The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1907-08-08

see the Englishman, recently arrived
and superficially scornful Of colonials;
the miner from Wales, speaking no
tongue but Welsh, drawn thither by
high wages; the Yankee, supreme in
enterprise and slowly outing all his
competitors from business; the French
investor, the German brewer and, OF
course the Scotch bank clerk, Indian
coolies, Afghans with horses, Persians
in round, embroidered caps; Syrians
peddling and hawking, Greeks and
Italians pushing great barrows laden
with fruits and luscious grapes from
the Cape orchards; Malay women with
regular, oval features, carrying upon
their backs enormous bundles of wash
ing; Beers with wagons and oxen,
cracking their long whips round the
market square; half-casteS and natives
from every tribe between the Zambesi
and Table mountain, pass and repass,
intent upon their business. There is
the sturdy farmer from the back weld,
making his first visit Ito town." with
his round fringe, VeldschOen OF un-
tanned antelope hide and nautical
trousers buttoning at the sides, and
the Hebrew, predominant in every
thing, in the saloon trade, the fac
tories, the general stores.
Before the war there existed in
Johannesburg a syndicate, well organ
fnn tinnc
trolled by half a dozen millionaires,
which sold liquor illegally to the ma
tives at an enormous profit. The pen
atty for conviction of engaging in this
traffic has now been made life i'm
prisonment, and the stringency of the
law has mended matters, but not
ended them. Illegal whiskey and
smuggled opium are now the desper'
ate enterprise of a few smaller men,
who stake their liberties against the
1000 per cent. profits which can be
made by them.
Illegal Liquor Sellers.
In the old days when Johannesburg
was still a mining camp, when beer
and champagne were both retailed at
IS the bottle, in the corrupt and palmy
days of the Kruger oligarchy, the
liquor dealers had a monthly turnover
of millions, the natives were de
bauched by Cape gin, and all work
upon the mines had to be suspended
between Saturday and Tuesday, until
! they had recovered from their in
toxication. Vile alcohol, manufactured
from potatoes at cost Of about two
cents a gallon, was colOred, bottled
and retailed at IL cents drink. Us
ually the manager of the nearest mine
received a salary from the syndicate
to close his eyes to the affair; and the
majority of the detective force like
wise received a salary from two differ
ent and, theoretically, opposing pow
ers. The bars in which the liquor
was sold were simple rooms, adjoining
some store, access being obtainable
only through a single door. The
liquors stood upon a disappearing
sideboard, which, when spring was
pressed, sank through, trap door in
the floor. Spies stood at every cor
ner in the vicinity to keep watch
against the approach of strangers oi
a suspicious nature; and should such
draw near, an electric signal bell rang
out it's warning, so that the detective
rushing into the store, pistol in hand
would find nothing more exhilarating
than party of Kaff1rs bargaining
over a blanket, unless one of these
same bargainers happened to be &
confederate of the raiding party, anC
had retained the alcoholic beverage II
his mouth through the medium of 6
small sponge, and had thus kept the
evidence which was to send the she