The San Francisco call., 1895-07-20


915,000. John Hays Hammond is said to
receive the latter sum. Hennen Jennings
is said to receive 100000 and there are
several others who are drawing upward OF
$25,0 600 year. An expert knowledge OF
mining is valuable commodity in South
Africa.
Not only has American brains had
great deal to do with the development of
the new mines in the Transvaal, but even
American machinery is employed there IN
preference to the mining machinery OF
England, France or Germany. 1t is to
NJ. S. Harlow, who went. to South
Africa and spent eighteen months there as
the re preventative of the Ingersoll- Sergeant
Drill Company, that / am indebted for the
material for this article. Mr.. Harlow re-
turned recently from the gold fields and
gives many interesting facts regarding
them. Said he:
The Main Totcn of the Gold Fields.
1.-The principal gold fields are grouped
about the town of johannesburg, which
lies inland lust thousand miles northeast
from Capetown. 1t is reached by rail
from either Capetown, Port Elizabeth or
East London, and probably by this time
also from Delagoa Bay. The town is stu
ated in the southern portion of the Trans
vaal or South African Republic, about
thirtv-five miles south of Pretoria, the
capital Johannesburg has now popula-
ton OF about 10, 900 whites, and Pretoria is
little place, typical Boer town, of about
10000.
Johannesburg lies on the uplands of
the Witwatersrand, that is, 'Freshwater
Ridge and for the most of the year is a
very pleasant place to live in. 1t is nearly
6U00 feet above the level of the sea; is sur
rounded by grassy, rolling country, and
with tree planting and other Improvements
that are being made rapidly, it is becom-
ing pretty and attractive city. 1t lacks
nothing of the comforts and conven-
fences of modern civilization, in fact
quickly utillzes all the latest improve
electricity and an electric tramroad is
being built connecting all the surround
ing mines and villages with the central
town. The mines of themselves are
equipped with perhaps the finest mining
machinery in the world. The proprietors
of the mines employ the finest engineering
talent that money can command, and the
mines are worked in the most scientific
manner. Loss from waste is reduced to a
minimum, and the whole operation has
been reduced to a strictly business and
scientific basis.
Il Typical "Boom" Totrn.
Johannesburg itself is a study. 1t has
sprung up entirely within the last ten
years, principally within the last seven or
eight years, and it is typical boom town.
The remarkable feature about it, however,
is its curious freedom from the tough ele-
ment. 1t presents absolutely none of the
characteristics that we used to read of in
the flush days of Leadville or Virginia
City or Phoebe. Somehow the English,
who constitute the principal part of the
population of the town, do not seem to
develop rowdy element and the Man
from Creede' is not there. The negroes
employed in the mines sometimes make a
they are quickly hustled off and the town
is as orderly and free from rows as
New England village. Curiously
enough, it is governed like Washing
ton, by the Central Government of
the South African Republic. That is
to say, by the Beers. The latter are very
pious, slow-going class of Dutch people,
much like the Puritans. The results that
the saloons of johannesburg are closed on
Sunday, and at II o'clock each night of the
week there is no gambling, and even dis
reputable houses are largely suppressed.
A sanitary board, elected by the people. is
making many improvements, and the
water works, built by Barney Barnato,
have introduced an abundance of water, so
| that many of the well-to-do citizens are
beginning to cultivate fresh, beautiful
lawns The climate for the most part is
rather mild, though during the rainy sea-
son it is sometimes unpleasant. Still, the
place is healthy, and one undergoes no
hardships in living there.
''Nor are prices in general so very high.
Good board at the hotels can be secured for
about $40 a week and while there is of
course general tendency to higher prices
than prevails here, that is fully equalized
by somewhat higher wages than are paid
here. One would not notice as much diff
f1.1 H1Ar !
between here and Western boom town."
Asked as to whether the Transvaal pre-
sented a good opportunity for making
money, Mr.. Harlow said:
No Great Opportunities for Money Max
ing, Though.
"On the whole, I should say it offered no
especial inducements. With the discovery
and development of the mines came an
immense rush. so that all kinds of ordi-
nary labor are to be had at fair prices.
Moreover, a great many people who
thought to settle in Mashonaland and
Mata beleIand, several hundred miles north
of Johannesburg, have been disappointed
and have returned to the Transvaal. Then,
too, almost every kind of business is repre-
Sented in some way or other. and the busi-
ness man of johannesburg has his type
writer and rides his bicycle, and in general
mas all Ule 1dClllJleS anu cOnVen1enCeS which
one enjoys here. People who go out to
South Africa. expecting to find themselves
in heather land, will be apt to be disap-
pointed by the entirely sophisticated state
which greets him. He will find at Johan-
nesburg, for example, a Stock Exchange
that does volume of business that would
do credit to town of ten times the popu-
lation. In fact, speculation in mining
stock is one of the chief characteristics of
the place. Everybody speculates and
shares go up and down. There are pools
and bull movements and bear raids
and 'booms' and all the diversions that
go to make the stock exchanges of London
and New York interesting.
THE town is rapidly building up with
handsome brick blocks and fine residences
and tasteful churches, streets are being
paved and the only thing SO far lacking
are good public school facilities. Not the
least striking characteristic of the country
is the presence of the gold mines On a
green prairie. There are no mountains
anywhere about and the usual bare, des-
ertlike mining country is lacking. Before
the mines were discovered all this area
was good farming land, and the cautious
old Beers used to fight off the prospectors,
and, in fact, in the early days of the Trans
vaal there was heavy fine attached to
prospecting anywhere in the republic. OF
course that is all changed now, but it is