Volume 2 – Unchartered Territory is now available
Port Elizabeth of Yore – Volume 2
Port Elizabeth of Yore : Volume 1 – Defying the Odds – Now Available
This volume is available as follows: Soft cover = R 320, hard cover now discounted to R390 plus shipment costs to SA destinations at R100. Copies of the book can be collected in Port Elizabeth from Alan Montgomery at 084 368 1304. It can also be purchased from Fogarty’s. Alternatively contact me, Dean McCleland at deanm@orangedotdesigns.co.za or 082 801 5446.
As Port Elizabeth celebrated its bicentenary in April 2020, this event has to be celebrated for not only was it the birth of a new town, but it was also home to many of our ancestors. This four-volume set of books records those birth pangs and well as the people and events which over the next 150 years made Port Elizabeth what it is today.
Comments on the back cover
Initially Port Elizabeth was only earmarked as a landing place for the British settlers and not as their destination. Yet in the thirty-year period from 1820 to 1850, contrary to expectations it experienced a tremendous growth spurt. So prodigious in fact was its expansion that it even overtook Cape Town in terms of the volume of exports.
This is the story of the people and events that form the basis of this incredible journey.
This book forms part of a four-volume series which takes the reader on the fascinating odyssey from the original inhabitants – the Khoi – through the town’s development into an entrepôt, wool processor and exporter to its pinnacle as the Detroit of South Africa.
A SMAC in the Face #112: Trump’s Earworm
Most of us at one time or another have had an earworm apart from RFKjr, of course, who had a brain worm which soon died of indigestion. For many this takes the form of a song. Abba produced many ear worms which catch people of a certain age unawares. Some even have to resort to therapy or psychedelics to get rid of them. Mine tend to be The End by The Doors or something by Neil Young – but that’s me. Trump’s musical ear worm is obviously YMCA (You Make Crap Again) which he dances to with gay abandon. But he has another, more sinister ear worm.
It’s one he’s had since the early 2000s when Western banks started seeing the charlatan as a bad risk and he broke bread with Russian money men. His peak interaction with them and probably their honey trap came in 2013 when he staged his Miss Universe contest in Moscow. He’s had their back ever since then and they seem to have his balls in a jar in the Kremlin. They probably term it Kremlin Brûlée, the ultimate honey trap.
Normally, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by serving turkey to be ritually carved up by the head of the house for his guests. This year, it is not Turkey but but that tough old bird, the Ukraine, that the head of the world, if not the universe, wishes to serve up to Russia with his demand that Zelensky surrenders by Thursday, 27 November – Thanksgiving Day. On top of it all Trump demands that the turkey prostrates itself in gratitude for being carved up which he says they have never done. Poor hard-done-by bully-boy Trump.
As usual, the gap between Trump’s statements of fact and the truth is wider than the Gulf of America (formerly known as Mexico). Since the war began, Zelensky has expressed his gratitude to America and its leaders no less than 78 times. 40 of those have been on X (formerly known as Twitter) and many addressed to Trump (formerly known as accused number 1).
What transpired roughly a week ago was a unilateral announcement of a 28-point peace plan for the 3½ year Ukraine-Russian war with the simultaneous demand of the immediate surrender by Thanksgiving. This shocked the world because this was ‘negotiated’ between Russia and Steven Witkoff, Trump’s real estate developer buddy, without input from NATO, the EU or the main victim of Russia’s aggression, the Ukraine!
However, it transpired that Witkoff was not acting as an unbiased intermediatory but actually an interlocuter for Putin as all the 28 points were just Putin’s talking points. The deep concern expressed by the unconsulted Ukraine and EU led Trump to have to pivot. Soon he was saying this was just the beginning of a consultative process, blah, blah, blah. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
Trump doesn’t give a damn about the security guarantees that America signed or for the Ukrainian soldiers and citizens who have been brutalised and murdered by Russian soldiers. He wants a deal on Putin’s terms because then Putin will welcome Trump Inc with all their ‘beautiful’ real estate developments and other deals into Russia.
