Display Ancestors of Maria Aletta Mccomb

Display Descendants of Maria Aletta Mccomb

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Contributor Number: 32

Born 03/03/1896 at Queenstown
Died 28/12/1987 at Durban
Father: John Edward Mccomb
Mother: Maria Petronella Martin

Married James Groves Children. 'Living'  2 Children. 'Living'  3 Children. Ronald Groves  b.21 May 1922 at Johannesburg, m.03 Mar 1947 at Johannesburg, d.03 Oct 1962 at Johannesburg, 2 Children.

Notes: Added by keithgrant149 Photo Maria Aletta McComb 1896-1987 Born: Queenstown, Eastern cape Died: Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Overview Gallery (0) Map View View family tree (252) Share this profile Print this page View sources (1) Footprints © 2013 Microsoft Corporation © 2010 NAVTE Q © 2013 Microsoft Corporation © 2010 NAVTE Q Family Members Father John Edward McComb 1861-1926 Mother Maria Petronella Martin 1867-1953 Brother Andrew Martin "Sonnie" McComb 1879-191 9 Sister Kathleen McComb 1896- http://www.mundia.com/za/Person/17463350/800753239Transcribed from an art icle in South Africa Magazine, 19 October 1918 THE INFLUENZA SCOURGE IN SOUTH AFRICA THE WORST EPIDEMIC THE COUNTRY HAS EVER HAD TO BATTLE WITH HUNDREDS OF DEATHS A DAY IN CAPE TOWN. FIFTEEN HUNDRED DEATHS IN NINE DAYS AT KIMBERLEY (Reuter's Telegrams.) CAPE TOWN, October 8 (delayed). The present, according to medical testimony, is the worst epidemic Sout h Africa has ever had to battle with, the plague being nothing in compari son. Much good, however, is hoped for as the result of inoculation. Sever al thousands of people have already been beneficially inoculated, and th e supply of vaccine will shortly be augmented. Relief work is already i n full swing, and organisation is developing hourly. Soup-kitchens and fr ee medicine depots are being opened in numerous centres. Thousands of vol unteers are coming forward, the most welcome being college students. Mrs . Botha herself has opened a relief centre in the coloured quarter of Cap e Town, and generally speaking the ladies have rallied splendidly to th e call. Between 140 and 150 burials took place at the Maitland Cemetery t oday. Mr. H. C. Becker, member for Ladismith in the Union House of Assemb ly and Government Whip, has succumbed to the epidemic. The influenza epidemic at Johannesburg shows no signs of abating, and i s causing much anxiety. Over a hundred cases were admitted to hospital o n Monday, and there were eleven deaths in the hospital by Monday night, m ostly natives. The position in the mines, however, is steadily improving , and the hospital cases have diminished from 20,000 to 3,000 since the b eginning of last week. The epidemic is now spreading to the country districts of the Cape Provin ce. So far the main-line train services have been maintained, but the loc al services at Cape Town and Kimberley are much curtailed. Although 8000 cases have occurred at Durban there have been no deaths, an d the epidemic is diminishing. At least two of the coal mines in Norther n Natal, however, are temporarily closed. CAPE TOWN, October 9. Indications point to a slight diminution in the influenza epidemic amon g Europeans, but as far as the coloured community is concerned the situat ion is becoming even more terrible. According to a moderate computation t he bodies of at least 300 victims are awaiting burial. Over 200 funeral s took place this afternoon. Free coffins are being provided. The relie f machinery is working smoothly, but is taxed to the utmost. CAPE TOWN, October 10. The doctors have now mapped out Cape Town into areas to ensure the best u tilization of their services, and an improvement in the situation is expe cted by the week end. At Kimberley and Johannesburg the epidemic has no t abated, and all business at Kimberley has been suspended apart from th e chemists and food shops. Up to the present there have been 718 deaths , including 30 Europeans. A serious feature on the Rand is the effect o n collieries, six of which have closed down, while others are only workin g at one-third of their normal capacity. CAPE TOWN, October 10 (delayed). There is no change in the situation in Cape Town due to the epidemic of i nfluenza. Through there are more signs of activity in the city today, the re is no appreciable abatement of the disease among the coloured populati on. Today's burials exceeded those of yesterday, numbering 250. Seven hun dred gallons of medicine, 25,000 doses of aspirin and several cases of Ep som salts were distributed from the medical depots yesterday. The City Ha ll presents the appearance of an overgrown store, being stacked with prov isions. The doctors have adopted three standardized prescriptions. At Kimberley, there were 467 deaths, of which 50 were Europeans. It is es timated that 1500 persons belonging to all races have succumbed in nine d ays, two-thirds