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iy | aX 1 ; \ " sublime. ESE 17) FE TRL Land of Diamonds Gold and Problems "South Africa threatens Uiiited Nations walkout" is-an alarming headline, not because South Africa is one of the major nations of the world, though it still has the major supply of gold and diamonds, but because it is a significant example of the trend of the times. South Africa has changed. What of this 475,000 square miles of rich territory at the very southern tip of 'so-called "Darkest Africa" of which so little is known? There it is with its chised, under privileged black and colored people... What is it like? On the surface it lies peacefully, comfortably snoozing in the sun. Capetown is old and settled, cul- tured and civilized, boasting the best of our historical treasures and "old families." a Durban, shining white, tall with sky-scrapers, is a beautiful moderh city, proud of its municipal or- chestra; long, wide, white beaches, and green sub-tropical parks. Golden City There is the mighty, fdst-moving Golden City--Johannesburg -- fab- uous in wealth, pathetic in its dire poverty, far-reaching in ts modern- fty, with everything money can buy anywhere in the world, writes Wan- da Dee in The Christian Science Monitor. : Lovely, benign Pretoria, the Washington of South Africa, flower- laden, easy-going, gracious, and Other towns and cities are no more, no less; over all there is a great similarity between California in the United States and" South Africa. : i There are the vines o®the Cape, the ranch:type houses in the Trans- vaal and Free State, the arid wastes, cacti and sand of Karroo, Kalahari, 'artd Namaquland. There are the long beaches of the Cape and Natal, mounting like Drakensbergen (Dragon's Mountains), but South Africa has little water, which is fast drying up. It dépends more and more on industry and' mining, not - only the old stand-bys--gold and diamonds --. but asbestos, coal, chrome, copper, mica, nickel, plat- "ium, to mention a few at random. The Cape is heavily productive of wine and fruit--it rains ir-the Cape --and the northern Transvaal still boasts the largest single citrus es- tates in the world. South Africa, founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Trading Com- pany as a victualing station to b¥eak "the tedious six-month sailing-voy- age to the wealth of tlte Far East, is a prosperous, free-spending land of perpetual sunshine, where the - standard of living is gracious and exceedingly high -- for the white The first people the Dutch. en- countered when they built their fort (now one of Capctown's hist- orical sights) were the Bushmen, small, and light brown, fleet and stcatopygic, and the more yellow and taller Hottentots, To add to the melee, they imported Malay slaves to work their vegetable gar- dens and farmlands. Racial Mixture An admixture of all these peoples gives the Cape its light-brown "colored. population, which has no trace of Negro blood. Later came the Germans and French Huguemots, and, while they continued to penetrate the hinter- : land, it was not until 1775 that the white man first encountered the black man, the Negroid 'native, the Bantu tribes, in Then began a. long series of so- called "Kaftir Wars," which con- tinued into the second British oe- cupation. The Cape' (it was not South Africa-then), arising out of European politics, wars, and peace treaties, first became 1795, was - restored to Holland in 1802, but was British again by 1806, and it stayed that way until Crown Colony.rule gave way to representa- tive government and fianlly respon- sible government in 1872, 3 Anti-British and just plain anti- government-in-any-form elements among the whites, the Afrikaners, old Trek Boers, had been trekking away farther inland from the seat of authority for some time, ' Diamonds Found _ In 1833 the abolition of slavery by the British Government was the. last unendurable straw, and the vast bulk of Afrfkaners, the descendants + of the first Dutch, German, and; Erench Huguenot settlers, trekked: across the Orange River to the north and northeast to find more natives and to wage nore defensive "Kaffie Wars"--"The Great Trek" (it was called), so similar to the movement, wet ing the = United States. \° vip Things were settling down in a nice, hanpy, isolationist, simple, pastoral fashion when, in 1871, dia- monds were discovered at Kimber: ley. Thos<svi: Af all nationalities landed on- South 'Africa's shores ahd crossed the rugged mountaius belting the coast, the arid, Arizona- like