The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-01-09
ng these customs dues for the repub.

ing these customs dues for the repub.
lie.
The Orange Free State expends
about S15O,0O0 annually on roads $780,
600 on bridges. and large sums for so
small a country, on public buildings.
In fact. nearly one-third of the entire
reven,ie of the state is absorbed by
educational grants and public works.
This would be very fine showing for
countries outside OF Africa.
SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION.
The government Of this Boer state
| is very careful about the education of
the children of the land. For this puc.
pose a permanent fund of $l,0O0,oOO Is
set aside. The educational department
| is a very thorough one. This depart
ment is under a superintendent who
has a corps Of inspectors and sub-in-
| speCtors. There are now about eighty
| fine government schools, with a staff
OF $50 teachers. These schools are ex-
| elusive of private and non-aided
| schools, such as those which are MAIN
| tanned by the Catholics, the Anglicans,
and other religious denominations. The
government schools are of three kinds,
viz: town, part and peripatetic schools.
| To teach them the instructors are d.
| vided into first, second and third class,
according to the grade of their certif-
| Gates from the board of state examin-
ers. This board Is composed of nine
members who are appointed by the
president of the Republic. This board
| has wide powers. 1t can grant certih.
Gates of proficiency in law, surveying
and in science and literature generally.
The only higher education schools sup
ported by the state are Danes 1nsti-
tute Oadies' seminary and Grey coll
lege. both OF which are at Bloemfon-
tein. In these institutions the students
desiring a university education must.
therefore, go to the South African coll
lege at Cape Town, or to Victoria coll
lege, at Stellenbosch.
| The great majority of the citizens of
the Orange Free State are, from the
circumstances Of their Dutch origin,
members Of the Dutch Reformed
church. This is the established church
of the land. There Is a congregation
in nearly every little village of the
country. The government annually
contributes about $4,000 to the sup
port of this religious sect. 1t is paid
into the church synod to be used as
that body deems fit. This synod meets
every other year in the month of May
at Bloemfontein, the capital 1t is
composed of the pastor and lay men,
ber of each congregation. The follow
ing denominations also have churches
in the Orange Free state: The Epis-
copalians. Lutherans. Catholics. Metho-
dists, Baptists and Presbyterians.
Their individual memberships are
small. The Episcopal church has a
respectable following; at Bloemfontein
1t has several school buildings. Among
them are st. Andrews college for boys.
and st. Michaers Home for girls The
Separatist Dutch church also has sew
eral important congregations in the
country. The Dutch Reformed church
has a mission established at Witzie-
shock. The Berlin Mission society has
important missions at Bethany Ma
boela lin the Ladybrand distric) and
other places.
CLIMATE.
The climate Of the Orange Free state
Is dryer and colder than that of its
neighbors. This is due to its altitude
and inland position. 1t Is, therefore,
healthful for weak lungs. Its dry sea-
son Is in the winter time, but its peri
DDS of rain. and moisture are uncertain.
The high elevation is affected by the
| evaporation of the lower countries,
which drifts up into the Wittebergen
(White mountains), Roodebergen (Red
mountains), and the Drakensberg. where
1t condenses and frequently floods the
streams, causing them to run bankers
ten to twenty feet above their normal
watermark. The last-named peaks rise
to 1000 feet, and are popularity called
Monts aux Sources or mounts Of sources
from the number Of streams which ris,
in them. In the winter time the rivers
are shallow. Some of them hardly flow.
They degenerate into what are called
pans (sea COW or hippopotamus water
holes), which have drifts or fords her,
and there. This is due to the dryness
Of the season. In the summer these
water courses are dangerously swollen,
often rising In a single night from ten
to twenty feet above their normal level
The pans or peculiar circular water
basins found in the middleveldi, or
watershed territory between any two
rivers, are sometimes salt or brackish.
These middleveldt pans are numerous
In the Bloemfontein, Jacobsdal, Faure-
smith and Boshof districts. One of
these depressiOns, the Hagans-Pan. is
worked by large salt company, which
exports its product to johannesburg
This salt. according to Prof. Hahns
analysis, Is the best in the world. The
pan from which it Is taken is about
two miles across. 1t Is located about
twenty-six miles from Bloemfontein.
The salt from 1t Is made after this
fashion: A trench eight or ten feet
deep is made In the pan. The brine
percolates into this trench, from which
1t Is subsequently pumped up on a
huge buck or tent rails. Here the water
evaporates and the salt sediment is left
deposited on the soil surface.
While the rivers of the Orange Free
State are not navigable. they are we'll
stocked with fish, some OF which are
peculiar to them. The barber (Clarius
capensis) Is only found in the Orange
river and it's tributaries. This fish Is
as long as seven feet. 1t has very few
bones, and no scales. The barber has
a large and ungainly head with eight
cirri-feelers on the lower lip. The yell
lowfish Is found in all the Free State
waters 1t sometimes weighs as much
as twenty pounds. Among the more
important Of the other fish are the
whitef1sh. calveshead and the under
mouth. The iguana and the river turtle
also abound. The Free State is not
notable for fierce or dangerous wild
animals The chief animals are ante
lOpes. wildebests, olesboks. anteaters,
wildcats, miercats, .pOrcupines. hedge
hogs. jackals. hyenas, wild dogs Uhe
three last being almost extinct), and
armadillos.
| LAWS
The principal enactments of the