"Act now against Rhodes or life-long regret" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box2/Fold4/1901/14 |
| Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | Wednesday 13 March 1901 |
| Address From | Hanover, Northern Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Betty Molteno |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections. The name of the addressee is indicated by salutation.
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1
Hanover
2 March 13 / 01
3 Wednesday night
4
5 No post from Cape Town has come in today, dear Friend, so I have no
6news from you or Cron The news has however come tonight that two
7Hanover young men to shot at de Aar this week by order of the British.
8One has a wife & 6 children quite unprovided for, & another is the son
9of a very old men here. I hope it may be false but I fear not Could
10you try to get me £5 or if possible ten sent from the fund the
11English woman are sending out. There is much want here, in many ways.
12We have four men in prison to whom the village people have to send
13meals to daily, different people taking it by turns, we have a lot of
14Free State people here turned out whom the village people have to help,
15 & we have besides many people much impoverished by the martial law.
16For instance one family close to me. The man made his living as
17several poor people did here by bringing in the loads from the station,
18 for more than two months since martial law came in they have not
19earnt’t one penny. They have 5 bright intelligent children whom they
20would have had to take from the school, but I went to see the
21committee about it. Two of the children they are taking free & I am
22paying 10/- a quarter for the other & teaching one little boy myself
23every morning. The mother one of the most hard working women I ever
24met is taking in needle work to keep the family. They are most
25respectable refined people. There are endless such cases, a few pounds
26here would do a great deal. I will send the committee a statement of
27the way the money is spent. If the men are shot I shall want to buy a
28little common mourning for the wife & children. Funny as it seems to
29us, these poor people feel it so hard not to have a little crepe.
30
31 Good bye dear
32 Olive
33
34 If you can get the money send a PO order. The bank here has long been
35closed.
36
37^Of course it may after all be a lie about the men being unreadable at
38de Aar. Its so terrible that one never knows what to believe. ^
39 OS
40
2 March 13 / 01
3 Wednesday night
4
5 No post from Cape Town has come in today, dear Friend, so I have no
6news from you or Cron The news has however come tonight that two
7Hanover young men to shot at de Aar this week by order of the British.
8One has a wife & 6 children quite unprovided for, & another is the son
9of a very old men here. I hope it may be false but I fear not Could
10you try to get me £5 or if possible ten sent from the fund the
11English woman are sending out. There is much want here, in many ways.
12We have four men in prison to whom the village people have to send
13meals to daily, different people taking it by turns, we have a lot of
14Free State people here turned out whom the village people have to help,
15 & we have besides many people much impoverished by the martial law.
16For instance one family close to me. The man made his living as
17several poor people did here by bringing in the loads from the station,
18 for more than two months since martial law came in they have not
19earnt’t one penny. They have 5 bright intelligent children whom they
20would have had to take from the school, but I went to see the
21committee about it. Two of the children they are taking free & I am
22paying 10/- a quarter for the other & teaching one little boy myself
23every morning. The mother one of the most hard working women I ever
24met is taking in needle work to keep the family. They are most
25respectable refined people. There are endless such cases, a few pounds
26here would do a great deal. I will send the committee a statement of
27the way the money is spent. If the men are shot I shall want to buy a
28little common mourning for the wife & children. Funny as it seems to
29us, these poor people feel it so hard not to have a little crepe.
30
31 Good bye dear
32 Olive
33
34 If you can get the money send a PO order. The bank here has long been
35closed.
36
37^Of course it may after all be a lie about the men being unreadable at
38de Aar. Its so terrible that one never knows what to believe. ^
39 OS
40