karroo, and swarmed to. the site, digging, fighting, grafting, and adding to South' Africa's future multiracial troubles, * The Afrikaner Trek Boers moved farther north and east still to avoid the clamot, but the Ridge of White Waters, the "Rand," synonymous with Johannesburg throw un its phenomenal supply of gold in 1836. SS 2,230,000 - whites and some millions «disenfran- - "flie eastern CADE T° British © in F293 I Pr LE Fol A ef FT he ALF x Eid 4 TATE ih 1584 YE Jet oo shaadi dt. A TRF YT Bis fin SHE TALKING TURKEY A Short Story By Derek Barat Despite . falling: snow and the prospect of a really old-fashioned White Christmas, George Pendle- bury was in anything but festive mood as he set out for his office on the eve of the holiday. The rot had set in three duys be- fore, when the turkey which his boss, Mr. Beesher, had promised "to get him, failed to materialize. For three whole days he hadn't known the meaning of peace on earth, let alone good will towards men! On his part, he had been ready to meet the setback with a philo- sophical shrug. But his wife wasn't the shrugging type! Whetr the bird failed to show up... there was a showdown! Particularly after she had disdained the offer of a goose from her butcher on the strength of it. : Bertha Pendlebury was very par- tial to turkey, and she meant to have one for Christmas if it choked her. "I shall be miserable all over the holiday without a bird," she warned him as she handed him his goloshes that morning. "So don't come home without one." : That had been her final word. And since he knew that if she was going to suffer over Christmas it wouldn't. be alone--or in silence-- his getting hold of a turkey had be- come a very pressing necessity. The problem -- short of robbery with violence--was whereiand how? His pewspaper ijrritatingly assured him that it had been g_ particularly poor year for tile species and those that had not died before becoming eligible for the table had mostl; dis- appeared under some counter or other, It was that last sentence that set f George Pendlebury swaying with" excitement in the crowded under- ground, so that he nkarly lost hold of liis precious strap. Why hadn't he thought of it before? To tackle . young Shrimpton at the office! Shrimpton was an up-and-coming traveller for Beesher Bros. and he had quite a reputation for being "wide." He had what he called "contacts." If you were pushed for a drop of petrol, or needed a bottle of whiskey, Shrimpton was the boy to approach. George Pendlebury was not nor- mally interested in such goings on. He had trouble enough keeping on the right side of his wife . . . without bringing -the law into it. But his plight had made him desperate. "So you want to talk turkey, eh, "Mr. P.?" Shrinipton chortled after he had been "approached" in a strangled whisper. "Come with me "now and I'll--get you fixed up. Strictly cash, of course, and," he slid his tongue round his teeth, "mum's the word." They hurried through the snow and some of the West-end's less salubrius back streets and dived into a basement behind a' bombed building. "Fix this toff up with a gobbler!" Shrimpton called out to a young man who, in the half-light, might well have been his twin, They each had fantastically wide shoulders and semi-bobbed hair, "Within two minutes George Pen- dlebury had parted with eight pounds, been "fixed up" and put nearly a quarter of a mile between himself and the basement, "The straw bag's: thrown in, Shrimpton's likeness him before he darted off. "He's a lovely bird! , .. and them fevers'll pluck dead easy if you dip 'im in a drop of 'ot water." N George Pendlebury was out .of breath, but he was a different man when he reached the office again. He tucked the straw bag out of sight beneath his desk. He didn't want the staff to know about his little excursion; although, having safely accomplished it, he felt rather 'pleased with himself. A bit of a devil! He office with satisfaction. The girls had been busy with colored stream- ers, and little sprigs of holly and mistletoe decorated his desk. The room; usually drab and uninspired, had assumed a gay and festive air. At eleven o'clock, the boss would sending for him--as he had done the last fifteei. years--for a glass of sherry and a chat. They never talk- ed business on Christmas Eve. That prespget, and the conscious- ness of the turkey against his foot, gave him a nice warm feeling inside. He was bursting to tell someone about his success and seriouly con- sidered "phoning Bertha. He decided it would be more of a surprise, how- ever, if he waited until he got home. "I shall be giving her the bird for a change," he smilingly reminded himself. Then Mr.