One must factor in Trump’s motivations into all his words and actions. He does not have a scintilla of morality, conscience or sense of justice. It’s like he was lobotomised at birth. It’s all about ME.
A SMAC in the Face #111: Whitewash(ington)
Trump has brought his unique bully-boy, manchild character to Washington. Along with this came his barely formed aesthetic – white and gold – and he is steadily changing the White House into a Washington version of his Mar-a-Laager private club crossed with his bankrupt Taj Mahal casino. Given his immature sense of style, he is probably somewhere on the autistic spectrum and suffers from ADADHD – Arrested Development, Attention Deficit, Hype-ing Disorder.
Port Elizabeth of Yore: Main Street in 1881
Originally published in the Illustrated London News dated 9th July 1881, this article contrasts the original buildings in Main Street with that of the Standard Bank which they use as the marker for the latest buildings. This a verbatim copy of that article.
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #110: All the President’s Mayhem
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies. – Groucho Marx.
Along with all his other factory defects, this saying describes Trump as a politician pretty well. What it does not say about him is the insulting and threatening way he applies his wayward policies via executive orders, ‘Truth’ Social posts or demands on the stump.
Then of course, there is the reversal of his position, sometimes multiple times. In a recent example, earlier in this term he stated that he would “aggressively revoke” Chinese student visas because they were stealing America’s technology. This Monday, he did a complete volte-face, or is it a volte-farce, when he welcomed Chinese students but was ambivalent about the French just because he dislikes President Micron. In fact, every time they meet, he gets into a pissing contest with an endless who-has-the-manliest handshake.
Throughout his life Trump has used his wealth and thick skin to exaggerate, lie and bully everyone he has had business dealings with. In 2016 he suddenly found himself CEO of the biggest corporation in the world, USA Inc. He created a shambles then but he still had his training wheels on. After he lost to Biden, he spent four years having a pity party while marinating in his grievances and applying Mac sauce on his bone spurs. All the while he was building up a head of steam and had the support of Project 2025 with their 1000-page manifesto of how to govern America outside of the legal system and every rule, regulation and norm that has restrained every President before him. Basically his approach is, “I don’t give a F%$K!” After all, his toadies in the Supreme Court had his back when they ruled that he had immunity as long as his actions had something vaguely to do with being President.
Having created a cabinet of unqualified dingleberries[1] prepared to do anything, he has attacked his political enemies, real or imaginary, bombed Iran’s nuclear program into oblivion, made enemies of America’s strongest ally, Canada, alienated most western democracies, ignited a tariff war, sometimes for non-technical reasons, which is not his right under American or international law, pardoned Jan 6 insurrectionists and election officials trying to carry out his illegal wishes, gutted just about every Federal agency responsible for keeping America sane and safe – medically, environmentally, educationally, flying safely, predicting the weather correctly – and has sicced the Justice Department on everyone and everything he does not like, particularly immigrants. All the while he dares all the courts up to the Supreme Court to rein him in. He has halted all programs to provide clean energy while China adds more solar annually than what exists in America. He has withheld grants from top universities which he dislikes and opines that he knows better than engineers that old-tech steam catapults are best.
He is a President without precedent. All around him is chaos, dysfunction and mayhem. Yet he continues to live his King Midas dream while everything he touches proves to be fool’s gold.
[1] Dingleberry – a small piece of dried faeces clinging to the hair around the anus of an animal or person.
Port Elizabeth of Yore: Sir Lewis Michell’s Years in Port Elizabeth
Lewis Michell first came to prominence as the General Manager of Standard Bank in Port Elizabeth. His tenure at the bank would result in a friendship with Cecil John Rhodes, the arch imperialist. Before his death in 1928, Michell had completed his autobiography. Despite never being published, portions of it have been used by other authors, the latest being the book on Rhodes by Richard Steyn entitled Rhodes and his Banker.
I am indebted to Jon Inggs for introducing me to this manuscript. The chapter on Port Elizabeth was especially interesting as Michell eloquently portrays not only the Town itself but also provides insightful comments on some prominent residents of Port Elizabeth.
