Our Family History
The Genealogy of the Story Family
Edward Jollie
1871 - 1925 (54 years)
Letter from Mafeking - Edward Jollie
From a newspaper article
Letter from Mafeking
We have been kindly furnished with the following extracts from a letter received from Mr. Edward Jollie who was in Mafeking during the siege. His letter is dated June 24th, and reads as follows:-
I have been the most busy since the siege was raised on the 17th of May, worked day and night at the police accounts which went back to October. I had no chance to do anything to them during the siege, as the work in the Chief Paymasters Office took up every spare moment I had; not only that, but having precious little to eat (not even enough horse) one did not feel inclined to do much. By jove! we were a thin crowd! Our greatest craving was for something sweet. The sugar we all gave up to the women and children. I hankered after a tin of golden syrup, and heard of a man who had a tin he would sell for a sovereign. I went to buy it and found he had already disposed of it for 25s. You could not buy anything eatable. The military authorities commandeered everything and doled it out. The day of the relief I thought myself very lucky to be able to buy a small team of sardines for 6s 6d; eggs were 37s 6d a dozen; wood was scarce; we were only allowed 1lb per man, fat to fry our meat in could not be got. I used linseed oil, so did some others, but it made some of them ill. Cod liver oil and coconut oil where also used. Men that made blaucmanche of starch and violet powder. I used to put baking powder into any dish we had in the hope that it might make the stew or whatever it was swell up a little larger.
The natives had a bad time and were very like skeletons. Often when I was paying them one or two would drop down simply from weakness. I have seen them pick up old boots, half burn the soles and heels and eat that. They were eating dogs; and horses that had died of horse sickness, which I that killed the Kaffir that ate it or else made his body swell up to huge proportions, when he cheated himself into the belief that he was getting fat once more. Dear me! if I once get onto the siege I shall never stop talking (or rather writing).
A great many Queenslanders arrived here yesterday to form a garrison; they are very disgusted that they have not fired a shot yet! Baden-Powell has gone to Pretoria: expected back in a day or two, to give out the Queen's chocolate, empty boxes of which are selling in Kimberly at £5 in each. The siege stamps are selling at £25 the set (19 in set, face value 8s 6d). I have one set. If you get any of my siege letters with seeds of stamps on keep them; they will be more valuable yet. The £1 notes the paper for which I sensitised are fetching here £8 each'. A set of siege notes £1, 10s, 3s and 1s are realising £20 the set. I have two sets are only. What a fool I was! I had the selling of them during the siege; use to pay the niggers with them. I could have made hundreds of pounds if I had only kept a good many. Thank you so much for the socks and hankerchiefs; neither of them could be bought in Mafeking; completely sold out months ago. I enclose a photo of us scuttling down the bombproof when the firing bell for Big Ben had just rung. I am the smudged man, and evidently ran too fast for the camera.
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