The Sunday Oregonian., October 25, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 8, Image 52

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 25, 1903.
QUEEE3 FEATUf3E? OF " CY" ' "' : ' ?Lj7S
FABMING IN THE TRANS - . ' -w , K . :r:J ' f (iA
IK a -V WV:A MSf11 c3Pf : -t II
f ri . . v& K.v-. (51 -Ls :J f fir-a
1
31i
BY FRANK C. CARPENTKR.
THIS Ifitrr Is to be about the Trans
vaal. Tlic mate lmn bci'ii big In the
eye of the world tvr the past half
doien years. It eeuia smull ajtd poor
whfli on t ravels over it I entered It
from Cap Colony at Fourteen Streams
above Ktmberley. and eain thence by
rail through Johannesburg .on my way
here. The distance is a little farther
than from New Vork to "Washington, and
It W about an ectul distance from Pre
toria U the cast, hero the Portuguese
territories begin. I am J'.ist about S1
miles or so eouth of the boundaries of
Hhodesia.
These figure. give you 60:e Idea of the
area of the country. Tho Transvaal is
about twice as bit; as Illinois or Iowa.
It is Iiirh. dry and comparatively bar
ren, and some of it seeme almost a dea
: ert. On my way here I rode for miles
' without seeing a huiue, and nil alunff tho
'way from Kimberley to Johannesburg
'there are no towns of largo size. The
''whole country has a white population
.less than that of the city of Minneapolis,
and. including the blacks, who number
'three limes the white, it has not as
jnany people as Philadelphia.
The blgt;et town in the Transvaal is
-Johannesburg. It has 1-VmOO( and of these
' less than 90.X are white. Pretoria has
and only 22.00O whites. Both towns
claim more; but these are the official
figures and they Include everyone, ne
roes, Rngllsh and Boer. t
Millions In Mines.
The greatest importance of the country
'Is in its mines. It leads lite world as
1o gold, and it biife fair to do so as to
fl.amonds. I have already written of the
Jrenner mine, winch xroiucel the Culll
ran diamond, the biggest ever discovert d.
. It lies within 13 miles of the city, and
It has turned out $J5.oi".'m worth of
precious stones In the pat four years.
There are other dinmond mines nearby,
and there are also copper and coal.
.s to the gold mined of the ltand. which
lie within a few miles of Pretoria, their
produot Wt greater than ttiat of any other
region. They tiave added more than DOO.
MV.it, :old dollars lo the world's supply
in tile last twenty odd years nnd they
are now yielding" more than J! 20,vt "v. lX a
year. Of this I shall write more when I
visit Johannesburg.
farming iu Sou 111 Africa.
The chief Importance of the Transvaal.
' outside its mines, is ns a stock-r.iisiiig
country. The laud is Inch and healthful
and the climate Is fitted for while men.
The most of the colonies lie or more
feet above the sea. It is a vast table
land, composed of great rolliug plains,
eroded here and there by low ranges of
mountains. A great part of the country
Is covered with scrubby brush, but much
of it is semi-barren and so scantily
watered that the grass bums up in the
tjiimmer. The seasons here are just the
opivile of ours. The Winter is from
-pril to September, and Hie Summer
from O tjl r to March. The Winters are
cld. dry fcnd brai-ins- The Summers are
hot. with some rainfall to temper the
heat.
So far only a inall part of the land
has leen taken up. There are something
hke TJi.o'HV,, acre in the Transvaal, and
the roistered farms number only ii,v.
The awrace sue of a farm is acres,
or nearly lo tiuare miles to each farm.
The mosi of the farmers are Boers,
who ruttlvate only a small part of
their land, and either graze the re
mainder or lot it out to the native
Kaffirs, who plant it In little patches
of from one to five acres. The chief
rropa raised by the negroes are corn
antl milieu They farm under the di
rection of the owner, and as a rule
give bim half of the harvest. All farm
ing;, however, is slovenly done, and
that notwithstanding; the demand Is
good. The Transvaal Is now import
ing farm produce of Slo.0uo.000 peran
num. and the main supplies for the
Sold mines come in from abroad, t
bavs the market prices of Pretoria uul
Johannesburg lying before me. Chick
ens are bringing; 2T, cents a pound,
butter cents a pound, and eg;K are
selling- from 75 ceiUs to $1.25 a doen.
Milk is worth 1 cents a quart, and
tobacco, unmanufactured, 12 cents per
pound.
As to grain. If Is sold In bags of
dlfforent capacities. Barley Is put up
In bags of 100 pounds, and sells at, S3
per bag, or 3 cents a pound. Rye
brings over 2 cents a pound, oats 2
cents and Kaffir corn almost 2H cents,
while Indian corn brings S cents per
pound. This means that rye and corn
each "bring; $1.12, and that barley and
oats bring, respectively, 96 cents and
M cents per bushel, which Is far mora
than they sell for, even at the highest.
