leave the person/people's hair hanging down until after dancing; they would then cut the hair and tie it back tightly so that no evil spirits could enter and no good spirits could escape.


Mainly Tourism

Information by Ina Stofberg

MOSSELBAAI GASTEHUIS GILDE VERGADER IN Groot-Brakrivier

Die inisieerder van die Midbrak Meander, Joy Cook van At Whale-Phin Gastehuis, het dit goedgedink om die Midbrak Meander ook aan die gastehuise in Mosselbaai bekend te stel. Vir hierdie geleentheid is daar besluit om die Mosselbaai Gastehuis Gilde se vergadering vir Oktober in Grootbrakrivier aan te bied en dit te laat saamval met die bekendstelling van 'n paar produkte in Grootbrakrivier.

Die vergadering is aangebied by Art @ 39 Long Street waar Teresa Emerick, die eienaar van Nightsbridge aanlyn besprekingstelsel vir klein akkommodasie instellings, die stelsel aan die lede verduidelik het. Renè Bongers, die Voorsitter van Mosselbaai Toerisme, het ook die vergadering bygewoon. Voor en ná die vergadering het die lede van die koffiewinkels in Grootbrakrivier besoek en is getrakteer op verversings en geskenkies.

Soccer City offers guided stadium tours Stadium Management SA is offering guided tours of the Soccer City Complex. The tour affords a visitor the opportunity to experience the stadium first hand. Visitors will be able to view the stadium’s change rooms and walk through the same tunnel as global sporting legends such as John Smit, Christiano Ronaldo and Simphiwe Tshabalala. Tours are conducted seven days a week, depending on fixtures and stadium operations: Weekdays: 09h00; 10h30; 12h00; 13h30 and 15h00. Weekends: 09h00; 10h30; 12h00 and 13h30. Night Tours (Thursdays and Fridays): 19h00 – 20h00. For booking enquiries email [email protected] or call 0861 STADIUM. Thanks & acknowledgement to SA Tourism Update digital edition

RAMPE IN SUID-AFRIKA

1987 Die ergste vloed Wat as die ergste vloed in menseheugenis in die teenswoordige KwaZulu-Natal beskryf is, tref die streek aan die einde van September 1987. Altesaam 388 mense sterf, terwyl 68 000 dakloos gelaat word deurdat huise verbrokkel of in modder begrawe word. Durban is per pad heeltemal van die res van die land afgesny, duisende kilometer paaie word beskadig en veertien brûe word weggespoel.

Inanda Dam - 1987 Vloed

Met dank & erkenning aan mieliestronk .co.za


NOVEMBER EVENTS Fairview Dryland Traverse CAREL

HERHOLDT Dryland Event Management Fax-direct: +27 86 5191486

Cell/mobile: +27 82 379 1177 Email: [email protected]

Where?

Oudtshoorn

What?

Sport

From 8

November 2012

To 11

November 2012

Christmas Concepts

Contact: Amanda on +27 (0)72 949-3002 for more information.Venue: Chapel and Old School, Buffalo Bay Rd, Knysna

The first of its kind on the Garden Route - an upmarket, chic Christmas shopping experience in a beautiful country venue setting. Soak up the magic of the festive season at the Christmas Concepts Fair, enjoy a great day's shopping and leave with a hoard of heavenly gifts. This spectacular Christmas Fair brings together more than 40 exhibitors from all over the Western and Eastern Cape in a festive three-day extravaganza of quality and fun.

Knysna Art/Culture Food/ Wine 4 Nov 6 Nov

Plett Rage Festival

This year, thousands of school leavers will flock to the Garden Route to celebrate the Plett Rage Festival, the largest student festival in the country. Students can expect 15 days of partying at seven incredible venues with some of South Africa’s top musicians.

Plett Outdoor 23 Nov 8 Dec

QUOTES In this year of presidential elections in the USA and our own Mangaung conference, the following:

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. John Adams

No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.

You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket. John Adams, Instructions to his son Johnny in the biography "John Adams" by David McCullough -

president of the USA.

Documents

Dear Friends of the Museum Issue 11 of 2012 Friends of the Museum Issue 11 of 2012 The brochure for the ‘Midbrak Meander’ is now available at the museum info office. Like other