New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-19

and help 20 shelter in winter from excessive
cold. The climate goes to rather unnecessary ex-
tremes; the height OF summer December and Janu,
ary) is very hot. and the depth of winter June and
july corrcspondingly cold At the same time the
air is extraordinarily dry and bracng. The open
air for consumption had been tried and proved
successful at Ladysmith years before 1t began 10
be talked about at home. .. ,
We are not only healthy. but we are very good;
Probably few towns Of four thousand inhaonan Is
have so many places Of worship, Pracucally every
creed has its church or chapel, from the Du'c :.
Reformed which Is a very small congregation 70
the Wesleyan, which is quite considerable we
Folks are wont to laugh at the o
is the third sized town in Natal Durham and Pie
termaritzbqrg being Of course good dea
cathedral town, and we plume ourselves CONSIDER
ably the public buildings, especially the court
OF course. the town, as a town, Is not much 20
look at-a few. dusty. III kempt. but fairly vide
streets; a spacious market square, surrounded by
low galvanized iron stores many Of them bearing
such curious Indian names as Mona Sammy, Abdol
Mahomet and the Ike. on the signboards FOR the
important Arab" merchants Of Durham are all
IN front Of the courthouse, the hotels and the po-
lice barracks are the usual horse tetherng rails
for hours. quite secure in the average integrity or
Honestly our weak points are our roads our
drainage and our lighting. These are elementary
and not on the scale that they should be our
But a moonless night rutty road and variety Oh
stranger in our midst use strong language about
rural simplicity.
For quite a long while Ladysmlth was the rail-
way terminus from Durham, from which It Is 100
miles away. During the gold rush to the Trans
ysh cSses eS se out day by the
for the northern Eldorado. At that time the bonded
thousands of pounds worth Of goods for the Trans
vaal In those days the hotelkeepers did flourish;
ing business in housing intending travellers and
provisioning them for the journey. But this has
al been altered nGT WE Are only roadside nd sta Ia
yont But we hay have the branch line to HaTrismi{h
@ a
There are good many trees In ladysmith-n
Mmosas. gum trees OF dozen kinds, yucas aloes
and planes all flourish; and some OF the flower gar
dens are beautifully bright In summer.
BY the way, the name OF Ladysmith has The
simplest of deriyations 1t was chrstened after
the Spanish wife Of General Sir Harry Smith. who
His extraordinary ride from Cape Town to Grahams-
town. a distance Of nearly five hundred miles, 10
Of 1895, in six days, is matter OF history ,-,..
But after Az The CHIEF Interest IN hadXs Gn
of the first Transvaal war we had troops here. and
the place was to all nents and purposes garT
drawn. and II not until 1897 that we were again
familiar with the flies and the drums. In that
near the wa a' rather less than two miles
TO the west Of the town We were right glad 10
see them. and tried best to do them we'll There
under canvas and in so-called huts. and three field
batteries of artillery helped to swell the number
was re-established. just over two years ago, 1t
TO me that there was some lhRlns on strange
happenings even at that time we talked Vagueyy
Of possibilities. but never realized the dread actual
tiles that have now come to pass.
At that time various real estate speculators and
others bought land In me neighDorhood OF Ihe
camp with a view OF building a Motel some , pun 4
gaoWs. a canteen or so and other accommodation
for the troops. but owing TO various causes noth-
ing tangible was done, and beyond the tents there
are only some dozen little brick buildings dotted
about the outskirts OF the regimental lines.
The soldiers came and went freely In the town ana
caused an appreciate Improvement in the trade OF
the place which previous 10 that, had not been In
a too nourishing condition ..,
II would be ridiculous In me extreme 10 PIeoeng no
that Ladysmith is impregnable IL Is hOthInB OF
the sort TIC the west OF the town there Is me
level plain In which is the camp. The open veidt
rolls away for miles until IL meets tne IoutiIlls
stretching afsr from the Drakensberg Mountains
The Sand River with It's afiiuents. he Blaauwoahhk
River and Dewdrop sprut or stream S i n me ne
road leading across Van Reenen's Pass to Harrl-
smith There IL very little water In any OF these
rivers save after thunderstorm Duiihs ae a., ~
mer months these pretty frequent ana LOT OIL, ~
least few weeks I'm January may be expected WIN
almost clockwork regularity between anu r'oon n
every afternoon. They usually ohly las, 10, oti
hour or less and though the downpour IL Verithpy
tropical for the time. the hot sun soon dies up
moisture and the soil Is parched ana thirsty As"i'
y On the east OF Ladysmith there are several hills
which are OF some importance. Inc IslIhuunnaa'
for Instance, s dgniiled o. Ihe nmbaTd's Kop is
an arinence within four miles OF the town ana slk
of the camp Kopje hillockl - the diinuNe ,G ~
kop hill Scattered g Eonies "" Covered with stones
az and Capable Of making excellent cover for , ne
Beers. who however; e 6eayy oG naval Val guns
Deeh untireiv incorrect TO describe LadysInith as
Wing in tencup. fairer c9mpafison Santtc souD
say wa. Nth a big piece OF the edge Clipped on on
p pne side through this chip comes the railway
line from Durham -, ,.r,io,. of . dozen 10