New Britain herald., 1926-10-22
JOHANNESBURG IS
 BOOMING CENTER
South African City Always
 Showing Improvement 2

Washington, D. C.. Oct. 22
 Johannesburg, South Africa's City
 Of Gold bids fair to# annex an-
 other enviable title" says a bulletin
 rom the Washington, D. C., head
 quarters of the National Geographic
 society. For Joburg', as if is
 1amiliarly known to its citizens is
 now acting as host to an influx of
 adventurous humanity caused bv
 dlamond finds in her neighborhood.
 'Johannesburg is accustomed to
 pooms and rushes," continues the
 bulletin. Kimberley, which has
 dominated the diamond mining in-
 dustry for years, may have live competitor Last April reports that
 soO'oOO worth of diamonds were 1ound near the city caused q stam- pede Of adventurers and more thous- ands answered the irresistible call of the precious stone a few days ago when news of a new find was cir culated throughout the Union.
 Owes Its Existence to Boom
 OntH the latter part of the last century the whole South African 1 Union was little known to the out- 1 side world. It was a pastoral and agricultural region and such notori- i ety as IL won was principally due to ] frequent difficulties between the Boers and the British local or i'm
 perlal authorities, and to the native | trlpes. It was seldom visited except . py traders and hunters but the dis coFery Of the enormous gold deposits Of the Witwatersrand-the Rand
 III lSS5 brought rush of English { French, Portuguese, Germans and
 Amerlcans into the country in search
 or wealth. Out of that rush, Johan- neshurg was born. It is often re-
 1Hrred to as the worlds record
 breaking city. It commenced breaking records 40 years ago when
 some tin shanties stood on one of | the bleakest portions of the Rand.
 me passing of another year saw ad-
 uitlonal hundreds of shanties and | then the transformation of the farms
 on which the shanties stood into a
 1ull-Hedged mining camp,
 As Large As Toledo, Ohio
 Pioneers of the eighties and II nlneties little imagined that bv 1925 their settlement would have a, population equal to that of Toledo II ohlo, spread over an area approxi- II mately that of St. Louis They little l imagined there would be 800 miles of Well-paVed streets over which so II Hl!les or street car tracks are built.
 Like many of our modern cities the streets run checker board fashion. | ana parks are numerous. The shan Il lles nave gradually given way to the | Inarch or progress with which Jo- hannespurg Is keeping step, and l wide thoroughfares, tall, handsome buildings, schools, churches and lux urlous clubs give it the appearance
 Of a bustling New England city. Its location in the hills, with mine II dumps on all sides sometimes makes T life miserable in the city, when heavy winds blow great clouds of III dust from these dumps, covering H everything in their path. Trees and II grass will not grow on the dumps and the only relief from the nuis- ance Is the rain which falls heavily ln March and April. Immediately following these rains Johannesburg is at it's best-clear, sunny and warm.
 A City of Hospitality li
 Since the founding of Johannes t burg, it has been a great melting s pot, for it is an objective of health hunters, pleasure seekers and ad- venturers in South Africa. It Is the most populous city in the Union and it's commercial capital. such a large city as Johannesburg. with its hightension traffic and Oustle usually is not regarded as an deal vacation or holiday resort but, IE n keeping with it's distinctiveness, he metropolis is an exception. The ,itizens have established exceptional l llS abilities for recreation. Tennis is ls h. favorite amusement and tennis ,ourts may be seen everywhere. , Many pretty pleasure parks, lakes or yachting and boating, and mag E lifcent motor drives help make it 6 resort. Cosmopolitan hotels, res x aurants and theaters seem more European than African. Worlds Greatest Gold Producing
 Region E "The Transvaal district, in which johannesburg is situated, for years as been the greatest gold produce 8 lg region in the world. More gold N as produced from the Rand last H une than was mined in California H nd Arizona during the whole year H f 1924. Gold is the chief export A the district. with coal production 3 nd export increasing each year. z: he silver and tin mining industries M 1rive. Iron ore is found in large @ uantties but on account of the re- N of the South African N larket, the mining of this ore has < ot been heavily developed" N )aniSh King Had Best S