Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-03-28
K.AFFIRS AS SERVANTS
PICTURE OF DOMESTIC CoNDI-
TONS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Gtilitarian Names BONE by the Ma
tive Blacks-Cannot Pronounce
the Letter r.
From the New York Tribune

From the New York Tribune.
vivid picture of domestic conditions in
South Africa was given yesterday to a
Tribune representative by Mrs, A, a. Blow.
She was the originator of the idea Of the
hospital ship Maine, the gift of Americans
in England to the British troops in South
Africa Her husband was manager of
mine in South Africa, and Mrs. Blow lived
there for several years. In recalling the
domestic problem as 1t exists in that re-
Sion she said:
Most of the work is done by Kaffirs
who. Ike the southern negroes in slavery
times are called boys no matter what
their age may be. When the Kaffir boys
come from the kraals no one ever uses
their native names. As soon as they are
brought in contact with the whites they
take white name. This produces results
which are not lacking In elements of hu-
NOR. Among the house boys Knife Fork
and Spoon were common names. Table,
Chair Carriage Watch and Matchbox
Were other names that l had in the house
at various times. My butler rejoiced in the
stately appslfation of New One 1t was
when the slang phrase. That's a new one
me was prevailing.
Kaffrs Like Rice.
zone Of my house boys took the utilita-
Nan name Of Ham an Eggs The Kaffirs
are very fond of rice, when they learn to
ca. it among the whites, and our stable boy
thought he had found the incest name In
the world in Rice But the Kaffirs have
the same difficulty as the Chinese in pro-
nouncing the letter r. and so poor Rice
always called himself Lice Down at the
mine they would take Pick and Shovel
and all such expressions in common use. One
day the wife of one of the carpenters sent
down TO the compound for a boy to do her
kitchen work. The boy heard one express
sfOr in frequent at the mine. It had
III 1rNfeA ay,1
-. when she asked him his name, he calm
ly replied Dam Fool
Why. I can't call you that said she,
Mortified. will call yOu Joseph The boy
few into a rage. He said Dam Fool was
a 'moochiie gum Ia nice nameD, and that
If he could not have that name he would
not work for her. He was so stubborn
about it that she either had to use the
name send him back to the compound.
Eventually she kept him. and she told me
that it relief to her feelings some
times to have a kitchen boy answering to
just that name.
The Cooking is Poor.
eve had ten Kafffrs in the house. but I
never could quite bring myself to eat KAT
fr cooking 1t was apt TO be weird. We
had an English housekeeper who did the
cooking. But one time l took her down to
hannesburg for a weeks ton, and
Candle. who was her chief assistant, took
charge of the cuisine In her absence. ALI
the boys were fond of MIR. Blow, and Can
die was very anxious to serve him prop
erly. One night he brought in a baked
custard for dessert. He had seen the cook
prepare Il. and had followed the example
with anxious care. When Mr.. Blow tasted
1t he thought for moment he was in the
clutches of a nightmare. Just to see what
the boy could have done to it, he followed
the subject up, and it transpired that Can
die had favored the custard with Worces-
terShire sauce instead of vanilla They
Were of the same color, and the simple
child of the kraal could go no further in
his philosophy Poor Candle was quite
crestfalleB.
The prices of ordinary necessities were
to pay from s1.23 to s1.75 dozen for eggs.
j kept "A hundred hens myself, which helped
To solve that problem, and many others did
the Sams More than half the eggs In the
country are brought from the Madeira Is
Lands The boats used to come from there
just laden with them. Milk is always sold
by the bottle One never speaks in that
country of buying quart of milk. 1t is
always, Go get a bottle of milk and it Is
usually delivered in an old caret bottle. 1t
cost from Is to % cents a quart, and 1T
wasn't very good when you got 1t.
Most of our butter came from Holland,
In tins. and cost ~ cents for pound tin.
In Johannesburg no ever thought Of
drinking any but bottled water. We bought
soda water a hundred bottles at a time.
But up at the mine did drink little
natural water after it had been boiled, fill
tered and cooled