The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-26
IN BLOEMFONTEIN.


Correspondence of the London Mall
Long before Mr.. w. S. Gilbert had sung
about ''the flowers that bloom in the
spring the Orange Free State Beers had
christened their capital Bloemfontein-the
fiowery spring.
For IL is veritably a sort OF oasis In the
desert. Round about the veldt is fiat. dull,
marched and monotonous. An undulating
plateau surrounded by low hills. the town
ship itself is a fertile little garden, in which
nearly everything f1ourishes with the least
possible amount of trouble. Its roses are
famous, so are it's vegetables. and its meal
les overtop those of the surrounding coun-
try by half a foot.
There are about 1000 whites in Bloemfon-
tein and perhaps half that number OF ma
tives. The town is about 4,5eo feet above
sea level and the climate is soft, balmy and
invigorating in the extreme. 1t Is a we'll
known and much-usedr resort for those sur
fering from pulmonary complaints and
some very wonderful reservations to health
are on record.
1t is an idle sort Of town. No one works
very hard and the office hours are easy
The stores open early in the morning, eV-
cry one disappears for a couple of hours
at midday and the early afternoon sees the
shops closed. The banking hours are SINH
lar and the clerks at the government offices
are adept lawn tennis players In fact,
lawn tennis is the chiefest vice Of the town.
and is played with extraordinary vigor
throughout the year. There are some re-
markably good players in the town, and on
more than one occasion the South African
championship, which is competed for an
nually at Port Elizabeth or elsewhere be-
tween teams representing the different col
onies and states. has been vested in a
Bloemfontein player.
The CAPITAL of the Free State is one of
those happy idyllic little towns where IL Is
always afternoon There Is no eustie
about the streets, no cOmmotion on It's
highway lit has only one), n nothing
occurs more exciting than the morning
market or the quarterly nachtmaal.
One hears a deal of English on the
streets. Probably it Is the native language
of nearly one-half of the white population.
One also notices a preponderance OF pure
Scots Doric, for Scotsmen are in the as
cendant In Bloemfontein. Many members
of the Volksraad are of Scottish descent,
as such frequently recurring names as
Fraser, Macfarlane, Stuart, Macintosh and
Innes abundantly TESTIFY. The talk In the
parliament house is officially in Dutch. but
there is a Draw twang about much OF II
which suggests that IL has been acquired
on the banks of the Tweed or whereabouts.
The four-square appearance or Bloem-
fontein is owing 10 the fact that, In COM
mon with nearly all Dutch towns. it is laid
out I'm rectangular spaces, with streets
equi-distant from one another and Dor
dered with the inevitable eucalyptus or
gum tree" which fiourishes here as al
most everywhere in the uplandS or South
Africa. There is a little fort on an outly-
ing kopje which at one time boosted a
couple of Maxims. These are probably at
Tho n fn-AnN
The public buildings of Bloemfontein are
quite imposing i'm their way. The Rad
zaal, or House of Parliament. is an i'm
| pretension. 1t has a domed tower and
looks like something between a gorgeous
Masonic temple and a palatial music hall;
1t cost nearly 10000, and was furnished
by one of the most artistic and enterpris-
ing houses of Tottenham Court road.
Churches are prevalent on every street. al
most at every corner; In fact, Bloemfon-
TEN is one of the few South African towns
in which there are more churches and
chapels than there are canteens.
The presidency of Mr.. Steyn is a rather
large and important building of white
stone, of a somewhat mixed order OF arch
i~tecture, but exceedingly comfortable, cool
and commodious in structure. 1t cost
nearly 10000 TO build, and has a pretty
garden of old English flowers, such as
hollyhocks, clove-pinks, stocks and peonies.
Bloemfontein is a great educational CEN
ter, and there Is a very fine college, pre-
scented by Sir George Grey, the
Premier of Cape Colony, and the Grand Old
Man of South Africa. 1t is known as the
Gre College and has turned out some re-
markable scholars.
The Town Hall, the postoffice, the tele-
graph office and the law courts are all
substantial and somewhat ornate buildings,
rather o-verpowering the simple little villas
in which the ariStocracy OF the Orange
Free State reside; but the latter endeavor
to live up to the former, and sometimes
succeed.
Nothing strikes the visitor more in Bloem-
fontein than the quiet and subdued calm
Of its inhabitants. They are never I'm a
hurry, and IL they knew Spanish would
probably adopt as their motto that Sweetly
representative Spanish word. 'manana."
which is so comfortable a solace for the
lazy individual.
The British community in Bloemfontein
is rather large and aspires 20 culture in
various directions. There are debating
clubs. where the most serious questions are
settled by ingenious aspirants of both
sexes with easy ~fatuousness. The public
library has quite a good collection OF books,
and IL is on record that George Meredith,
Rossetti, William Morris, and even Aiaeter-
linck are in constant demand. Bloemfon-
tein Is nothing II not cultured and is al
most equal to Upper footing In its
aspirations after the higher ~verities.
From a warlike point OF view Bloemfon-
tein simply does not count. Ii has a few
guns, a small army. some officers. and a
cacophonous military band: but the Free
State %urghers away at the front have
nothing I'm common with the sweetness and
light of Bloemfontein: they are raw coun-
try yokels, and prefer their nomad life on
the veldt to the civilization OF a cultured
and remarkably civilized little township.