The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-08-09

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 UNI
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
lied, with wide ramifications, con-
trolled by half 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 inn
prisonment, and the stringency of the
law has mended matters, but not
ended them. Illegal whiskey and
struggled opium are now the desper-
ate enterprise of 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
S. 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 a cost of about two
cents gallon, was colored, bottled
and retailed at IL cents a drink. U.s.
ually the manager of the nearest mine
received salary from the syndicate
to close his eyes to the affair; and the
majority of the detective force like
wise received 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 a spring was
pressed, sank through a trap door in
the floor. Spies stood at every cor
ner in the vicinity to keep watch
against the approach of strangers of
a suspicious nature; and should such
draw near, an electric signal bell rang
out its warning, so that the detective,
rushing into the store, pistol in hand,
would find nothing more exhilarating
than party of Kaffirs bargaining
over blanket, unless one of these
same bargainers happened to be a
confederate of the raiding party, and
had retained the alcoholic beverage in
his mouth through the medium of
small sponge, and had thus kept the
evidence which was to send the She
beener down to Capt Town for a num-
WI VI JOoio, W AClp III CONSTRUCTION
work on the breakwater.
Few to Enact Role of Spy.
But the vengeance of the liquor
syndicate was no less far-reaching
than that of the illicit diamond brok
ers at Kimberley, and thus it occurred
that the role of Noah Claypole was
never popular one.
To-day the traffic is chiefly in opium.
The importation of $4,000 coolies from
China, accustomed to smoking it, has
led to an Unsuitable demand for the
product. Upon the Rand, the name
given to the districts along the gold
reef, there exists a yellow population
of indentured servants-virtually serfs
equal in number to all the whites in
johannesburg. Lodged in overcrowded
compounds, where they are confined
like animals, liable to be logged for
any infraction of discipline by their |
white overseers, who have learned the |
summary ways of the Beers with ma
tives, from time to time some of this |
seething horde overwhelms it's guards, |
breaks out, and takes to a life of pill |
lage and murder along the outlying
districts.