De Langesdrift
Enclosed a Post Card, sent from East London, 23 DEC 1909, via Standerton 26 DEC 09 till De Langesdrift 27 DEC 09
My question, we shee a other cancellation off VICTORIA ????? DEC 24
who can help to decipher this post card, and the mode of mail transport: train?
Thanks
Albert
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Albert, you just caught me before going out so this has to be brief. The VICTORIA datestamp is actually 'VICTORIA WEST'. So, it was sent from EAST LONDON via VICTORIA WEST to STANDERTON and on to DE LANGES DRIFT. You can fill the dates for the towns but it looks a nice card with an interesting route. I am not a ZAR / TVL Expert but I reckon that DE LANGES DRIFT is not very common. Putzel suggests it could be the only datestamp associated with that PO. He shows a drawn example, not the real thing.
Albert,
Are you sure that the postmark on the stamp is EAST LONDON? I can't read it as East London - it looks to me as if it ends "TON" and is only 6 or 7 letters long. My best guess is that it's likely to be LOXTON, a small PO just W of Victoria West, which would make good sense of the routing; Loxton had a canceller at that date that appears to match (Put 2).
A PAK opened at Delanges Drift in 1899, so it probably had a ZAR canceller. It re-opened as a PO shortly after the Boer War. This is the only canceller so far reported (Put 1), and your card has the earliest date of use that I've so far seen.
Bas, you are right. I was in a hurry and took Albert's word for it that it was East London.
So there you have it, Albert. The SAPC in action, eventually providing the full story but not before I make a fool of myself, again. It's a good result for you - you have the earliest date of use. Now all you have to do is find a DELANGES DRIFT ZAR and you will make Bas Payne, our resident ZAR / TVL expert, very happy.
Thanks for answering my question. I am new to postal history South Africa. So all news have my interest.
Glad to be of help, Albert. We exist to serve!
This was an interesting query. Please keep them coming.
As Steve says, an interesting query; also a new EKD, and a lot of fun working out where the card was probably posted - I'd never heard of LOXTON (apologies if that's where you are from ....). Many thanks.
I'd heard of Loxton as a dorp. It is memorable for me because it was the name of the much feared and respected deputy headmaster at Pinelands High School where I matriculated in Cape Town in 1968. You did not want to get 'cuts' from Mr Loxton. An Afrikanerised Englishman, his canings verged on violence. Mr Kent, the headmaster and an Oxford Blue, was a soft touch. He kept a selection of canes in his office behind a cabinet beneath his old oar. Even if it did take my breath away, I could take six of the best from Mr Kent any day of the week but never Mr Loxton. He made me howl. I haven't thought about this for years. Thinking about it now, I got cuts from at least six teachers from primary to high school, mostly for insolence, insubordination or gross irresponsibility. I deserved it and I don't resent it. I can't say it made a man of me. The lesson of it was in the humiliation you suffered. Stiff upper lip and all of that!