News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1894-09-13
BEWARE OF SOUTH AFRICA.
One Who Has Tried 10 says IL Is No Plae,
For a Man In Need of Work.

One who Has Tried 10 says II l. No Place
For Man In Seed of Work.
l sailed from London Jan. 20, 1898, for
Cape Town, returning the latter part sf
May. and was only too glad when l
reached the States again. Miners think
ing Of going to Johannesburg would do
better 10y staying ut home, even if times
are very quiet here. The average Of
miners landing in Cape Town is about 10
weekly, and they are nearly all from
England. They nearly all branch out
for Johannesburg, and naturally the en-
ployers prefer an Englishman before an
American, and You will find this in all
branches of business, professional or
otherwise. The colored people do all
the laborious work in the mines, and rs
for the positions the white man would
take l suppose there are about 80 wait
ing for one opening. \ good miner can
earn S2j Il week, and / think a good
miner can earn more here, and then
again he can live considerably cheaper
here. He would have to pay for board
in Johannesburg about $40 weekly This
is speaking Of board alone.
When l left Cape Town last May, there
were hundreds of men in Cape Town
from all parts of South Africa looking
for employment. Lots of them manage
to get down from the interior, and the
first chance they have of returning to
England, either working their passage or
otherwise, they accept. The boat came
back in to London was the Tartar, and
II worked their passage home, and hay
ing so many applications the captain had
to refuse good many. a stowaway is
a common occurrence.
Board in Cape Town is Sc 2j a week.
and if you wanted a position as clerk,
boOkkeeper, telegraph operator, etc,
they would offer you what they call "a
start" That is to say, it doesn't matter
how competent you may be, you have to
commence with s. or Sc a week, and you
think yourself lucky if you can get that.
There are on an average hundred APP
plications for each situation.
l took my brother-in-law from Eng
land with me. He was earning there
$40 a week, and he tramped around Cape
Town seven weeks and finally got po-
sitiOn, and l have just heard from him,
and he is at present earning Sc aweek at
the same place.
AS many people are returning from
South Africa as there are going-that is,
between 400 and 500 weekly Men that
do get positions, after they have saved, if
ever they do, $500 to $500, return to Eng
land for good.
Employers will not accept diploma
from the United States Of any kind-it
doesn't matter how high the reputation
of the college may be-and any one head
ing there will only be too sorry he ever
left home, as it costs more to get from
there than it does to reach there. The
whole thing is there is too much Eng
Gsh about it all around, and after hay-
ing the freedom of this country you will
find a great difference between South
Africa and here.
There are two or three prices ON some
of the necessaries in Cape Colony, and
this is the cheapest place to live: House
rent, from s. weekly; flour, 6 cents per
pound; potatoes, 80 pounds for 81; but
ter, so cents to 70 cents per pound ba-
con, 30 cents per pound. Seattle Post
Intelligenccr.