~Beesher sent for him. The sherry was produced and their glasses rang as they exchanged seasonal greetings. . After the third refill the boss laid a finger against his nose and winked secretively. "Got. news for you, Pendlebury," hé twinkled. "Nice surprise." He reached down behind his desk and whipped up a straw basket. It was an exact replica of the one be- neath George Pendlebury's own desk, and similar rosy features lolled from the top of it. "I don't like letting anyone down," Mr. Beesher confided, "so I got this specially for you. It's a bit over the odds, of course, but , . ." he nudged Mr. Pendlebury playful- ly in the ribs with his elbow. "You'd have been miserable over Christmas without one, eh?" : George Pendlebury murmured ap- propriate thanks as he reached for his wallet. He didn't dare mention his other little "deal" .« . and any- way a sccond bird wouldn't come amiss. Bertha was very partial to turkey. : "You'll have to pluck it yourself," Mr. Beesher was saying, "but the " feathers'll come away easily if you scald it first." He chuckled happily, exuding good 'spirits. "But don't breathe a word to the others," he added, "It's the only spare I have." George Pendlebury trotted back to his desk and tucked the hew ar- were going to have an old-fashioned rival beside its counterpart. So they Rare Book Used In Great Goromonye The volume being éxamined with such interest is one o the few existing copies of the famous "Gutenberg" Bible. It.is valued at many. thou- sands of dollars, and was used when President Truman took + ---- & : diel Builds His Own Plane Froy the oath of office at his recent inauguration. had assured' sat back and surveyed the British Luxury Liner Completes Maiden Voyage--Newest luxury liner, the Caronia of the Cunard White Star Line,-is escorted by tugs and saluting fireboat as she steams into New York Harbor. Largest vessel built since the war, Caronia boasts the largest stack in the world and a hull painted three shades of green: ¢ Christmas after all. It had come as at bit of a surprise--the second bird. More than he'd bargained for. He wasn't too happy about the pluck- ing business either. Still, Bertha would be satisfied That was the main. thing. But it was during the afternoon that the real bombshell exploded. He was quietly dictating letters when the head of the counting house, Mona Finnemere, burst in with a portion of news that nearly toppled. him over the back of his swivel chair. "George!" she screamed. "You're --an-old devil!" Although she had been with the firm as long as he had--more than - thirty years--she did not normally address him like that in front of his staff. It was in her excitement that she forgot formalities. "You've won it you old devill" she shrieked. "First prize in 'the Bridge Club sweep... on the ticket I sold you!" She dumped a straw bag--from which peeped a now all- too-familiar bloodshot head--on to his desk, and stepped back to watch the effect of her announcement. He was too flabbergasted to speak He just sat and gaped at the turkey which stared gravely back at him, "I'm jolly glad you won it, really, Mr. P,"" Mona was saying, "because I know you wanted one so badly." The prizewinner partially regain- e. his speech. "Does it need . . . plucking?" he gasped weakly. She nodded vigorously. "Yes." But the feathers'll come away easily if you scald it." : The commotion attracted the rest of the staff,- who gathered round offering congratulations. They all said hey'd never seen such a beauti-- ful bird. "I suppose you'll be taking us all out for a drink on the strength of this," someone suggested. This was greeted with cheers, ~ At five-thirty George Pendlebury took, them all over to the Bird in Hand. He stood three rounds which left him with exactly ten- pence.. Then he went back to the office' "to collect his feathered friends. The journey home proved some- thing of a nightmare. The under- groin was jam-packed, and the _turkdys were as heavy and unwieldy as only dead turkeys can be. i The evening papers "Ad elected to splash their froht pages with the gnral lack of Chrigtmas fare. BIG RAMP IN TUREEYS screamed pee 4 i, TREE Xy --UN- one ficadline; and aie. DER-THE-COUNTER CHRIST= MAS. ' George Pendlebury tried to con- ceal his poultry beneath his feet , . . . but without success. He was conscious of an unvoiced hostility about him, and felt himself grow- ing