Ladysmith, South Africa

What makes this card special is that it shows recent damage to the City Hall in Ladysmith, South Africa from the Boer war.  The City Hall looks very much the same today, although the damage to the clock tower has long since been repaired. The cannons, Castor and Pollux, are still there though, the big difference being that when this picture was taken the cannons had been recently used.

Ladysmith was originally founded by Boer settlers in the mid 1800s, but taken over by the British just a few years later. The Boers, or Afrikaners, were European settlers (generally Dutch, and some German, but also including French Huguenots and other nationalities who adopted the Dutch language.) The Dutch settlers originally came to South Africa in the 1600s to supply the Dutch East India Co. with supplies when their boats came ashore. At the time, they had no intention of staying permanently. Later, they were joined by the French Huguenots, who were fleeing religious persecution. As time passed, they began to identify themselves with their new country and referred to themselves as Afrikaner. Although the Boers had been in South Africa since 1652, Great Britain assumed power over South Africa in 1795. Diamonds were discovered in 1867, causing a large number of people to move to South Africa from Britain and add to the tensions between British and Boers.

Ladysmith came under siege by the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War in 1899. The siege lasted four months and resulted in severe food and water shortages and disease for the inhabitants and soldiers. On February 28, 1900, the British troops broke through to Ladysmith and the siege ended.  This card clearly shows the damage to the clock tower caused by a Boer shell.

An interesting Note: The young Mahatma (then Mohandas) Ghandi served as a stretcher bearer during the aftermath of the siege.

Streetcar Sundays - Charlotte, North Carolina

Today's streetcar postcard is courtesy of Robert Reeves, host of Live From The Surface of the Moon.

It's a great shot of a Southern Public Utilities streetcar with a conductor ready to make change if you don't happen to have the exact fare.

Charlotte's first streetcars began service in 1887 and were drawn by horses. By 1891, the streetcars had been converted to electric. The first streetcar line transported crowds of Charlotte residents to Latta Park, a 90-acre amusement center. The streetcar also enabled people who worked in Charlotte to live in Dilworth. Workers who moved farther out then began to rely on the streetcar as their primary means of transportation. When streetcar workers went on strike in 1919, it created a huge disruption for commuters, but also grew into one of Charlotte's most violent labor disputes, requiring mobilization of the National Guard.

The strike began on August 10, 1919, when motormen and conductors walked off the job, demanding higher wages and recognition of unions. Southern Public Utilities attempted to run streetcar service with non-union replacements during the strike, however the workers and streetcars were attacked by rock-throwing strikers. Strike breakers had to be armed for their own protection.

On August 25, a crowd of 2,000 gathered in front of the Streetcar Barn, confronting 50 armed strikebreakers and about 30 police officers. After the first shot was fired, police opened fire, killing five people and wounding a dozen more. In the following days, six companies of the National Guard arrived to restore order. Citizen volunteers were also sworn in to patrol the streets and preserve the peace. The strike ended on September 5, when the two sides agreed on a contract.

The last owner of the railroad was Duke Power, which also began introducing gasoline-powered buses in 1934. Some of the original bus service consisted of feeder lines to the streetcar, but later bus service actually replaced streetcar lines. In 1937, Duke Power applied to the North Carolina Utilities Commission to abandon the street railway system and replace it with bus service. City officials viewed the change as progressive move towards modernization. Charlotte's streetcar service ceased operation in 1938

In 2003, the Charlotte Area Transit System or CATS added light rail service in Charlotte.

A non-profit organization, Charlotte Trolley, has restored some of the old trolley cars and provides weekend rides on historic Car 85. For more information on the history of the streetcar in Charlotte, visit the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, which is where I found most of this information for this post.  American-rails.com also has interesting information on North Carolina interurbans and streetcar railroads.

The Whole Dam Family

This card was sent in 1905.  Any resemblance to people you know is entirely coincidental.

Several versions of this card were printed and were used to advertise a 1905 short silent movie, called the Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog. There does not appear to be a cat in the movie. You can watch a minute and a half of it on Youtube. I think there must have been more.