Emily Blake was an experienced, caring nurse. One evening, while tending to a sick child, he began crying for his mother, so she kissed him gently and tucked him into his bed. Soon after that, Nurse Emily contracted Bubonic Plague. She died at the tender age of 27 years. Her grave is one of about 7000 graves of people of all creeds who were buried in the grounds of the the Rietfontein Hospital between 1895 and 1957. This hospital, known as Sizwe since 1995, still operates today.
Sizwe Hospital stands opposite Linksfield Golf Course and Sandringham High school; but when it was first built in 1895, as Rietfontein Lazaretto, it stood alone in a remote location, a full-day's cart-ride from the centre of the town, established that far away as a safety measure against the smallpox epidemic sweeping Johannesburg.
One of South Africa's unsung heroes is the late Dr. John Max Mehliss, who for 32 years, was the hospital's superintendent and was responsible for treating some 160,000 patients. After only 2 years of formal high school study in King William's Town, during which he proved to have an exceptional ability, he completed his courses at the Universities of Munich and Guttenburg, gaining recognition as one of Germany's top students. He caught the eye of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's "Iron Chancellor", who asked of him, "Who are you, an unknown from an unknown land, to come here and beat all our best men?" Together with German physician Ehrlich, John Mehliss helped...
