Evening star., 1922-03-29
SOUTH FR|CA CITY
STORMY PETREL"
johannesburg, Center,of Gold
Industry, Described by Geo.
graphic Society.

"Johannesburg-or Joburg,' as the
initiated speak of it's among cities
the stormy petrol. of South Africa
just as truly as 1t is the city of
go1d"" says a bulletin issued by the
National Geographic Society in re-
gard to the region in which striking
miners and revolutionists were re-
Gently opposed by the infantry, cav
airy, tanks and airplanes of the South
African government.
THE city was born of the greatest
gold discovery known to the modern
world,' continues the bulletin, "and
rose to the stature Of city in the
space of few years practically 'on
the diggin's' 1t Is almost on the crest
OF the Rand Officially Witwaters-
randi, the fifty-mile ridge of gold
bearing conglomerate from which the
worlds greatest stream of gold has
flowed since 1906, when production
passed that of all North Amerioa.
Immense Gold Output.
Before the world war the annual
recovery Of gold from the Rand
reached $175.00O.00O, and by 1920 the
output had climbed to s13S, 900 900, an
. amount which represented, roughly,
nalf OF the entire world product ion in
eiiAe III 1871 tHt peak
attained was reached when gold val
ued at about S200,000,00O was taken
| from the Rand
Johannesburg is situated about
midway along the Rand. with a num-
per of suburbs strung out on the
tremendous wealth that has come out
OF the reef has flowed abroad, a fact,
incidentally. which is responsible for
much of the bitterness among the
white miners and the Boer farmers.
But some of the millionaires and
submillionaires have spent lavishly
IN the country, and these expendi-
lures, as well as the millions spent in
operation, have enriched Johannes
burg Excepting three cities near the
Mediterranean, which may be con-
sidered as belonging to a separate
| civilization, johannesburg is the
metropolis of Africa. 1t has a popu-
lation of more than 250,000, of which
about 10000 are white.
Up-tO-the- Minute City.
! 1T is d city of many substantial
! buildings, some of them of many
! stories, resembling more nearly
American structures than those of
| Europe. Wide asphalted streets,
| theaters, luxurious clubs and the
| finest hotel south of the equator are
| other features that go to make
| Joburg an up-to-date, comfortable
city In the suburbs are many fine
| residences, and the country club
will compare favorably with similar
institutions on any of the six con-
| tinents
But, despite its opulence. Johan-
nesburg still has some of the ear
marks of mining camp. In the
sumptuous clubs booted prospectors
are to be seen side by side with
carefully manicured financiers. The
iron-roofed shack of the early days
mas not entirely Disappeared: gamb-
ling hells and grog shops can be
found with ease by miners in the city
to spend their earnings in the tradi-
tional way of the mining camp. Nor
is the city. for all its public improve
ments and architecture, entirely
notwithstanding white mans COM
munity. More than 100000 African
natives live within it's limits Motor
cars predominate in. the traffic, but
the heavy Boer wagon has not been
thrust entirely out of the picture And
one can ride over the asphalt-or
could few years ago--in a rick
shaw drawn by feather -bedeck ed
Zulu.
Passes Through Stormy Period.
Turbulence has been the lot of Jo-
hannesburg since it's birth in 1885, and
MANY of it's problems have pivoted
around the mine owners and laborers.
The Boer war really grew out of the
discovery OF gold on the Rand and the
influx of thousands of Englishmen. The
ill-starred raid of Jameson was directed
against Johannesburg, and at the same
time the city was seized from thin by
the British mine operatives. Just be-
fore the outbreak Of the world war
there was an uprising of the white
miners around Johannesburg very SINH
! lar to the recent one, but the difficulties
were patched up because of the greater
conflict.
THE obtaining of labor for the Rand
| mines has always been problem of
considerable proportions. With the
mines working at capacity, something
over 250,000 workers are needed. The
local. negroes preferred work on the
farms and among the live stock of the
Beers. White men in sufficient numbers
could not be obtained, nor could the
owners afford to pay exclusively white
mems wages. At one time $4,000 Chi
nese coolies were imported, but their
presence caused much trouble, and in
1910 the last of them were repatriated
In recent years tens of thousands of
negroes from Portuguese East Africa
have been brought in to supplement the
| local negroes that could be induced to
! work and the $4,000, more or less, skilled
white workers"