being from the mine compounds. The malady is now extendin g to towns in the Cape Province. JOHANNESBURG, October 11 (delayed). The municipal efforts to combat the influenza epidemic is restoring confi dence. The banks and Stock Exchange are closing in the afternoon. An appe al is being made to shopkeepers to do the same, thus enabling employes t o obtain the utmost amount of sunshine. Several schools have been transfo rmed into hospitals. About half the police force is down with the disease . CAPE TOWN, October 11. Hitherto there have been about 8800 cases of influenza, of which 4500 occ urred among the coloured workers, among the railwaymen of the Union, excl uding Kimberley. Up to the present there have been 465 deaths, mostly nat ives, among the workers in the Witwatersrand Mines. The position at Johan nesburg is not worse. Many of those who have been lying unattended for so me days have now been taken to hospital as the result of house-to-house v isits. It is roughly estimated that the death toll in Cape Town and the s uburbs is about 500 daily, one-fifth of this number being Europeans. CAPE TOWN, October 11. Apparently the influenza cases in the Cape and in the Peninsula are decre asing, but there is a serious increase in pneumonia among the European an d coloured inhabitants alike. The Johannesburg Municipality has voted Ð10 ,000 for the conversion of schools into hospitals and for supplying comfo rts, medicines, and food free of charge. CAPE TOWN, October 12. The influenza epidemic in Cape Town has somewhat abated, and the street s are becoming more crowded. Nevertheless the increasing prevalence of pn eumonia is a serious feature. The position at Johannesburg is regarded as more serious, both as regard s the virulence and the area of the infection. The official record of dea ths is as follows: Wednesday, 27 Europeans and 57 coloured; Thursday, 3 7 Europeans and 37 coloured; Friday, 32 Europeans and 58 coloured. The to tal death roll in the mines is 482, which is considered small as compare d with the thousands of cases in other parts of the country. The tramwa y service has been further curtailed, and the organization for distributi ng medicines and food has been augmented. At Maritzburg the outbreak rese mbles that of Durban in its absence of deaths. It is stated that all th e Natal collieries have been closed down for a week. Other reports contin ue to show a spread of the sickness in the Cape and in the Orange Free St ate centres, but relief measures are being promptly organized. ("Times" Telegram.) CAPE TOWN, October 10. The influenza epidemic continues to rage with unabated fury in Cape Town , Kimberley, and Johannesburg, and has now spread to many other towns an d villages throughout the country. There were 250 burials in Cape Town yesterday, not including those in th e cemeteries of the Malay community, which also has suffered severely. Th e ordinary business of Cape Town is practically at a standstill. Severa l large hotels, most of the restaurants and cafes, and many of the shop s have closed down. The tramway, postal, and telephone services are disor ganized and much restricted. The streets are as empty as on a Sunday. I n the overcrowded coloured quarters and in the native location near Cap e Town the ravages of the disease are especially heavy, and the sights an d scenes of the last few days have often been gruesomely harrowing. The Union Health Department has been sharply and justly criticized alik e for having delayed to warn the public of the danger and for failing t o organize medical forces in proper time. Thanks to the efforts of the Ci ty Council, aided by voluntary workers, a fairly complete system of dispe nsary, medical, and food relief has now been established. In Johannesbur g yesterday 6000 cases, mainly natives, were in hospital, and while the e pidemic has abated on the gold mines, six collieries have been compelle d to close down and others are working at one-third of their normal capac ity. ("Daily Mail" Telegrams.) CAPE TOWN, October 10. Cape Town has now for a week been in the grip of a terrible calamity. I t would be impossible to exaggerate the extent and seriousness of the mys terious epidemic which, beginning on the 5th, rapidly attained appallin g proportions. Conditions in the city today are only comparable to thos e prevailing in the old-world plague days. The tendency at first was to regard the outbreak humorously. The ghastl y facts speedily changed the public attitude, for, although death's ravag es are not so large among the White population, intense prostration cause d by disease has paralysed all public activities. Among the coloured nati ve and Indian communities the epidemic has spread on wings with an enormo us death rate, numbers dropping dead in the streets. Normal burials at lo cal cemeteries of 12 daily rose to 40 a week ago, then to 