Outlook from Meikles
Sut,—I should like to make a few comments on the article Outlook from Meikles in your issue of May 2nd. Colonel de la Fargue states cate- gorically, and on the authority of an oculist fresh from home, that "women hate the place." If the " place " is Rhodesia as a whole, I venture to say that his information is incorrect. Some women, no doubt, do hate Rhodesia, but very many, myself among them, undoubtedly do not. I am a fairly new arrival, but proud now to call myself a Rhodesian, and proud that my son is one by birth. Colonel de la Fargue's definition of Rhodesian aristocricy is, I should say, correct, and all honour to those brave men and women who opened up the country for those of us who followed.
"The settler is not, by and large, based on his homeland." Surely the land in which a man has made his home, and in which his children have been born and brought up, is 'his homeland ? Colonel de la Fargue seems to take exception to such a person, on his rare visits to town, in this instance Salisbury, listening with some pleasure to the strains of "Roses of Picardy." I wonder if his "outlook from Meikles " would have been altered by a rendering "morning after morning, night after night" of a Bach fugue ?
If Colonel de la Fargue had looked out a little further, he would have seen that a large number of Rhodesians are not apathetic in cultural matters. Salisbury and Bulawayo have their own repertory companies and their own orchestras. Nearly all the smaller centres have amateur dramatic societies, music clubs, art societies, etc., and touring com- panies visit the country quite frequently. In this connection it should be borne in mind that, however artistically (the word used in its widest sense) minded a person may be, it is not always possible to travel a hundred or more miles to attend some play or concert. Any first-rate film will be certain to attract full houses anywhere in this country.
In conclusion, I applaud Colonel de la Fargue's choice of title for his article. Though, in Meikles Hotel, he saw, no doubt, a fair cross- section of Rhodesian people, he did not see a fair cross-section of Rhodesian life. Home ties are strong and valued, and the hotel- dwellers, by choice, are few and far between.—I remain, yours faithfully, JOYCE SYMONS, P.O. Box 32, Selukwe, S. Rhodesia.
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