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That evening there were people to dinner at the house. On Friday the Mayoress lunched
the suffragists and ourselves at the Carlton. Very stupid but a good lunch. I got home
as soon as possible to get a bit of rest before dressing for the evening in preparation
for the long ride to Benoni where I was due to speak that evening. We drove in a motor
for an hour or more and came to the smart little gold mining town. We held a meeting in
a small theater which was packed, the mayor presiding. When I returned to the house, the
Krauses had not yet returned from the theater where they had gone. They had told me
that they would not come into the house as they slept in a little house in the back
yard. I was instructed to go to the kitchen and get some hot milk which I would find
on the stove. I took a bath and then went after the milk. I found some bread and so
had a good lunch. I felt like a very self confident robber in a kitchen where I had
never been before. Just then the Krauses came in and we had a little chat.
On Saturday morning I went shopping all the morning and in the afternoon, we all
went to Mrs. Bosky's an American who lives in a beautiful house called Onder Keepjes.
we were there to attend a reception by the Martha Washington club in our honor. It
was a beautiful company of well dressed Americans, all young and well kept. The Pres
ident is Mrs. Warrener, whose husband is the Manager of the Crown Mine, and who is the
daughter of an artist who painted the portrait of Miss Anthony in Washington. The
name begins with G. but I never could remember it. I had met her in the U. S. A.
I made a little speech. That evening there was the public reception. These were
always dull affairs. The Doctor and I both made speeches.
On Sunday I lunched with Miss Lawrence and Miss Earl at their school and got
back in time to meet the Executive Committee of the Enfranchisement League who had been
invited for tea. After they had gone we had some supper and then Mrs. Brandt came. I
had had a letter to her. She was without exception the most charming woman I met in
S. Africa. She told me of her experiences as a volunteer nurse in the concentration
camp at Irene near Pretoria. She examined each woman who came in and the record was
put down in her diary. Nearly all saw their homes burned with all the contents before
coming to the camp. Not one child under five years of age in any camp remained alive.
She finally kept her records with lemon juice so that if her book was found no one could
read it as the juice made no mark, but the writing could be brought out with sun or a
hot iron. She is now writing up her experiences. She was the secretary of the secret
service committee in Pretoria and when the members were all arrested and put in prison
she organised a new one composed of women. Directly a spy came in and asked for a secret
time table by which the armoured trains loaded with soldiers and ammunition were leaving
Cape Town and coming up into the Transvaal. She had never known there was such a thi
ng but she got it with the result that the Boers made continual successful raids upon
these trains. It was glorious to hear her tell her stories of heroism. She is a sis
ter of Mrs. Henry Clute, of the Alphen Wine farm. Mrs. Boersma never lets us forget our
visit to that place as she always drinks Alphen wine. Mr. Brandt called for his
wife after his church was out and I found him very pleasant. I had enjoyed the evening
tremendously as the "stemning" of the Swedes was good.
On Monday I went shopping again and took lunch at the Carlton with the girls and
got home at four o'clock. Then I packed, got my things off, had an early dinner and the
Krauses saw me to the train where Miss Cameron met me. Many people came to see us off.
As the Reform Club had presented me with a huge bouquet at the reception the Enfranchis
ment League gave me a bigger one at the train. A few things I have omitted. One
Morning Mrs. Krause took me for a drive We went along the avenue where the finest dwel
lings are and they are surely monuments which wealth alone could erect. The road led
through a beautiful silent pine forest, which would be delightful with its paths and
carriage roads leading off in every direction, in any case but when one is reminded that
every tree was planted there, it becomes a wonder. The place is called Saxonwald.