60, 100, 160, 2 00, and today 240. The death rate among Europeans is now rising, pneumonia supervening on so -called influenza symptoms in a large number of cases. All available Euro peans are concentrating on relief work, which is making a supreme deman d upon all classes. The distress in the congested areas of the town is ap palling. Whole families are completely prostrated and unable to secure fo od, necessitating the diversion of the entire motor transport system to r elief and the work of funerals. The problem of the supply of coffins presents the greatest difficulty, bu t the military are assisting as far as possible. Tramways and trains are running still, but with a greatly reduced service , and all the public services are largely paralysed. Business is at a com plete standstill, and the newspapers are being produced with the greates t difficulty owing to the majority of the staffs being prostrated. The disease is spreading rapidly throughout the country, though thus fa r the situation in Cape Town is incomparably the most serious in any par t of the Union. Strong criticism is directed against the Government and t he Public Health Department for omitting to take precautions when a vesse l arrived here three weeks ago with a large number of native troops who w ere suffering from so-called Spanish influenza. These were allowed to lan d and were sent to their homes, thus initiating the epidemic. It is estimated that the patients in Cape Town number 40,000. There are n o signs of abatement. CAPE TOWN, October 12. Coloured and native victims continue to die in large numbers from influen za. In the case of the Europeans the individual attacks are especially se vere, pneumonia supervening in a large number of cases, so that the Europ ean death-rate is rapidly rising. Public business is at a complete standstill, and all amusements are suspe nded. The number of deaths is variously estimated: 440 were known yesterday i n Cape Town, apart from large numbers of Indians, natives, and coloured p eople. Probably a total of 750 would not be beyond the mark. The disease is rapidly spreading throughout the country. Kimberley is i n at least as serious straits as Cape Town. Government bacteriologists have produced a serum, and inoculation is proc eeding in Cape Town on a large scale, though many medical authorities ar e extremely doubtful as to its efficacy. Regards, Ellen Stanton Email: harprulz@bellsouth.net Transcribed from an article in South Africa Magazine, 26 October 1918 THE INFLUENZA SCOURGE IN SOUTH AFRICA WELCOME AND DISTINCT IMPROVEMENT PRAISEWORTHY AND SUCCESSFUL RELIEF ORGANISATION SPREAD OF THE DISEASE IN COUNTRY DISTRICTS (Reuter's Telegrams.) CAPE TOWN, October 14. The approximate number of deaths from influenza in Cape Town and the subu rbs, excluding Wynberg to Simon's Town and the divisional areas, from Oct ober 1 to October 13 inclusive, was five thousand, of which it is estimat ed that 75 per cent. were among coloured people and natives. In Cape Town the position in regard to the epidemic continues to be mor e hopeful, but it is still spreading over the country. In Johannesburg th e condition is neither better nor worse, but the organization there is s o complete that it is hoped that it will be mastered in forty-eight hours . At Pretoria regulations have been gazetted, enabling the local authorit ies to close places of amusement and prohibit public meetings. The railwa y departments have been asked to restrict passenger traffic, particularl y of natives and coloured peoples. JOHANNESBURG, October 15. At the gold mines there has been a further return towards normal conditio ns. The native death roll there amounts to nearly six hundred. The positi on in the Transvaal Collieries is still critical, but it is hoped that th ere will be a rapid improvement after Thursday. KIMBERLEY, October 15. There is a marked improvement in the mines and the town. It is computed t hat the total deaths from the epidemic have been 3300, including 300 Euro peans. MELBOURNE, October 17 (delayed) In view of the serious outbreak of Spanish influenza in South Africa vess els from the Union are subject to quarantine at Brisbane, Sydney, Melbour ne, Adelaide, and Fremantle, which will be the only ports of entry. The F ederal Government has requested the Imperial Government to forbid troopsh ips from calling at South Africa. CAPE TOWN, October 16. The position in the Cape Peninsula has latterly distinctly improved, th e genial weather doubtless partly contributing to this result. Wherea s a week ago Cape Town was almost a dead city, the streets are now resumi ng their wonted activity in the daytime. Theatres and places of amusement , however, remain closed, and by ten in the evening trams and trains hav e ceased running. The obituary announcements in the Cape Times for Tuesda y occupied over four columns; today there