steadily redder round the ears. When he got up to go lurching and stumbling under his load, he could have sworn it was to an.accompani- ment of hissing." As the merciful doors closed behind him, he felt rather like a turkey-cock himself, But once outside the station, his confidence increased with every staggering step. Bertha would be pleased to see him. Oh, she'd have her little say to statt with... about his bringing too many turkeys. That SPAY Magazine Plans--Towing his home-made plane, Robert Parker of I.ondon, England, heads fof. starting point of its first test flight. { frem magazine plans in 1936. The little craft passed the test successfully, flying steadily at A 50 miles an hour. He started building the plane was only to be expected; but once she'd got it off her chest there would be peace and quiet again. He let himself into the house quietly and was flexing his aching arms when she ran beaming from the lounge. : "It's all right, dear" she laughed, nearly bowling him over in the half- light of the hall and her excitement. "Mother's: come for Christmas and _ brought a lovely bird with her . .. the only thing is it needs plucking." --From "Tit-Bits." . Beautiful Things The Best Tonic I suppase nothing causes one to crystallise one's ideas, one's outlook on life, so much as the prospect of imminent death. We have time enough to think about it beforehand, [ mean, I do not count the narrowly avoided street accident where the crisis is over in a couple of seconds. But in war, and in peace-time, too, most of us have experienced, at some time or another; those terri- fying moments in which, proverbial- ly, one's whole -life is supposed .to pass before one's eyes. It has happened to me quite a number of times; twice in bad weather, in aeroplanes which I thought were bound to crash (only one of them did); once when I got stuck in a quicksand on the shore of the Caspian Sea; and once at night, in rough weather, far out in_the Wash in a duck punt. But most of them happened in the war, i eitligr with thie start of a 'blitz' or when setting out in the Channel. The steam gunboat flotilla {pn which 1 served for a while was bas- ed at Newhaven, and I can still re- member how I used to feel as we set out at dusk on an offensive pat- rol, and looked back towards the disappearing coastline -- the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head, and behind them the crest of the Sussex Downs--and we fvondered each night if we should be seeing them again in the morn- ing. : Certainly, my whole life did not pass before my eyes; but, on the other hand, I remember some fairly - searching stocktaking about the value of the life IT had lived so far, and whether I had contributed «enough to it, and how I would shape my future if I did see the Sussex cliffs again. Perhaps I did not do iat he things I promised myself I iB [think it ful I would' J think it was useful, all the same. Ai ig pre many other "things whicly can br Ea wo reYey that sort of stocktaking--ne sponsibilities, marriage, a family, and so on, Life, says Norman Douglas, must be lived, not endured. It-is a con- trast between something: active and ° happy and something passive and miserable. I think that living means enjoying life, being happy. You see, most people are of ver little use to their fellow men oo women when they are not happy; and I think it is probably harder to be happy in a disturbed and threat- ened world than it is in a peaceful one--harder to be happy these days: and, of course, at the sane time, all the more important and valuable to be so. Some people find it easier than others; some are happy by na ture and some are nof, and many are about half and half. T think I am one of the half-and-half people, with a leaning towards the happy side, Most of the happy people I know are 'not at all'irich; in fact, they have very few possessions and little or no security. They are not un- duly clever, and ih thost cases they are not at all good-looking. In fact, they have none of the material things for which so many. people spent their whole lives | striving. Well, what is their secret? Is it,» perhaps, that they know that life must be lived, fot endured? For me, happiness is bound up with friendship, and In that nice comfortable field of human relation- ships I have had more than my faic share of good Iudk, If we talk about hapoines?, 1 ¢up- pose it is rather absurd to leave out | what must, surely, be the mot versal single source of ni happiness | among human beings. Somehow love is one of the things that we seem least able to learn about by ex- perience; but if there is one thing I have learned It is that to love and to be loved is the greatest plece of good fortune which can befall any human being. And by the same tolfen, the deepest personal tragedy is to love and not to be loved in re- turn, however that may 'have some about--by change, or death, or oth- or circumstnce: and beside It most other human tragedies pale into in- significance. At such times, the capacity for being interested In something -- something, not some person -- ab- sorbingly . interested, enthusiastic about it, can be extremely helpful, I think. Indeed, an absorbing la- terest is always helpful. 