Slave Bell, Durban

Slave Bell, Botanic Gardens, Durban

Plaque near Slave Bell

Bill S Crowder and Co. Landing and Shipping Agents April 1877 'To Landing 77 liberated slaves on SS Natal', Phoenix Wharf, the Point, Port Natal.

Vintage Swimwear: continuing the beach theme

The big cover-up ...

Hmmm ...swimwear or Pierrot costume?

There should be less than 5 inches of thigh visible .... says the inspector.

Les Girls ...

These chaps look pretty good despite the knitted costumes ...

Started off all right then it just got silly ...

Not very flattering those knitted one-piece male costumes ....

No bikinis here ...

Beach entertainments Durban early 1900s

The Bathing Enclosure, Durban

The Children's Bathing Pool, Durban

A Settler Christmas 1853/Christmas in Ladysmith 1899

molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-natal-settler-christmas-1853.html



molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-in-ladysmith-boer-war-1899.html

Happy Christmas

The Hello Girls: Telephone Exchange, Durban

Hello Girls operating telephones at the exchange:
among them was my Great Aunt Dorothy Moffatt nee Swires (below)

The Telephone Exchange, Durban circa 1915

New book on SS Waratah

South African author Andrew van Rensburg’s new volume Waratah Revisited: The True Story of a Ship's Mysterious Disappearance is now available online through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Waratah-Revisited-Andrew-Van-Rensburg/dp/3710319447

http://www.amazon.com/Waratah-Revisited-Andrew-Van-Rensburg/dp/3710319447/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418539335&sr=1-keywords=waratah+revisited&pebp=1418539352288

From the book jacket:

Waratah mystery solved!

'The crowds dispersed slowly as the new ship

disappeared around a bend in the river. For most,

this would be their last view of a ship destined to

vanish into history'.

'Sawyer’s ticket was booked through to Cape

Town, but nothing could induce him stay on the

Waratah a moment longer'.

'Late into the night and overwhelmed with

frustration McLaughlin ranted about setting fire

to the Waratah'.

'There was no other explanation for the

unyielding advance of the large steamer'.

'Something of great significance was unfolding

off the Wild Coast'.

'Circumstances on the Waratah had taken a turn

for the worse within the last few hours and the

great liner trembled and rolled’

'The Waratah and her souls were abandoned at

sea'.

The author gets right down to the nitty-gritty offering various theories - including his own - for the Waratah’s hitherto inexplicable disappearance. Contemporary material such as the Board of Trade Inquiry as well as more recent data are presented and compared.

If you are a Waratah Watcher you can’t do better than buy a copy for Christmas.

Copies will also be on sale soon at Adams bookstore, Durban..