The destruction of free public power plants took place not only in the South American continent, but in particular in Brazil. A similar process was also going on in Africa, which we will consider using the example of its southernmost geographical point, where the modern state of South Africa is now located.
This country rarely appears in the news, although it is a member of the G20, BRICS and the most developed in the entire African continent. And what do we know about her, besides all this and half-forgotten Apartheid? Very little. It is known that the first of the Europeans came to these lands in the 15th century, the Dutch and founded the Cape Colony there. This colony successfully existed until the end of the 18th century, when, as a result of one of the wars, it did not come under the control of the British Empire. During the imposition of new power by the British administration, the Dutch colonialists migrated north and east of the Cape, and founded two states there - the Transvaal and the Orange Republic. Problems for these states began at the end of the 19th century, when large deposits of diamonds and gold were discovered in these territories. To seize these wealth, the British first used,as they say now, soft power, and then embarked on several Anglo-Boer wars, the last of which was ended in the 20th century and ended with the victory of the British Empire. From that time until 1961, the united country was dependent on Great Britain in various forms, then it became an independent republic. In short, this state has approximately the same history. But when you look at old photos of South Africa, thoughts involuntarily begin to overcome. But when you look at old photos of South Africa, thoughts involuntarily begin to overcome. But when you look at old photos of South Africa, thoughts involuntarily begin to overcome.
This is Durban, the country's third largest city after Cape Town and Johannesburg, in 1910. Were all these buildings built by Dutch farmers who lived on their own in their own lands, as history tells us? They had enough worries on their plantations, what can we say about the construction site. And oddly enough, there is a single classical style in architecture, and if there was no inscription on the photo, one would think that this is some kind of Paris and others like it. In other large cities of the country, the picture is about the same. If it is banal to calculate the amount of materials spent on construction, and compare the number of people living on those lands (Africans do not count), then you can easily prove that both the Dutch and the British have nothing to do with these buildings. Most likely, these buildings were found abandoned in about the same way as Peter found St. Petersburg,and simply restored, and it was not earlier than the 18th century. What was there before? History is silent, as, however, in all lands, with the exception of the more or less studied by historians of the Eurasian continent. But let's not get distracted and move on.
This is also Durban in 1898, and here oops … a tram without wires. Roughly the same as seen many times in old photos of other countries, only on another continent. Maybe the angle is bad and you can't see the horses?
However, no, the tram is really wireless. And the street is the same, but only in 1891. If you look closely, in the background we see a pillar without wires, which is deployed with traverses not in the direction of the road, as usual, but to the house opposite, more precisely, to its roof. And on the roof of this house there is a power plant, discussed earlier in many articles. This is the very case when a line of poles without wires originates. In the left corner you can see the same pillar, only in profile. It is directed in some other direction. Most likely, there were many buildings with such roofs.
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I would venture to suggest that the circled building in this photo is the same as in the previous photo, only taken from a different angle and at least ten years older. And oddly enough, wireless trams are crowded on this street in clusters. The Transvaal (my country - they sang in some kind of song) is also a country of wireless trams. Judging by the building with the clock in the background, this place can be reconstructed.
Actually, it was only from this building that it turned out to find this place on the modern map. The rest has been completely changed, not a single house from the old photos has remained in any form.
Another photo from the same street, only two blocks closer to the sea. As you can see, there is a pillar behind the tram, on which objects are located in a circle, similar to sports cups, which were considered in previous articles. And on buildings (and not only), we again see simplified wireless poles, these are, in principle, the same poles, only instead of traverses, they cost a single cup mounted on a regular pole. The same designs are very high quality recorded in the photo of the same Brazil. Most likely, the power of the sources was enough not to block the pillars with large lattices.
And this is actually again a photo of the same street, only in 1860. As they say, feel the difference. Trams are still running on horseback, but the pole with the goblet is already standing, and the height of the goblet is again maintained at the same height as the roof with the power plant. The trend, however. But the conclusion can be drawn - trams on an incomprehensible electric traction appeared clearly not earlier than three decades from the end of the 19th century. And when did the pillars appear without wires, albeit simplified?
The same technology was applied in Johannesburg, and around the same time.
And in Pretoria, and the pole does not even stand on the building and above the ground has no visible connections with the porch structures. It seems that somewhere on the porch there were field receivers with which this pole was connected. This technology, apparently, has been used around the world since the first half of the 19th century, the first photos that recorded it date back to the 1850s (around this time, photography began to take mass distribution). It is possible that this has happened before.
And this is Pretoria in 1881. Everything is just beginning. As you can see, there is practically no future capital yet, and the poles are already standing.
Even South African farmers used this technology in the early 20th century. And not only them.
This is the railway station in Cape Town in the early 20th century. If it were not for the photo annotation and banners with the British flag, I would have thought it was the Palace of Electricity from the Universal Paris Exhibition - the architectural style is so similar. Apparently, the engineering systems of this and that buildings worked according to the same principle.
It is the Palace of the Republic in Pretoria around the same time. Everything is exactly the same on the roof. Actually, private houses did not lag behind either.
This is a wealthy private home in Johannesburg. Pay attention to its porch and lanterns at the entrance. They are unambiguously related. I wonder why in Africa there are two chimneys on one house? It's hard to believe that it's cold there.
And here the people are advancing to the Anglo-Boer War. Very strange posts stand on the front porch of a building in the distance, and two of them have illuminated advertisements.
Very interesting lighting fixtures are located on Cape Town's waterfront. Below are the actual bulbs, and above are the well-known mini-domes.
And these lighting devices do not lend themselves to sound analysis at all.
As you can see, even in little-known South Africa, many secrets of the industrial greatness of past centuries are buried. How they got there is an interesting question, apparently, with those people who built buildings there in the classical style, and, in fact, all over the world too. If Nelson Mandela had not been engaged in his time with the ideas of equality, but simply at least tried to restore something like that in his country, he would have become a national hero ten times cooler than Kim Jong-un in his state. But, apparently, everything has some kind of external blocking factors.
To be continued.
Author: tech_dancer