, 1890-02-27
FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
Joseph King, Spokane Falls
Miner, Who Visited the Gold
Fields of the Transvaal.
1t Is Good Country to Stay Away
From--He Gives Brief
History of the Trip.

| INNING man, VINO lell mere lhsl
summer for the mining fields OF
South Africa, returned on the west.
bound Northern Pacific train Fri
day morning.
Mr.. King left Spokane Falls on
the 22d Of last August and since that
time has travelled over 10000 miles
He visited all the principal mines oI
the Transvaal, South Africa, and
returns satisfied that there IL nc
place which affords such advantage.
for the prospoctor and miner as the
United States of America.
Mr.. King was seen by represen.
tatlve of the REVIEW yesterday and
gave the following interesting ac'
count Of his trip:
at Is not much of trip to go to
Africa said Mr.. King, although
| IL il long way of. IL only took me
& month to 20 from Spokane Falls
to Cape Town, Africa, and the trip
can I've made easily In twenty-eight
days. From Cape Town | proceeded
/ by rail to Kimberly, where one OF
the great diamond mines is lo-
Gated, u distance of600 miles; thence
10y stage to Barberton, In the South
African republic.
~ then took my time In eXplor-
ing the mining region. found
several good mines, and several
operated by English companies,
There Is one ledge at Johannesburg
which Il regularly defined for dis
tancc of sixty miles, thirty miles
of which has been worked. The
ore formation Is soft granite and
/ Iporphyry, cement and white crys.
tNllized quartz.
"The average miners wages l. GIG
per month, and they pay $3.50 per
week for board.
"rhere IL no such thing as lndl-
vidual prospecting. The right OF
mining for and disposlng all
precious metals and precious stones
belongs to the state. Any person
wishing to go prospecting must get
permission from the owner of the
and he desires to prospect, and
must pay Il license of los per month,
Half the license goes To the owner
of the land and half to the govern.
mcnt. The usual way of prospect
| ing II to start out with IA siX-mule
team and take money enough along
to buy II farm.
1.-THE laws are ade in the interest
| of the rich, and the government eH-
acts tribute in every manner pos
sible. The duties on mining ma-
chincry are about 80 per cent, and
~ the nearest railway station Is
/ Kimberly, all machinery has to be
/ hauled from there by teams.
1.-THE government will not permit
any railroads to be built in the re-
public, OF the ground that they
would take business away from the
| freighters. No mining Is allowed
within six miles orany town.
! MANY AMERICANS.
al saw n great many Americans
there, and the country is flooded
with people from England, Austria
liza and New Zealand, all of whom
would willingly leave If they had
money enough to get away,
1.-The South African republic Is
governed by president and con
gress similar to the United States,
but Is not divided into states, being
AN one. Ii is governed by the
Beers, who are descendants of Hol.
| land Dutch who went there more
| than n century ago. The language
of the country is Dutch. The re.
public has about 10000 inhabitants.
The people are not far advanced,
but things have improved consider
abl yin the last few years, The peo.
/ pie were formerly too poor TO do
anything, but the influx of English
capital has brought sufficient rcvc-
nue. to the government to enable it
to make many improvements.
Before | went TO Africa I was
under the impression that il was a
timbered, swampy country, In this
was very much mistaken.
Tho country is more like Arizona,
being dry and barren. There is no
timber, and the land is covered with
bush and cactus. The interior is
Inhabited by native blacks, who are
too lazy to farm more than IA few
acres. Irritation Is necessary. The
men do not work except in the
spring, when they get out of food,
and then they go otfand work while
the women put in the crops. A.
soon as the crops are ready TO har.
vest they return home and live In
luleiiess untii the next spring: The
Women 1re the slaves OF Their nus
oahus, Ihere nre no hali-preeds eN'
cept IN the towhs' In the interior
the piaGk women are strictly, virtu
GUS me natives wear no clothing
| except kind of bree ch-clout.
IN THE INTERIOR.
"I penetrated 200 miles into the
interior without seeing n tree Of any