{"id":11936,"date":"2025-10-14T23:53:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T21:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/?p=11936"},"modified":"2025-11-03T11:38:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:38:54","slug":"telephones-motor-cars-and-film-technology-in-krugers-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/telephones-motor-cars-and-film-technology-in-krugers-time\/","title":{"rendered":"TELEPHONES, MOTOR CARS AND FILM: TECHNOLOGY IN KRUGER\u2019S TIME"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Jaco Schoonraad, Site Curator: DITSONG: Kruger Museum and DITSONG: Sammy Marks Museum<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Paul Kruger\u2019s presidency, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) was not isolated from the rapid technological advances of the late 19th century. Pretoria gained its first telephone exchange in 1890, linking government offices, businesses, and eventually private homes. In 1897, South Africans witnessed the arrival of the \u201chorseless carriage,\u201d when a Benz motor car was demonstrated before curious crowds in Berea Park, Pretoria. At the same time, the wonders of moving pictures reached Johannesburg, where the first short films were screened in 1896, and President Kruger himself later attended a command performance of nearly 50 films. These innovations \u2013 the telephone, motor car, and film \u2013 symbolised a changing world and brought the industrial age tangibly into the heart of the ZAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The telephone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telecommunication gradually developed from telegraph system into telephone. By 1890, Pretoria had its own telephone central, with lines installed in most government offices and in the Raadzaal.  Following a resolution of the Executive Council of the meeting on 26 July 1892, Pretorians could apply to the Telephone Office for a telephone connection at a cost of \u00a38.15. Additional lines were available at an extra charge. The service operated daily from 7.30 a.m. until 7.30 p.m., with limited hours on holidays and festive days \u2013 from 5:00 to 5:30 a.m. and again from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. This demand for extended coverage led to a significant increase in staff in both the Telegraph and Telephone Departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church street 60 was one of the first homes to have a telephone installed in 1891. By 1899, the Pretoria Longland\u2019s Directory<\/em> listed 249 telephone subscribers in the capital.  Remarkably, dialling \u201c1\u201d would connect callers directly to President Kruger\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Telephone lines in Pretoria, with the church on Church Square visible in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Motor Car (Horseless Carriage)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa, many of the latest inventions of the Victorian era soon reached the southern tip of Africa by the 1890s. The ZAR adopted steam-powered hoists, stamp mills, mine machinery, an efficient railway system, and electric lighting. The ZAR also invested in the latest technology \u2013particularly artillery \u2013 after the Jameson Raid highlighted the need to strengthen the republic\u2019s defences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet on 4 January 1897 the looming threat of war was briefly set aside as excitement swept through Pretoria. At Berea Park, crowds gathered to witness the demonstration of the latest invention \u2013 the horseless carriage or motor car. The car had been imported the previous year by John Percy Hess, a German Pretorian of the company Messrs Hess & Co., who became the sole agent for Benz Motors in South Africa. He instructed his bank, the Bank of Africa, to arrange payment to the manufacturer, Benz & Co. of Mannheim, Germany, and to ensure that the car was shipped to Port Elizabeth in 1896 before being transported to Pretoria. Hess became the sole agent for Benz Motors in South Africa and arranged for a Benz Voiturette to be imported via Port Elizabeth and delivered to Pretoria, where it made its debut. During the demonstration, Hess\u2019s first passengers were his business partner A.E. Reno and State Secretary W.J. Leyds. President Paul Kruger was invited to take a ride, but declined, preferring to watch from the sidelines.  A commemorative gold medal was minted for the occasion, while spectators had to pay an entrance fee of two shillings and six pence to see this wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, the horseless carriage was promoted as the \u201ccraze of the century\u201d and was here to stay as with the bicycle and \u201c\u2026as shortly we will bid farewell to horse sickness, expensive forage, broken harnesses, lazy grooms, and runaway horses. Our Motor Carriage can stand in the street unattended and the bumptious ZARP dare not interfere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Film<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 1896, Carl Hertz introduced motion pictures to the ZAR when he brought a film projector from England and screened the first short production at the Empire Palace of Varieties in Commissioner Street, Johannesburg. Hereby he introduced the ZAR to the era of the “Bioscope” through a series of 30-second films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hertz, accompanied by entertainer and pioneering filmmaker Edgar Hyman, soon began filming scenes in and around Johannesburg. For six weeks they toured the country, experimenting with the newly developed Cinematography machine. A memorable scene was captured in 1898 when President Kruger entered his state coach, parked in front of his home on his way to the Raadzaal.  Kruger himself showed great curiosity about this invention. In early 1899, the Empire\u2019s musical director Dave Foote and manager Edgar Hyman travelled to Pretoria to present the first official command film performance in the ZAR. A formal programme was printed, listing nearly 50 short films that were shown to an impressed President Kruger. The footage of Kruger was later distributed internationally through the Warwick Trading Company’s catalogue and was shown all over the world making him one of the earliest South African figures to appear on film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three days after the declaration of the Anglo-Boer War, W.K.L. Dickson (who worked for Thomas Edison) arrived in South Africa to record the war on film. Film as a new medium of documentation, was also employed as a tool of propaganda during the war, which was the first conflict ever to be recorded on film.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In January 1899, a special film screening was presented to President Kruger.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changuion, L. Fotobiografie: Paul Kruger 1825-1904<\/em>, p. 85.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emms, M. \u2018History of the telephone in South Africa. Lantern<\/em>, March 1975, p 53.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnston, R.H. Early motoring in South Africa\u2019, pp. 14, 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longland\u2019s Pretoria Directory for 1899<\/em>, pp. 243-245.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peacock, R. 1955. Die geskiedenis van Pretoria 1855-1902<\/em>. Pp. 227-228.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s Yesterday\u2019s Reader\u2019s Digest 1981<\/em>, p. 132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com\/th\/read\/SOUTH-AFRICA\/2002-12\/1040938349<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com\/th\/read\/SOUTH-AFRICA\/2002-12\/1040938349<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.sahistory.org.za\/topic\/history-south-african-film-industry-timeline-1895-2003<\/a>, accessed 2015\/03\/24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.sahistory.org.za\/topic\/history-south-african-film-industry-timeline-1895-2003<\/a>, accessed 2015\/03\/24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Jaco Schoonraad, Site Curator: DITSONG: Kruger Museum and DITSONG: Sammy Marks Museum Introduction During Paul Kruger\u2019s presidency, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) was not isolated from the rapid technological advances of the late 19th century. Pretoria gained its first telephone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":11939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,1],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-11936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-09 10:00:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11942,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11936\/revisions\/11942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11936"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ditsong.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=11936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}