Jon Inggs has used the AI program NoteBookLM to generate this blog and I have not amended it in anyway at all, even insignificantly. At the end of the blog I have included a copy of Michell’s original chapter on his assessment of the residents and the town itself. Likewise I have not made any amendments to the original. The reason why I included both the original and the AI version in this blog was to provide a way to assess the accuracy, fluency and readability of the AI version. On all counts I am impressed with AI’s ability to summarise the data under appropriate headings. On the negative side I found the AI version to be slightly rigid, even sterile, with little emotion, more akin to a text book than story. Perhaps that is how it should produce a formal assessment but I am not necessarily convince. Judge for yourself.
A SMAC in the Face #109: Patriot Gamesmanship
Trump relies on Fox News for all his security and foreign policy briefings and, since they are an integral part of his echosphere, he’s actually listening to his narcissistic self. It’s a symbiotic relationship – Trump wouldn’t survive without Fox News and vice versa. They are embedded deeper up Trump’s bum than a proctologist is prepared to venture. Their morning conservative news and talk program, Fox and Friends, serves up such a daily diet of sludge that it should be renamed Fox and Enemas.
In their latest sycophantic move, their streaming service, Fox Nation, has granted Melania Trump the laughable award of Patriot of the Year – 2025, this for a woman who, in Trump’s first term, wore a green jacket emblazoned with “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” during a visit to child detention camps. This was not a jacket by some avant-garde designer, but a $39 common or garden jacket on which she had daubed the letters using what looked like the white liquid that we applied with a sponge to our canvas Slazenger tennis shoes in the days before Nike.
(It was also written in all-caps, something which Donald has picked up on with his ‘Truth’ Social posts.)
She was MIA for most of Trump’s first term and just about completely absent during his campaign for re-election. In his second term so far, she attended his inauguration, the Pope’s funeral and a state visit to Britain and that’s about it. She has not made any stirring patriotic speeches, rallying Americans. On the contrary, every time she appears in public it’s under duress and she looks like she’s passing a large kidney stone or thinking about Donald trying to get his leg over the previous night.
On learning about this cringeworthy sycophantic award, SUMAC could not resist mocking the picture they posted by replacing an uncharacteristically smiling Melania with her image from Donald’s inauguration. Her choice of look for the occasion was unfathomable. She looked like she was auditioning for a female Darth Varder, the Grim Reaper or the Plague Doctor. Whatever! Her message to the American People (and Donald) is clear – don’t f%$k with me – a non-verbal version of her previous “I really don’t care” statement.
Port Elizabeth of Yore: Replenishment of a Ship’s Water
Whenever a ship can moor at a jetty or a quay using mooring lines, the process of replenishing a ship’s water is simplified. All that is required are for water pipes to be laid along the wharf. Difficulties abound whenever there is a lack of such facilities, but these hassles are always mitigated or overcome whenever entrepreneurs abound.
This blog deals with these entrepreneurs and their solutions.
Main picture: PE From South End, painted by Baines in 1853, [Transnet Heritage Library N58606]
The French sailing ship: The Le Necessaire
Historically, French naval vessels, like other sailing ships, primarily carried water in wooden barrels (also called casks, butts, or hogsheads) stored in the ship’s hold.
During extended voyages especially when sailing in enemy controlled waters, the collection of water from the shore was frowned upon as being too dangerous. Instead the sailors would rely upon rain squalls for water collection. In this case sailors would spread out sails to funnel rainwater into buckets and then decant it into casks. Even though the water could pick up a “unique” flavour from the oiled canvas, beggars could not be choosers.
The saga of the Le Necessaire highlights the consequences of obtaining water ashore especially when in enemy territory. During February 1752 the French sloop, the Le Necessaire together with two other vessels departed from the French Island of Mauritius with the objective of examining the southeast coast of southern Africa. They would have been aware of a Dutch settlement at Cape Town but were unsure of whether the Dutch were claiming or operating from any other portion of this vacant land.
