General Chat

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BIRTHS BELL, Mrs. R. H., Cape Town, October 2, a daughter. COOK-On October 4, at Harrismith, the wife of Captain G. T. R. Cook, 3rd Dragoon Guards, a daughter. COURTIS, Mrs. R., Sea Point, October 10, a daughter. FORSYTH-On November 1, at 'Tarlair,' Rosebank, Cape Town, the wife of A. Forsyth, a son. LANGFORD, Mrs. J. B., Rondebosch, October 14, a son. NETHERSOLE-On November 7, at Johannesburg, the wife of H. R. Nethersole, Crown Reef Gold Mining Company, a son. NETTLETON-On October 13, at 55, Nind Street, Doornfontein, the wife of Spencer Nettleton, a daughter. O'BRIEN-On November 6, at Straun Cottage, Johannesburg, the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel C. R. M. O'Brien, a daughter. OVERTON-GREEN, Mrs. H., Johannesburg, October 9, a daughter. PEARSON-On November 6, at Durban, to Dr. and Mrs. M. G. Pearson, a son (stillborn). THARP-On November 6, at Durban, to Eden Arthur and Lita Tharp, a daughter. MARRIAGES BRIDGMAN, H. H.-ADDISON, O. R., Sea Point, October 3. MACFARLANE-BARRACLOUGH-On November 5, at All Saints' Church, West Dulwich, Robert Craig Macfarlane, of Roodebery, Graaff-Reinet, and Winchfield, Hants., youngest son of the late Captain Macfarlane, Highland Borderers, to Mabel Tristram, younger daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Barraclough, late of Herne Hill. MACFARLANE-LUMSDEN-On November 6, at Cape Town, Alexander Baird, third son of John Macfarlane, Lochside, by Kilsyth, to Catherine Millicent Niven, youngest daughter of the late John Lumsden, North Berwick. NEALE, F.-CALLCUT, L., Woodstock, October 10. DEATHS ANDERSON-On September 12, at Margate, Findlay John Mapletoft, only son of Francis C. Anderson, Indian C.S. (retired), and dearly loved nephew of Frances M. North, Guthing, Basutoland, aged 17 ½ years. BAMBERGER, A. N., Port Elizabeth, October 10, aged 60. BUCKNALL-On November 9, at 15, Collingham Road, S.W., Henry Corfield Bucknall, in his 71st year. CURRIE-On November 3, at Pretoria, Mark Robert Currie, recently of South African Constabulary and Imperial Yeomanry, at Cape Town, aged 39. LEE, H., Maritzburg, October 11, aged 68. LEMPRIERE-On November 9, at Pietersburg, of enteric, in his 32nd year, Hugh Abbot, son of the late Captain George Reid Lempriere, Royal Engineers, and of Mrs. Lempriere, 22, Seamer Road, Scarborough. MCKENZIE, D., Rustenburg, October 6, aged 53. THOMSON-On November 11, at Kent House, Church End, Finchley, N., Florence Elizabeth, the wife of Robert Tickell Thomson (nee Thoresby). WEEKS-On November 2, John C. Weeks, of Devonia, Nimrod Road, Streatham, S.W., Chief Inspector of Machinery, Royal Navy (retired), aged 67. Miscellaneous articles on the same page: Letters to the Editor: VICTORIA FALLS To the Editor of 'South Africa' Sir,--I was very much interested by a lecture given on board ship last week by Colonel Frank Rhodes on the Victoria Falls, illustrated by some excellent magic-lantern slides. Colonel Rhodes is evidently very much opposed to the proposed route of railway and site of railway bridge, but admitted that if the proposed route from an engineering point of view was the only possible one, then nothing more could be said in the matter. I gathered he considered the railway was being taken unnecessarily near the Falls, entailing destruction of timber and undergrowth in close proximity to the Falls. He told us that the proposed site of the bridge was within 200 yards of the 'Boiling Pot,' the most magnificent spot at the Falls; but I see a Mr. Coryndon, in writing to the Times on October 10, states that the site of the bridge is 500 yards from Falls-a considerable difference of opinion. Without having visited the Falls it is hard to give an opinion, but whether the present route is the right one or not, I am sure Colonel Rhodes is right in doing all he can to impress on those in authority that it is a duty they owe to the world to do everything in their power to preserve intact what, from Colonel Rhodes's description, must be the most wonderful sight in the world. I am sir, Yours, A Traveller London November 4 /2

/2 ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE The opening meeting of the session of the Royal Colonial Institute was held on Tuesday evening at the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole, when a paper was read by Major Ronald Ross, Professor of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool University, on 'Malaria in India and the Colonies.' Sir George Goldie presided, and amongst those present were Sir Frederick Young, Sir Patrick Manson, Dr. A. P. Hillier, Mr. and Mrs. Woodthorpe T. Graham, Hon. John Tudhope, Mr. R. H. Croft Montague, Mr. R. Noble Acutt and Miss Acutt, Mr. E. Payne, Mr. R. Cottle Green, Mr. J. H. Parker, Mr. R. T. Coryndon (Administrator of North-West Rhodesia), Mr. and Mrs. P. C. Hiddingh, Lieut.-Col. T. A. Hill, Mr. R. N. Moir, Mr. J. Saxon Mills, Mr. J. D. Palmer, Mr. Thomas Palmer, Mr. G. B. Rennie, Mr. W. L. Taylor, Mr. J. Waghorn, Mr. Wood, and Mr. J. Leigh. The chairman, in a short opening address, reviewed some recent events of interest to the Colonies and dependencies. With regard to South Africa, he expressed his satisfaction that Lord Milner had resolved to remain there, and said that, while it was true that the position of things in South Africa was at present unsatisfactory, the marvel was not that it was unsatisfactory, but that it was as good as it was. (Cheers.) Lord Milner had been able to effect great progress, but it was of importance that he should remain there for the purpose of settling the great problems that remained to be solved, and especially the labour question. Continuing, he observed that the most dramatic event of the year in relation to the Colonies was the retirement of Mr. Chamberlain. To his mind, the place of Mr. Chamberlain in history did not rest upon the success or failure of his fiscal policy. Whether the right hon. Gentleman succeeded or failed in his crusade would not affect the facts that he was the first Colonial Secretary to grasp the enormous opportunities afforded by the birth and growth of the Imperial sentiment during the last 20 years of the nineteenth century, that he was the first Colonial Secretary to fan that spirit into flame, and that he, as a business man, was the first Colonial Secretary to transmute the Colonial Office from a Sleepy Hollow of Rip Van Winkle's into the active and valuable machine it now was for the maintenance and consolidation of the Empire. (Hear, hear.) Major Ronald Ross then read his paper, in which, after showing the extent to which malaria prevails in the tropics, the preponderating incidence of the disease in comparison with other maladies among the British troops in India, and pointing out that the disease was particularly the enemy of the pioneer, the traveler, the planter, the engineer, and the soldier, and how the progress of whole countries had been retarded in consequence, proceeded to discuss the question of the best methods of contending with the scourge. A short discussion followed upon the paper, in which Sir Patrick Manson took part; and a vote of thanks to the lecturer concluded the proceedings. Among the further gifts to the Maritzburg Art Gallery is an exquisite seascape, by Somerscales, presented by Mrs. W. E. Oates, of Gestingthorpe Hall, Castle Hedingham, Essex. Copied fro the ZA-IB Board