The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-08
TO THE CROWDED rRANsvAAL.
Montana Miners FIocking to the Rich
Gold Fields of Africa.

For several months South Africa
Gently 400 miners left that state Tor
that country. and in addition many
clerks and mechanics have gone there.
Recent reports, however, indicate that
they have struck an overcrowded mar
ket. There is no doubt that the
Transyaal is a country very rich in
gold, and certain to be one of the
largest producers of the yellow metal
in the world. The output has grown
lat an astonishing rate. In lew
years a city with 10000 people, johann
nesburg. and a prosperous and popu-
lous country have been literally carved
out of the wilderness. Large sums OF
capital have been invested and hun
Tdreds of thousands of laborers en-
ployed. The transformation has been
going on for several years, but it is
only recently that the fame of the
Transvaal has reached all quarters OF
the globe. In consequence thousands
of immigrants are being attracted
thither.
1t is probable that the immigrants
have not sufficiently informed them
selves of the actual state of things in
the Transvaal The labor situation
there is not promising The Johannes
burg Sentinel recently declared that
there is no demand for carpenters, ma
sons, bricklayers plasterers and black
smiths. The country is overstocked
with filters, miners. wagon builders,
tailors, bakers, dressmakers and wait
ers; badly overstocked with engine
drivers, house decorators, painters
printers and shop assistants. The stu
&C.. IL tI,e1 tO1~l~i
BILE, the cab drivers are mostly colored
and the teachers are poorly paid
There is, however, plenty of room fol-
good white domestic servants. The
rent of a three-room cottage is from
$35 to $40 per month, and good table
board is from IS to $40 per week. AT
San Francisco at the present time DR.
j. w. Matthews, who has lived twenty
five years in South Africa, is lecturing
on the Transvaal. Here is what he
says about one feature of living there
''The duties on imports are very high
For instance, on every cigar q man
smokes he must pay duty of 6 cents
All cigars are brought from Havana
and their average cost is So cents. On
hams the duty is "a cents a pound
making the total cost go cents a pound
On every banana taken into the coun-
try the government collects a tax of
cents. These are only instances of the
tremendous rate of customs" Not
withstanding these disadvantages
great fortunes have, of course, been
made, but they are not, as a rule
made by laborers. The gold bearing
reefs are limited in length, and claims
are not to be had for the asking.
Posters are placarded at the Cana
dian Pacific docks and elsewhere
throughout Vancouver announcing q
cheap rate to South Africa Appar-
emily several Vancouverites have al
ready left for that part, and others
are contemplating following suit The
Victoria agent of the Canadian Pacific
on Tuesday sold eight tickets to Cape
Town The majority of the purchasers
were miners recently arrived from the
Yukon country.
Jim" Wardner, the man who by hi.
ores could be marketed at a profit. il
ere this at Johannesburg. He left Van
couver on the Sth of October, and ar
rived at London on the oath of the
same month. In letter to the Spo
kane Review, dated London, Oct. 26
he stated that he expected to sal
from Southampton, Eng, for Cape
Town, South Africa. on Oct %, and il
all went well he would arrive at the
latter place Nov. IL, and JOHANNESBURG
three days later. The fare from Lon
don to johannesburg is: First class
S25S; second class, $170; third class
SOB johannesburg is lob miles b,
rail from Cape Town-Nelson (BritisI
| Columbia Tribune