'Ever since I can remember, I have had that kind of Interest la living creatures, in animals of all kinds. In school-days, I planned to be a zoologist, and then one day I stopped to think and take stock and decided all of a sudden to be an artist instead--a painter. That is a change of attitude, and I am not quite sure that I can explain It. Per- haps it was that 1 was by nature too slapdash, and my imagination was not sufficiently under control for the hard discipline of sclence. Anyway, I have not regretted ft--I have not regretted it ever, because I have a fairly strong urge to make things, create things, and as =a painter and a little bit as a very amateurish writer, my work {s mak- ing things. Now I am very lucky there, be- --oause-the-thing-I-enjoy-dolng-moat. is also my work, and earns my bread and butter for me; and I have even been able to link my painting :-{ and writing with my old original uterest in animals and, particularly, birds. That ts just luck, for one cannot expact to be that lucky. But one should; I think, be suitably grateful. It has led me to some strange and beautiful and out-of-the-way parts of the world, and my exper- fence of those travels makes me look forward especially eagerly to an expedition I have been planning. It is an expedition to a fairly re- mote part of the Canadian Arctic, in order to make a series of rather technical observations about some birds which breed there--~some wid geese--and, at the same time, to do some aerial surveying and mapping and so on, ina falrly unknown area. We have planned to fly up in a float-plane across the tundra to the mouth of the Perry River, in the Acctic Ocean, and in the surround- ing wilderness of lakes and musk egg swamp we hope to find and study the nesting colonies of the rare Rossi Snowgoose, and we hope also perhaps to find the breeding round of the even more elusive Tule goose. ' Well, you may exclaim: does it help the export drive? Does it help us to get the houses built? Well, perhaps it does not; but in spite of that it does add to knowledge, which I think Is always worth do- ing. It is a step forward, however small, in the everlasting search for truth, and for us it will be an ad- venture, tpo. So I think it will be worth while, and no less important just because it has not any parH- cular commercial value. Restoring Faith You know, ever since I can re- member jn my half lifetime, ma- teclalism has spread like a sort of fungus through the very tissues, as {t were, of the human spirit. It has led us Into a turbulent, violent age fa which the black eloud of war threatans us all, in which peace- makers are murdered and bitterness relgns. It seems rather a hopleless eo spect sometimes, does it not? But, .odn spite of it all, the sun still shines, and even the smoke of London town produces some of the finest sunsets " {a the world. I have found that those things do a lot to restore faith and a sense of proportion; and If you go into the wilder places and watch the sun aet across a waste of water and sand and salt marsh, as I did not long ago, and if you see a little skein of wild geese flying out acrosa the flaming sky, wild geese newly arrived out of the far North--out of the Arctie--and calling in chorus as they fly, you would surely be stirred and encouraged and refresh- od, because after all, beautiful things are the finest of all tonics for the spiclt; at least so I have always found it, in my erience.--Peter gott, M.B.E., D.8.C, In "London ling." Menageric-By Wols D "It's either the North Pole, of some chump"s opened & barbe# : shop up here!" - -«2 "C.rrlage Trade" Style--Prudence Penny, a 3-months Cerald kitten, rides in real style, thanks to the lift given by her cocker spaniel friend, namie of Blackberry, 3 | Le ah a I TFs Gn De OIC Wag a os he a b or MNES dts Rae a 3 B RH Soa io 3 5) BAY EH [3 a N ae a eh og