It is presumed that the French squadron sailed steadily southward checking for human activities. With none visible, and being short of water, the French concluded that it was safe to land small boats to collect water. The location selected was the feeble stream called Shark River, now Happy Valley. In the process, the boat overturned in the surf, disgorging its nine occupants. In the meanwhile, a storm had steadily arisen forcing the Le Necessaire to withdraw to deeper water in order to prevent it from being driven onto the rocks on the shore further south.
Fully expecting their mother ship to return once the storm had abated, these French seamen were probably initially unperturbed by the withdrawal of their home, the Le Necessaire. The first hints of probable abandonment were possibly raised sotto voce the following day. With the full retreat of the stormy weather, which was presumably replaced by a vivid blue sky, expectations of their imminent rescue ran high. No record of what actually happened has survived but one can presume that those less sanguine silently explored their surroundings for food. In all likelihood, fish trapped in the blind Shark River were all that could be found.
Initially the expectations of being rescued would have high but after several more days of clear weather, the mood of the men would have would switched from expectant becoming morose and demoralised as the full impact of their abandonment by the Le Necessaire became abundantly clear. Comprehending the gravity of their situation, they would have set off to the closest town, Cape Town, 800 kilometres away. The only objects that they bore were a musket and two pistols and possibly some water caskets. Apart from their practical use to carry water, these casks could be used in a barter transaction with the indigenous Khoikhoi or Hottentots as they were locally known.
No record survives of these nine men’s travails, but it is safe to assume that they would have begged, borrowed and stolen supplies off the local khoikhoi en route to survive. In reality they would only have to survive the 368kms to Mossel Bay as in 1792 this was the eastern border of the Cape Colony. Nonetheless it was still a formidable target.
The first piped water supply
On page 98 of his thesis on the development of the harbour in Port Elizabeth, Jon Inggs includes this comment regarding Fortuin: “The only other improvement to port facilities during this period [1820s] was the provision of water to ships by a Malay, Fortuin Weys. He erected a pump and laid pipes from it to the landing beach.
Harradine describes the first enterprise of this kind by Fortuin Weys 1829 as a pump to pipe water to the sea’s edge from a well in Market Square.
By 1834 Weys was described by Thomas Pringle as “one of the wealthiest and most respectable inhabitants of the place’. He had originally been granted land at Algoa Bay in March 1820. By the time the settlers landed, his house, still under construction, was the second substantial one to be built at what was soon to become Port Elizabeth. He was listed as a blacksmith by Griffin Hawkins in 1822. In time he acquired a number of properties in the town and further afield”.
Later piped water scheme
According to Margaret Harradine during April 1851, the Algoa Bay Mooring and Watering Company began operations. A large tank was built over the springs on the south side of the Baakens River and piping carried the water beyond the surf to a water boat from which ships could be supplied. In December 1857 a stone tank was built over the spring and the old wooden tank was removed.
Era of the jetties
The construction of the North Jetty did not relieve the situation as moorings were restricted to small vessels. Larger ships had to be serviced while at the roadstead with lighters ferrying goods between South Jetty and the vessel at anchor.
Water storage and quality
Onboard Storage: Large quantities of fresh water were loaded into wooden barrels before a voyage. These were often stored in the lower parts of the ship to serve as necessary ballast.
Water Quality: The water often became stagnant, foul-smelling, and a breeding ground for algae and microorganisms after a few weeks at sea, especially in warmer climates. To make it more palatable and to inhibit bacterial growth, it was often mixed with alcohol (wine in the French navy, or later rum, which created grog).
A SMAC in the Face #108: Arab Chic
America rightfully protested in the No Kings rally that they did not wish their country to be governed by a kinglike leader. But maybe they should have protested as well about his King Midas touch. We know he likes to touch nice things and now nothing in the White House is safe from his cold gold touch. His décor sense along with the rest of his brain suffers from arrested development and can be summed up as Arab Chic. It’s a pity the rest of him wasn’t arrested at the same time.
The latest to feel King Midas’ unwelcome grope is the Lincoln bathroom in the White House. Maybe the green tiling isn’t to everyone’s taste, but he traded in old style warmth for a sterile marble wasteland with gold highlights. If it wasn’t for his fake face tan, he could play hide-and-seek with Melania and she would never find him in there. His pallid old man’s body and veinous legs would blend right in with the veined marble. Then again, she probably wouldn’t look very hard, if at all.
