Bisbee daily review., 1908-11-29
SOUTH AFRICA
POURS WEALTH
into THE RAND
Stock Exchanges Once More
Hum With Life and Signs
of Prosperity Are Witness
ed on Every Hand.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa,
Nov. ga year ago it was impossi-
BILE to float any sort of a speculation
ON the Rand. Today the people are
eager TO put none into anything anu
everything, and Johannesburg shows
symptoms or a severe attack of bonn
ing.
The boom came in silently. No one
noted its arrival But suddenly it no
iced that stock brokers, who used to
walk into town every morning (for
exercisel were beginning to ride in
tramway cars, and that some recK-
ess individuals occasionally took a
cab And at last the boom was Of
the contents bills of the newspG. r
ficially recognized 1t appeared on
the contents bills of the newspapers.
The share market report, which for
months had languished on some OBJ
scure page, was once more given a
place along the cable news and the
horrors" The theatres became
crowded, and the popping of champaign
corks sounded in hotels, which hao
become accustomed to serving six.
! penny beers instead OF shilling whis-
this evidence OF returning prosper
ity is, however, not as yet very notice
able
But it is quite like old times again
The stock exchange is more fun Of
life and noise. The talk of shutting
| it up or running it as a club has sub
sided Back subscriptions are being
paid up; office rent long in arrear ii
| orthcoming. Reuenched clerks are
drifting back to their old work. anC
the excited groups in the streets out
side sometimes remind one of the oIC
days.
johannesburg has thrown itself int
the new gamble with enthus asm. Ever
old stocks which one thought dead AM
buried have come to life Scrip whicl
has lain at the bottom of trunks fo
years, looked upon almost as so mucl
waste paper, has suddenly becom'
worth bringing into daylight. Indeed
numbers of people have bought up al
the cheap stuff they could lay thei
hands on, in the belief that it will &c
up with a run and prove saleable.
It is a curious thing about Johan
nesbuTg that as soon as there is tno
least indication of a boom there II
plenty of money available for marke
operations. Where it comes from NJ
one knows. But men who have no
paid anyone for years, have suddenly
began to dabble in the share market
Perhaps much of it comes from the
country districts of South Africa.
In rural Cape Colony particular
there is believed to be a great dea
of boarded gold. oudtsnoorn is saIc
to be one of the most prosperous
towns in Africa, and some of the fan IN
ers in the district are credited witr
making 100000 or S250,000 a year ou
lof ostrich feathers. Whether these
stories are exaggerated one can rot
say, but there must Je a great dea
OF money laid away in the suh1conti
nent. At last there is a disposition
to employ this wealth Much OF i 4
going into the share market, and Il
may be that this was the origin o
the boom.
! Moreover, there is spirit Of cen
fidence abroad. The gold output g''c'
up and working cost go down. DIV
bends are increasing. De Beers hay'
started to work full time again-an ~
dication that tae slump in diamond
will be soon over. Everyone believes
that South Africa's gbod days "a,
coming back. Tie lean years havt
been long. But the turn Of the IA
years is at hand.