The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-07-17
SOUTH AFRlCA'S BOOM
Results cf Beer War Described
by ]. w. Kirkland.
MORE woRKMEN ARE NEEDED.

Demand For Common Labor Inces-
SAINT and Great-Durban Now a
Busy Port. and Houses Cannot BE
Built Fast Enough In J~Ohannea-
b~urg-Says English Are CNncilia-
tory and Anxious 10 Get on With
h Beers.
After a journey of nearly 10000
miles John w. Kirkland recently
reached Chicago from johannesburg.
He returns to America in the interest
OF the General Electric company,
whose representative he is in South
Africa.
whatever else was done or undone
by the Boer war;" he said to a reporter
of the Chicago Tribune, South Africa
is already getting the benefit of the x
pensive advertising it received. The
quiet Mttle town Of Durham as l knew
1t five years ago is now a bustling port
and considerable of a city. All the
South African ports thrived by the
nous supplies and transportation and
derived a fair profit from the refugees
and from the influx of foreigners inter-
ested in the war.
"People are coming in from all over
the world. In Johannesburg, in spite
of active construction, it is difficult to
get a dwelling or a business building.
Rents have gone up so per cent"
The present output of the gold mines,
AZ I(;,1x0n,, 80 ~osI -, about IN Nnp onrf
OF what it vas before the war. 1t is
difficult, he explained, to ecu enough
Kaffirs or ''boys," as many Of them
made none out Of the struggle be-
tween Boer and Briton and refuse to
work.
''There is, too, $25, 100000 being spent
in extending the railroad systems" he
continued. land this gives many Of
them employment. The demand prompt
ed by the gold mines is so great that
there is talk of importing Chinese la
Dor. The general demand for common
labor Of all sorts is incessant and great.
South Africa is probably the richest
mineral country In the world. The coal
is almost equal in calorific values to the
standard Welsh. 1t is so convenient,
often lying on the top Of the gold mine.
One coal mine company will probably
abandon it's coal to dig for gold"
Recently a diamond mine has been
discovered in the Transvaal, and fur
Their similar discoveries are expected,
he said.
OF the rule Of the British Mr.. Kirk
land spoke as follows:
1.-THE government at present is entire
" that of IA crown dependency. an ap-
pointed governor n a legislative coun-
Gil appointed by Lord Miner and the
governor Of the Transvaal. There is no
elective body. Had not the Jameson
raid prematurely exploded the solid
revolution that was being prepared by
the foreign element the chances are
that the Boer government would have
been ~liberalized. there would have been
no British war and the country would
now be living under a broad and salts.
factory republican government. AT
present the English are conciliatory
and sincerely trying to give us the best
form of colonial government. AS the
conquerors they are disposed to get OIL
the best of terms with the conquered"
As indicating the growing number OF
Americans in the country Mr.. kirkland
said that se%venty-five graduates OF
American universities attended the last
Washington birthday banquet at 10
ha%nneshurg. Meats from the Chicago
stock yards, Indian corn, American
mining machinery and American SLAMS
are some of the i~mportations.