The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-26

Aliens Who Care Nothing for the
Sentiment Of the Beers.
From the Boston Transcript.
About the middle of 1888 a solitary Boer
sat i'm front OF thatchei mud house in
the midst OF one of tine dreariest parts
o. the republic. A wilder or more lonely
spot the Imagination could not conceive.
AL around the country Jay as nature had
lest il. with nothing hut the dwelling
and the Boer to indicate that man had
ever set foot there.
In the midst of that weld (plaim, where
ten years ago nature held all sway.
STANDS Johannesburg. the golden city, the
home of 5000 busy souls. the queen Of
the continent. fun Of bustling life and
activity. noisy with its machinery, rich,
independent, and hourishing.
And what has done this? The power
OF gold. Gold was found iu the weld.
veins Of gold that seemed boundless. and
men hockcd 10 the spot from even the
remotest quarters of the globe. of course
for a time the place was nothing more
than an immense mining camp. But TO-
day 10 IS a beautiful city. lighted by cleo
tricity. its streets straight and well
paved, its buildings of stone and its
water supply equal 10 that of any town
OF its size in dhe world. Among other
advantages. 10 contains churches and
banks and hospitals and theaters. stock
exchange, ana q splendid race track. The
output of gold from It's mines in one
month i'm 1882 was something over 10000
ounces. and for the whole year about
l,-lNUl1 ounces.
This is the history of the golden city.
IL is situated On the slope OF the range
OF hills known as the WitWatersand
(White Water Ridg0, which forms the
alFlllf
and the Indian oceans.
The E0ld-hcaring district is spoken of
throughout Africa as the Rand, the
FORMER portion OF the name being omitted.
Gold was know 20 exist here as long ago
as the beginning of this century. Herr
Mauch, the German explorer. wandered
through the country ana returned to Ber-
I'M WIN ms eyes wide open ana his
mouth agape. The country Is fun of
gold he declared. Full of gold" repeat
60 the Germans i'm wonder. YES from
river TO river" he replied-meaning from
the Naal to the Limpopo. But the trav-
eler had not been home long when he
suddenly fell IN and died. So the matter
dropped, and talN Of gold i'm the Rand
was not heard again until 1896.
IN that year Dutchman, hunting for
god in the republic unearthed a rich
10 that time We're unaware Of the pres
ence OF gold I'm the neighborhood. gave
We we Iortuhate man q large sum for his
discovery and sent him back TO the coll
ony The IrGnsvaal sons are essentially
an agricultural people. and. like such
resent the intrusion OF civilization. They
are an unlettered people. densoly ignorant
ana obstinate beyond all belief. Theirs
is an incident. sluggish nature. impassive
SQd unassertive, excepting on one subject.
Ihey nate the tOreigncr-the Uitlander
as they call him. CurOusly enough, too
theN nate the liollanders, from whom
they are descended. most of all
SO ii happened that nothing more was
heard of gold in the Rand until the end Of
100. IN thttt year MT. Wemmer and others
discovered portions OF the reef which to-
cay enjoys widespread renown. Then
Followed rush OF prospectors and for
q Whlle the Held was overrun with enthus-
lastic determined, penniless gold hunt
eIs. Inc Rand at that time was but
sparsely settled. Within the range of the
eye IN every direction from the center of
the present town there was then but that
one mud house referred to above Ii was
occupied by q Boer named Johannes Re
zuuenhout who is now one of the richest
I.eh III the country. Had he not been "a
boef, ne would have sold all his land for
tribe and would have been delirbted
WIN the bargain. As it was, his hatred
% me Foreigners was a far stronger pas
sion than mis- love of gold.
Gradually the Beers, owning farms all
aiong the Rand yielded to the persistent
SlaihoIs' entreates, and threats of the in
Nauers, and granted claims IT was then
la ne boer government agreed to recop-
ME the claims allotted by the owners or
1asIhs, stlpulaung. however, that those
VINO worked them paid the prescribo,l
tax and observed the rules and 1,oa Iieu
ions framed by them. This proclamation
attracted large crowds TO the field ana
s s0on q Dig mining camp sprang into ex-
i was then that the adage that IAN
lIIals lead TO Rome" should have been
changed to. IAN roads lead 10 10
hannesburg" for from every distci,t ~
the south, and even from every otbeI. lar,
anu chme, an interminable stream Rocket
4 1,,. tne golden city. Englshmen. Beers
Dutchmen, Americans KafTirs I,iI,1s rs
I1ottentots Jostled one another in the ruda
buiIt s oi me camp Some of them
D ~ Ieeu ana daub huts, others Duf m
IN shanties (the material nothing ,nor p
Inan English kerosene tins. nattened oUt
Snd others crawled under wagons till SOM.
al had t coy,o t OF rest could be obtained
me air was filed with the shouts or
b biISstii I men, the cracking of the lone
1ide Whips-in the hands OF KafTiTs o,S
Boers driving their oxen teams tbro,,tS
1ls streets-the sudden yell of a csh
&&IlSEer developed in a cloud of dust on
you down. and the rumbline of 6aoH US
MalsOnS ana the sound of hammer ana
+SI ne camp was scene OF constant
III mon. EVERY man was filed with fe1ssf
1sn excitement and animated by the y,iId
Sst hopes; Scenes of violence Were scarce
- s,a hiotIS ~ indeed, there was no time for
away in an hour An sentiment an uI or
1er, all decency was lost in the viii ~
-i. Pit uous, alI-aDsorbing race for gold.
put soon the tumult Of camp life sfihsid-
20, the Wlld scramble settled into sfead1.
VI sbhlZed persistence, and a chance CAM
over the scene. And the cause ~ III
cnange was gold-more gold CanftalistSS
from england, from Paris. and even rom
SAustraha, hocked to Johannesburer'
pought up claims, organized comnaniess'
nTeu TABOR, and issued stock. some veres
seccesSIul and made fortunes Others faiI-
ca ana lost their all Still the number of
companies increased with bewilderine "a
pldlty TIL at length. in 1890 there were 450
Boiu concerns, with d capital of S55 ON O0O
Up 10 this period johannesburg vas
haIdly more than an organized camp. The
carry setterS We're either too busilv occu
Pied with gold or too careless to give mucb
neeQ 10 the abodes they lived in or 10
1nelr sanitary surroundings There were
hundreds OF mud huts and wooden shan
lies, rooted with galvanized iron. occupied
by the workingmen. Quite as late as 1S90
many OF the inhabitants dwelt i'm tenfs
which they had brought with them from
the Cape. 80 i1I
But when the building fever broke loose
IN johannesburg, il was amazing to see the
rapldlty with which it spread And the
nres! Oh how the insurance coupanies
must have suffered But nothing was ever
heard Of the origin of the blaze In every
case, where the agent could possibly alb
sent himself from his quest for gold the
investigation would result the same
cause Of fire unknown" The site of the
nre would scarcely cool when would he
lald the foundation Of some stone or brick