The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29

deprcssions. the Hagans Pan, is worked by a
large snt company, which exports it's product
iiahns analysis. is the best in he world The
pan from. which II II taken Is about two miles
LOCATED Ss about ABB. %sS n fGn
this fashion Auench eight or ten feet deep Is
made in the PAP The brine peIc"ls'@s int" iGi ~;
up on a huge buck or tent rails. Here tho water
evaporaies and the salt sediment is left deposited
While the rivers of the Orange Free State are
! not naygabe, they are we'll stocked with fish.
some of which are peculiar 70 them The barber
River and lis tributaries This fish is as long
az seven feet, II has very few bones, and no
| head wi,h eight crr fcelcrs on the lower lip. The
| yeowlsh is found in all the Free State waters.
i sometimes Weighs as much as e., twenty pounds.
| the whitcfish calvcshead and the undermoutsi.
| The iguana and the river turtle also abound.
| wild animals The chief animals are an,elopes,
| wldcbests, olesboks, an!eaters, wildcats nier-
| cats, porcupines, hedGehogs. iackals, hycnns,
| and atnadilloa
The principal nactments Of the codined statutes
which have been passed az one act are:
l. The establishment 81 high and low courts
for the trial Of causes The high court f s%ns st
bunal sits in civil actions. for the Blocmiontei1
district 1t decides appeals civil and criminal
ohss dsS Ed ARE s
Of civil cases. and Of criminal cases with jury
Of nine men There are likewise the landdroSt and
heemraden courts The bench in these courts
is occupied by the anddroGt or magls rate Of the
district and two OF the district assessors no
lower court of limited jurisdiction is presided over
bv the magistrate inferior to the landdrost
There ~ also SPECIAL justice OF the peace who
has limited criminal JURISDICTION, ,.,
2 BY an act OF the NulkSrahd, in 1904, the
Dutch language was madcI,hc Official language
Of the Orange Free State.
z The Commando law regulates the calling
Of the burg hers in time Of war like the present
Under it, every male lnhabitant OF the STATE be
tween sXteen and sixty years OF age IL subject {"
able by this law IL about %, 900 men, The holding
of burgher reviews is provided for by ordinances.
These wapenschouungs are held in every dis
trict in time OF peace once in four years They
are held yearly in each ward or sub district Every
man from 10 to 40 yeats Of age must attend these
encampments armed and mounted. The owns
! men are relieved from the necessity 81 parad.nE
mounted The Government furnishes each such
burgher with riff, at actual cost price. This
cost equals about SCI.
T. The act Of 1859 established mounted police
There arc abou! i25 men in his body who .rt are 9
under the direction of a commandment Jher
principal duty is 10 suppress thcfts Of stock and
to see to the proper adm nstraton Of the States
| pass laws
5 There are drastic measures in regard to in
solyency. tho registration Of deeds municipalities
| and marriages The last are virtual copies Of
g. The Orange Free State has a sort Of Maine
LIQUOR law It Was passed IN 1883 Th;s statute
Of any kind to the trDesmen and to people
OF color generally II prevents its sale TO any one
except in towns There no license granted for
Though only 80 900 square miles in area, tire
| size Of an American State, this Republic has had
a stirring history since the first white propeti
| il in 1855 sixty five years ago. These settlers
| were refugees from Cape Colony hunting for II
| quiet peaceful home north Of the O.angc Rive
Some Of these emgrants founded the South
| African Republic. or Tfansvaal These pioneer
| farmers found only bands Of savage Bushmcn
| and kurannaS in the new country They organ
| lied sort OF community band or maatSchapp
In l847, the British Governor Of Cape Colony pro
clatmel AL tertltory between the Naal and the
| agent was then placed at Bloemfontcin. This
| state Of sovereignty continued until 1904. In
that the continued troubles with the liasutps
| and GriQuaS caused the English Government to
renaush the country north Of the Orange River
Nv the convention OF Blormfuntein signed Feb
20, 1854, the country north Of the Orange River
kriown as the Orange River Territory, was recoe-
niAe.l as an independent State This convention
Crown the English Government was to have no
alliances with any of the tribal chiefs nortn Of
the Orange River, with the exception OF Adam
Kok the chief Of the Griqua tdbc The new
| Government guaranteed the tights uf the persons
t"rrit9ty al that time. Extrodtion was also
provided for; courts of law were To- be established,
| and slavery not to h. allowed The Orange
| arms and munitions in British South AtrcH
| The VolkEraad adonted the Orange Free State
Constitution on April 10, 1874 II was based
upon the Constitution of the United States This
Constitution gave any ono living in the territory
President and foe members Of the Legislature
The President is elected every five years by all
Of the enfranchisei burGhefs The, President $
Advisory Council consists Of the landdro St tmag
istratel OF the Boemfonten district, the Govern
ment Secretary OF Premier and three unofficial
yolksraad The Roman Dutch law was made
the common law of the land The courts follow
this in the absence of specific statutory provisions
Fgatan,ccl by The fundamental law The Con,
sttution cannot he amended OF repealed except
by a three-fourthS vote at each OF two annual
sessions of the Legislature The Constitution
OF the country was revised and re-cnacted on
| changes were minor. From 1854 until now the
Orange Free State has been Republic II has
had eight Presidents in that time.
the Orange Free State has experienced tho follow,
with spasms Of pence from 1858 to 1868, After
, umphed. The Basutos had been completely
whipped hat the British Government at the earnest
entreaty Of Chief Moshcsh, the paramount Of tho
land as British territory. In 1871 the Government
Of Queen yic,G ria, annexed sI Gt9uaand West,
tribe. The FIRE. state demanded his country
the predecessor Of this chief To settle this dis
nulo Great Britain agreed to pay TO the Free State
$40 600 for clear title e this land In 1889
| Cape Colony. In the railway union the Cape
| Government agreed to build railway through
the Free State at It's own expense and risk at a
certain sum per mile. Tho tariff Of passengers
| and goods over this line was 10 be mutually agreed
upon The Orange Free State had the option
Of taking this railroad il it liked after its
, completion at stated sum per mile. The Cape
Goycrnm"pt in The meantime worked tho line
| the Republic for seven years This road was
opened in July, 1892. Since then it has produced
| an estimated annual profit Of SS00,C0n. This
| is due largely to the development OF the gold mines
in the South African Republic. This line and
its feeders connect all the harbors of Cape Colony
with Pretoria and the rich gold mines Of job anncs-
| burg which gliscu so much in the British eye,
| and which are the incentive for the present war
! in South Africa. There are two short lines in
| the Free State in addition to this trunk line. One
OF these runs from the Orange River nj Brthulir
| to the main line at Springfontcin. Ii connects
| the port Of East London with the Central line
The other short inc connects the Natal line from
| Durham over ladvsmith with lIarrismith
The people Of the Free State like those of tho
! Transvaal, very simple and sincere in their
dealings In the country districts this simplicity
is OF 81 innocent character that stranger, even
| who is trusted and accepted as worthy To be a
guest, may even he allowed to sleep in the same
! room with the single daughters Of the family
| For any violation Of the sanctity or hospitality
| 81 the Bocr home the Culprit will barely escape
| with his life. While under welcome the visitor
| is treated ike a son or a daughter. The Beers
| are not IN immoral people. They hrc a plain,
! simple, severe but kind and hardy race An
1 infuSinn ~ Hupupunt blnod in he b,tr q