is a column less. The interment s in Maitland Cemetery today numbered 100, as compared with 200 yesterda y and 250 to 300 on the previous days. Nevertheless pneumonia continues r ife among Europeans. Official medical opinion anticipates that a furthe r two days must elapse before there is any marked improvement in the mort ality among Europeans. The thoroughness of the relief organization for combating the influenza e pidemic is most praiseworthy, and is now fully equal to the situation. Va rious charity committees have transferred their energies to meet the emer gency. Hundreds of voluntary helpers of both sexes are zealously workin g under direction from headquarters at the City Hall. There have been har rowing cases where workers, bursting in doors, have found people dead o r dying from want of food and attention. The feature of the outbreaks i n the country districts is the marked variation in the virulence of the d isease. In some districts there have been 2000 cases and very few deaths , and in others a few hundred cases and a heavy death-roll. There are 350 0 absentees and 186 deaths have occurred amongst railway employes from Ca pe Town to De Aar. At Kimberley there has been a further substantial improvement. Seventy-fo ur deaths occurred in the mine compounds on Tuesday, as compared with 11 5 on Monday and over 300 daily previously. In the municipalities of Kimbe rley and Beaconsfield 34 Europeans and 101 non-Europeans died on Tuesday. At Johannesburg the outlook continues to be most hopeful, and the diseas e in many of the suburbs has been definitely checked. CAPE TOWN, October 18 (delayed). Reports regarding the influenza epidemic in Johannesburg, Cape Town, an d Kimberley continue to be of an encouraging nature, although from Reuter 's various correspondents throughout the country, and from places as fa r north as Bulawayo, accounts are still pouring in of serious local outbr eaks, a feature of which is the great shortage of doctors. One of the pla ces most stricken is the Witbank, an important colliery centre in the Eas tern Rand. Here the Government schools, Railway Institute, and churches h ave been converted into hospitals, all of which are filled. At this plac e only six railway shunters are working out of 100. The death roll in Johannesburg during the past week is estimated at 600 , whilst the approximate mortality from the epidemic in the Kimberley dis trict for a similar period was 4000, of which total 400 were Europeans. The Government is prepared to take all necessary steps to check profiteer ing in the sale of drugs. ("Daily News" Telegram.) JOHANNESBURG, Monday, October 14 (delayed). The influenza epidemic is assuming a most grave aspect. In Johannesburg a lone 840 cases have been admitted to the hospitals, besides others in th e temporary hospitals. Forty-two nurses and nine doctors here are incapac itated from duty. Miscellaneous articles on the same page: Mr. Thomas B. Williams has passed away at Germiston, where for a number o f years he had carried on very successfully a drapery business. The death has taken place at Johannesburg of Mdme. Julienne Carayan, a fo undation member of the Femmes Francaises du Transvaal, at the early age o f forty. Regards, Ellen Stanton Email: harprulz@bellsouth.net > Martha and Mary, Tarkastad has a wealth of 'broekie' lace and old >> cast-iron >> lamp posts. It was established by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1862 an d >> derives its name from a Xhosa word meaning 'an area of many birds' . >> During >> the second South African (Anglo-Boer) War a large skirmish was fough t on >> the >> farm Modderfontein and the graves of British troopers, including tha t of >> Lt. >> SHERIDAN, a cousin of Winston CHURCHILL, may be seen here. Bushman >> paintings >> and engravings, old inns, war memorials and military posts are also t o be >> found.> >> http://www.essentialtravelinfo.com/accommodation/pet_friendly/southern _afric >> a/south_africa/eastern_cape/tarkastad/index.html [c+p URL into browser ] >> >> > centre and gets its name from the Khoi-khoi word 'traka', meaning wome n, >> and >> the Afrikaans word "stad", meaning town. The fact that the town is >> overlooked by Martha and Mary; two peaks which look like two wome n >> resting >> after a hard day's work, also lends to the name. The scenic Winterberg >> Mountains provides excellent opportunities for hiking, where hikers ca n >> see >> the well known San rock paintings; especially the Tarkastad engravings . >> > been >> seen in the old Victorian era cast iron lamp posts which dot some of t he >> streets, not forgetting the many old inns, military posts, Anglo Boe r War >> memorial and the grave of Lieutenant SHERIDAN, who was Winsto n >> CHURCHILL's >> cousin, which also add to interest.> >> http://www.tourismtips.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=64