By Oswald BOTTON, Aug 1968 (he died two months later)
Evelyn mentioned below is Lydia Eveline BRADFIELD sister to Josephine Amelia.
At about this time, Uncle Bob Carruthers had purchased an old gold mine in the Gwanda area
called the Mazeppa Mine on which he erected a five-stamp battery and engaged his brother,
Bill, to assist him in the running of the mine. I cannot remember, now, if there was any
special reason for their visit but, in 1911, Mom and Dad with Eileen, a babe in arms,
turned up at the Mazeppa for a short holiday. Evelyn, Bill's wife, was there, too, on
holiday from Salisbury, where she was employed. Bill Carruthers and Evelyn were a
childless couple, but passionately fond of children and it was here that they
approached Mom and Dad, in real earnest, with the request that they would tike to adopt
Eileen. They argued that it would be less of a wrench for Mom and Dad to part with Eileen,
having seven other children to "console" them. This request came to Mom "as
a bolt from the blue" and, in order not to hurt Bill and Evelyn, Mom's only
response to their entreaties was, !
"Ask Arthur", knowing full well what Dad's immediate reply would be. Well,
in due course, "Arthur" was confronted with the same query and he made no bones
about his feelings on the matter and told them, in effect, that Eileen was definitely
not for adoption and, furthermore, if he and Mom were blessed with additions to the
family in the years ahead, even then no such thoughts would be entertained. I am sure
that this flat refusal to co-operate had a disturbing effect on Evelyn for the rest of
her stay at the Mazeppa Mine. The Bucks Reef was only about twelve miles from the
Mazeppa, so I took the opportunity of cycling over, at frequent intervals, whilst Mom and
Dad were there. In 1912, Nias & Wood, having made their "pile" from the
Bucks Reef, sold the property to an influential Johannesburg Mining Company for
@250,000.
When I had arrived on the mine, some years previously, adequate supplies of fuel for the
wood-burning boilers were close at hand which created no problems at all but, as the
years rolled by, serious inroads had been made on the quite dense growth of indigenous
timber suitable for the needs of the numerous mines operating in the district and,
naturally, this created something of a problem. By the time the Bucks Reef Mine was about
to change hands, L.N. Papenfus, a well known character and a Rhodesian pioneer who had
contracted to cut and transport the firewood to the mine was, by then, operating from a
distance of 25 miles which, by any standard, made the wood-burning boilers an uneconomical
proposition. In order to overcome this problem, the new company decided to scrap the
existing plant and they installed the country's heaviest five-stamp gravity mill
each stamp weighing one ton. They also erected machinery which would generate gas from
Wankie coal for the necessa!
ry power and this new plant created such a favourable impression among the mining
community that several other mines followed suit, thereby assisting, very materially, in
putting a stop to the wanton depletion of valuable indigenous timber in the mining areas
of the country. But, in any case, I believe it will take generations to make good the
depletion of the forest areas.
It was during the few years I was employed in the Gwanda district that a very
distressing accident occurred to a friend of mine. He displayed such outstanding courage
and fortitude that I feel him worthy of mention at this point. This friend, Gerald Black,
was a keen and knowledgeable mining man and, as a small worker, had mined in the Gwanda
area for many years. At this time Gerald was developing the Freda Mine, a large,
low-grade, rubble proposition, within easy reach of the Bucks Reef, on which I was
employed at the time. In order to prove the extent and the depth of the rubble, Gerald
had to sink a series of shallow shafts and it was on one of these shafts, which was about
25 feet deep, that the accident occurred.
One of the essential articles of equipment required for use by small
workers for shaft sinking is called, a windlass barrel, consisting of a
stout portion of the trunk of a tree, about six feet long. At each end is
inserted strong metal handles. To this barrel-like piece of timber is
securely attached one end of a wire rope whilst, attached to the other end
of the rope, is a mining bucket which is used for hauling up earth from
the bottom of the shaft to the surface. This windlass barrel is placed on
horizontal wooden frames across the mouth of the shaft, so that two boys
at the top can operate the bucket up and down the shaft by means of the metal handles
fitted to the barrel on which the rope winds. Two boys lowered Gerald in the bucket. He
had with him enough detonated cartridges to charge six holes previously drilled by his
boys. He filled the holes, tamping down the charges of dynamite and, having lit the fuses,
signalled the boys to, "Pezulu"; but he had not been raised more than five feet
from the bottom of the shaft when the rope fouled and slipped onto the bar of one of the
handles, which effectively prevented the boys from operating the windlass and bucket
either up or down the shaft. Gerald immediately saw his predicament; the fuses were
furiously burning and he had to make an instant decision whether to jump out of the bucket
to try and cut the fuses before they reached their destination, or whether to
"stay put" in the bucket, enduring the consequences of the explosion. He
decided on the latter course of action, brace!
d against the bucket, feet inside, entwining his arms around the wire rope. He tucked his
head into his arms - and waited. The six charges exploded. Meanwhile, the two boys had
panicked and fled for assistance from the nearest Europeans, who were about half a mile
away. They came as quickly as possible and righted the rope. Gerald was hauled to the
surface, still grimly clinging to the rope but with his clothes torn to shreds and
his whole body lacerated by fragments of rock and rubble which had been hurled
from side to side within the confines of the shaft. He was beginning to suffocate from the
effects of the fumes.
I am glad to say that in less than six months Gerald had sufficiently recovered
from his terrible ordeal to return to Gwanda, to resume his activities on the Freda
Mine and he eventually disposed of the mine to his own advantage.