Tuesday, January 27, 2015

A massacre between the lines

In the Portsmouth Evening News of 18 January 1878, and surrounded by advertisements for mahogany staircases, drapery sales and breath fresheners, departure times for mail ships, a letter to the editor about the disgraceful standard of singing by the choir in a local church and another on crimping (touts for low-class pubs who board ships and lure sailors into their clutches) is this brief report on a massacre in China.
The Russian newspapers announce that immense numbers of fugitives have arrived at Kulja from Kashgaria. At one point on the frontier alone the outpost officers report that 1,500 Dongans have sought refuge there from Toorfan, and at the Russian boundary nearest Aksu there are at least twice that number. The people of Manas were less fortunate in their endeavours to escape, the majority being cut down while on their way to seek refuge on Russian territory. According to their reports, the Chinese have massacred all the Mussulmen peasants they have come in contact with, while in the towns they have conquered, a reign of terror exists. Coincident with the arrival of Kashgarian refugees at Kulja, the Golos announces also the presence of Chinese commissariat agents there, who are buying up provisions for Tso Tsonn Tsan's army. The latter has left the encampment at Aksu and is marching forward with the intention of attacking Kashgar. Rumours are current that Bek Kuli Beg has retired to Yarkund.

With the exception of Kashgar, none of the place names or individuals meant much to me, so research beckoned. Obviously names have changed much since 1878 and here is how this same article reads using current accepted spellings:
The Russian newspapers announce that immense numbers of fugitives have arrived at Yining from Kashi.  At one point on the frontier alone the outpost officers report that 1,500 Hui people have sought refuge there from Turpan, and at the Russian boundary nearest Aksu there are at least twice that number. The people of Manass in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region were less fortunate in their endeavours to escape, the majority being cut down while on their way to seek refuge on Russian territory. According to their reports, the Chinese have massacred all the Moslem peasants they have come in contact with, while in the towns they have conquered, a reign of terror exists. Coincident with the arrival of Kashi refugees at Yining, liberal sources announce also the presence of Chinese commissariat agents there, who are buying up provisions for Zuo Zontang's army. The latter has left the encampment at Aksu and is marching forward with the intention of attacking Kashi. Rumours are current that Yaqub Beg has retired to Yarkant.

Things haven't changed all that much in the 21st Century. Advertising still keeps newspapers going. There are still individuals who waste time and column space writing letters to editors on matters that seem trivial compared to reigns of terror being waged against minorities elsewhere on the planet. Read this BBC report about the Uighurs today.

Yaqub Beg is clearly not a popular figure in Xinjiang and heads up this most wanted list that also includes the woman who is probably the most famous living and exiled Uighur, human rights campaigner, Rebiya Kadeer.


Thursday, January 1, 2015

What the Fates have in store

Another year has ended on a rather sombre note, with tragedies in the air and at sea, yet more senseless violence perpetuated by fanatics, as well as random accidents no-one could possibly foresee. They serve to remind us that such events are always part of life and all the safety precautions in the world can't protect us against the Fates when our time has come.

In the 19th Century, before the use of modern navigation devices, travelling by sea was always rather risky and shipwrecks were commonplace. Just one such disaster that is now little-known was the sinking of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Teuton off the coast of South Africa. (Note: Wikipedia link is in German.)



Originally owned by Robert Jardine of London and Hong Kong, she was built by William Denny & Brothers of Dunbarton and launched in 1869 as the SS Glenarty. In 1873 she was transferred to the ownership of the Union Steam Ship Company and renamed Teuton. (There are still people who believe renaming a ship is inviting bad luck!)

The ship carried 157 passengers, many of them immigrants to South Africa. She had sailed from Plymouth on 6th August 1881 and, after a stop at Madeira, arrived in Cape Town twenty-three days later. Not long after she departed Table Bay for Algoa Bay on 30th August, she struck something off Quoin Point that lies between Danger Point and Cape Agulhas.

Rather than repeating what has been comprehensively written elsewhere, please go to this South African Genealogy blog post for the full account.

Always after reading such stories, I am intrigued to know what happened to the survivors, how they coped in later years. The blog post gives us some information about the crew and other men who survived, but what about the only female, 16 year old Lizzie (Elizabeth) Ross who lost all her family in one night? One can only imagine her state, so young and alone in a strange country.

This page on the founding of the Cape Town Caledonian Society is enlightening in that it states the Society only came into being directly as a result of the sinking of the Teuton. It also says that Lizzie Ross was "... taken in by the Minister and Elders of the St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Cape Town and cared for by Mr and Mrs Runciman. She was later educated as a teacher." Genealogy searches fail to show any further reference to her, but we can only hope that her later life was less traumatic. If anyone reading this does know what happened to Lizzie, please contact me.

Presuming he is the same Mr Runicman who took in Lizzie Ross, William Runciman deserves acknowledgment in his own right. From information in The Anglo-African Who's Who and Biographical Sketchbook 1907, William was born in South Shields, County Durham, around 1858, and educated in Scotland. His father, also called William, was a Master Mariner in the Merchant Navy and later became the Dock Master at Cape Town. His son immigrated to South Africa in 1873 and worked his way upwards in a steamship agency, finally becoming senior partner. He was very interested in improvements in education and public works, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Cape Parliament, Mayor several times over, and Simonstown owes much to his vision and energy. He married Elizabeth Black and had two sons and a daughter.

From genealogy website

Tombstones, Runciman family, Simonstown, Cape, South Africa

Images of the area in and around Simonstown

Site showing book with old photos with links to Runciman


More on the Teuton here:


Wrecksite details

Other shipwrecks in the same vicinity.