The Flemings of Port Elizabeth: Biographies of William Fleming Senior and Junior
These biographies have been created by ChatGPT. I included photographs from my collection to provide some colour and interest. The reason why I selected this father and son combination as my first blog created by AI was to assist me in disentangling the lives of two men with the same name. Fortunately for biographers, even though William Junior’s son was also christened William, he was not prominent in Port Elizabeth affairs and exited the scene by relocating to Cape Town. Secondly, William Junior married my second great aunt, Adelaide, who was Rev Francis McCleland’s daughter.
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #107: Putin’s Pet
Who knows how Trump’s worm’s eye view of the world perceives the Russian invasion (oops, Special Operation) of Ukraine? His stance has undergone more changes than a chameleon wading through Smarties, but in Trump’s case, not so smarties. He has flipped flopped from threats against Russia only to change a week or two later. In this opinion piece SMAC has undertaken to lay bare Trump’s motivations and for that SMAC deserves a Nobel Prize of some sorts.
To start off, one must understand the basic inner workings of Trump. He’s not clever, but he’s smart in a reptilian brain sort of way. And just like his primordial ancestors, he has an incredibly thick skin and an inability to be embarrassed. In fact, he has nil self-awareness.
First point to consider is whether Putin has anything compromising on the fat frat boy. Undoubtedly he has. Putin is an old-school apparatchik and ex-KGB officer. This is spycraft 101 for the Russians – get or engineer kompromat (compromising material) through a honeytrap or bribe. One must factor in that Moscow hosted his Miss Universe pageant in 2013. The Steele dossier is a 35-page report that contains hectic, but unsubstantiated allegations. Nevertheless, one of the most salacious ones was that, while he was in Moscow, he hired prostitutes to perform a ‘golden shower’ on a bed that Obama had used on a state visit as president in order to defile it. Sounds just like the petty Don.
But ultimately Trump is amoral. First and foremost, the world revolves around himself and as a businessman, he does not let any morals cloud the deal. While he was in Russia back then, he was feeling out real estate opportunities, but all that took a backseat after Russia annexed Crimea and provided paramilitary support to rebels in Donbas and Luhansk on Ukraine’s eastern border in 2014.
But that desire has never left Trump and he knows that if he can force an advantageous peace deal on Ukraine, Russia will richly reward him with great opportunities and he might wangle a Peace Prize. Just contrast his approaches to dealing with Putin and Zelensky. Immediately after Putin’s 2022 invasion he praised Putin as being brilliant while his European and Nato allies were aghast. Since then, he has never had a constant position regarding Russia. One day he takes a hard line and then after a meeting with Putin or a phone call, Trump does a 180 degree turn and insists Ukraine accept a ceasefire on Putin’s terms.
Who will ever forget that reality TV farce that Trump and his cabinet engineered with Zelensky in the White House on 28 February. With the cameras rolling, Zelensky was humiliated by a Trump tag team who created an embarrassing spat by insisting that his trademark attire (no tie) was disrespectful to Trump. Trump wrapped up the distasteful display by saying to Zelensky that “(y)ou don’t have the cards (to play)” so you had better give up right now. Putin must have been so chuffed that he probably ordered himself another Dacha on the Crimean coast. Contrast that with Trump’s obsequious behaviour when he met with Putin in Alaska in mid-August.
Also just a week or two ago, Trump started publicly threatening to give long range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine because of Putin’s unrelenting missile/drone reign of terror on civilian targets. A 20th October meeting was arranged between Trump and Zelensky at the White House ostensibly to finalise the deal. Two days before it, Putin phoned Trump and whispered endearments in his ear. Zelensky’s trip was rendered meaningless as Trump refused the Tomahawks and apparently a very heated meeting ensued. Then a few days later Trump u-turned again and announced crushing oil sanctions against Russia.
I wonder what Putin will have to do now to bring his pet to heel?
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