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Lever Road) which consisted of 42 granolithic troughs. The washhouse not only improved the

hygiene of clothing and linen to the houses and hotels, but also provided valuable work for the

fishermen’s wives who took on the task of washerwomen. The washhouses were opened on 10
July 1901 by Mayor Harry Scowen and operated well into the 1950s.

The great ‘flu epidemic of 1918 caused many deaths in Kalk Bay and the religious duties of

Father John Duignam of the St. James Catholic Church and Archdeacon Richard Brooke of the

Holy Trinity Church were fully extended over this tragic time. The St. James Mission School,
then still alongside the St. James Church, served as a hospital for very bad cases with the sisters

acting as nurses. During the epidemic Fr. Duignam, then aged 73, was particularly ill with a high
temperature and in a dangerous condition. He was warned not to leave bed as at his age he would

be a certain victim of pneumonia. Yet, on the same night of Black October 1918, old Fr.

Duignam got out of his bed when the bell rang at his door at 3 o'clock in the morning to carry out
the viaticum to some poor fisherman who was dying in the dim candle-light of his cottage above

Kalk Bay. It was a trying time for the old priest, especially as the fishermen and their families
were hard hit by the epidemic. It was only through his great fortitude and trust in God that Fr.

Duignam survived the crisis himself.

Archdeacon Richard Brooke’s contribution to the great ‘flu epidemic was respectfully

remembered in the Anglican Church Newsletter:

“Archdeacon Brooke rose nobly to the occasion. As things grew worse his strength seemed to
increase and, aided by a car, he was able to get through that very strenuous time when many a

stronger man was helpless.”

Financial Disasters

The Municipal Drainage and Electric Lightworks Scheme was the most ambitious undertaking of

any of the smaller municipalities. It was to provide waterborne sewerage and electricity to the

Kalk Bay-Muizenberg Municipality. Construction started in 1904 and by the time it had ended in

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