A TRACTION ENGINE 'MARTIN LUTHER’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33995, 8 November 1975, Page 11

A TRACTION ENGINE 'MARTIN LUTHER’

(By

K. W. ANTHONY

An old steam trac-tion-engine seems an unlikely subject to find a place on a set of South West African stamps featuring historic monuments. But this particular machine has a special place in history. Back in the 1890 s, this

barren region was a German colony. In the early days ox waggons were the only means of transporting goods from Swakopmund on the coast into the interior, and hundreds of oxen perished in the harsh South West African climate. So early in 1896 the authorities decided to try mechanisation, and imported a traction engine

from Hamburg. It was not a success. And after many difficulties it finally stuck fast in the sand of the Namibian desert. The traction engine was neatly nicknamed Martin Luther after the great religious reformer’s famous declaration: "Here I stand. May God help me. I cannot do otherwise.” Three trailers The old engine, with its three trailers, was restored in 1973 and is now preserved at Swakopmund. The 9c stamp illustrated here shows Martin Luther as it is today. The nickname can be read in tiny letters at the foot of the design, though it would convey little to anyone unaware of the story behind the stamp. This in fact is one of three stamps on the theme of historic monuments. A 15c value depicts the old fort, built in 1890, which was the beginning of the present capital of Windhoek. The building is now a museum.

But the third stamp has a more poignant subject. It shows what little is left of Kolmanskop. It was just a tiny settlement with a railway halt in 1908 when a railway worker found South West Africa's first diamond. The discovery started the development of one of the richest diamond fields in the world. Ghost town But today those exciting times are over, and Kolmanskop is a ghost town at the mercy of shifting desert sands. These stamps are a reminder that South West Africa is one of several countries which indicate the origins of their stamps only by their initials.