In our part of the world.
Some South African Porta.
These prices are largely due to poor
labor, lack of transport and insect
pests. One of the chief pests 1b the
locust, which sweeps over tho country
In swarms of great magnitudes I have
ridden through miles of such iwarmi
on the cars. At times the locusts ara
so thick that they almost hide the sun.
The air Is filled with flying beetles,
with sparkling white wings, and ona
looks on and on, seeing nothing but
locusts as far as the eye can reach.
Looking down along the sides of the
train, the ground Is covered with these
crawling Insects, and you can notice
them In front, fleeing from the engine.
The locomotive seems to be sweeping;
them apart like a snowplow, and this
vork continues for miles and miles as
the train goes on. Sometimes they aro
so many that the wheels of the cars
going over thorn crush them upon the
rails, and the rails thereby become
greased and the wheels roll around
without catching.
At some of the stations I have
stepped out of the train and scooped
up a handful of locusts. They look
Just like our grasshoppers and are
probably the tame sort of Insects as
those which almost ruined Kansas and
Nebraska some years ago.
When the locusts come they eat al
most every green thing. The grass dis
appears and the sheep and cattle perish
for want of food. At present the dif
ferent governments are paying a cer
tain price for locust destruction. The
farmers receive 50 cents per bag of
I'OO pounds, and In Natal locust eggs
are bringing 12 cents a pound. The
eggs arc laid in cocoons, and It is esti
mated that It takes 40,000 ggs to
make one round. They will last for
years without hatching, so that, al
though the locusts are killed, a new
crop may come forth again and again
Irom the dormant eggs.
The African natives are all fond of
locusts. They eat them, and I am told
that the Boer farmers frequently use
dried locusts for chicken feed, paying
as high as $2 per bag for them. An
other trouble that the farmers have
in many regions Is the drouth, and
there are also cattle fevers and other
diseases.
Agriculture Since fhe War.
Since tho Boer war new Interest' has
sprung up in agriculture, and the govern
ment i now doing all it can to open up
the country and to improve the condition
of the farmers. It has already established
experimental farms in several places, and
It trying to better the livestock. Many
new plants are being Introduced, the to
bacco industry has been encouraged, and
experiments are being made on cotton. A
South African Agricultural College is now
proposed, and Genera Botha is said to
favor It- He says ,-that agriculture and
mining are the two brothers of the Trans
vaal and that they must work together,
hand in hand, for the benefit of the coun
try." As to livestock, the colony now has
more than 600.00 cattle, over 800,000 sheep
and about InO.OOO pigs. There are about
6O.000 horses, a large number of goats, and
a few ostriches. The most of the stock Is
kept on the high lands.
As to prices of farm animals, they seem
Lir tar this far-away country. Goaia mx
worth about $5 each, pigs from $10 to $21,
and Merino sheep from $5 to $6. Almost
any kind of a good horse will sell for
$100, and a mule for the same. Native
cows bring from $50 to $70, and those im
ported from the Cape of Good Hope sell
for $100 and upward.
Xo Place for Poor Men.
Notwithstanding these figures 1 do not
advise Americans to come here expectins
to make money In farming. This is
hardly a poor man's country. The native
labor on the farms is mado up of Kaffirs,
who receive from $10 to $15 a mouth. In
cluding their board and lodging. Wlilto
men cannot do tlio black man's work
without losing caste, and the farmers
would rather not have white men to do
such work. The line between the white
and black Is carefully drawn and the
white fears that hl race will lose caste
If he employs his own people to do the
rough labor.
Uven the government, anxious as It Is to
have Fettlers, doos not advise men with
out capital to come to South Africa. In a
little book of Information for the benefit
of emigrants I see It stated that It Is
necessary for an experienced farmer to
have from $20,000 t $30,000 if he wishes to
start Into stock rearing in the Transvaal.
The price of land varies according to Uie
soil, water and nearness to market
Farms on the high veldt, with a certain
amount of land Irrigated, can be pur
chased from $2.60 to $10 per acre. In the
lower country, known as the bush veldt,
the prices are considerably lower. Nearer
the towns the land Is high, and where
there Is plenty of water the prices are
much above those I have mentioned. The
government advises that a farm should
not be less than 3000 acres in size for
stock rearing and not less than 3000 where
the country Is poor. It desires small cul
tivators who will do mixed farming and
truck farming. Such men should have
from $1600 to $2000 each, and they should
be prepared to work with their own hands.
The Capital of Uie Transvaal.
I am wrltinar tills In Pretoria, the cap
ital of the Transvaal and the seat of
government of this now English state. It
was, you know, the headquarters of the
Boer government, the home of Kruger
and the pivot of anti-England during the
great war In South Africa.
In going over the country now one sees
no signs of the recent struggle except
some dismantled forts and an occasional
monument put up to the soldiers. The
square stone blockhouses which were
erected to guard the railroad between
here and Johannesbcrg are still In evi
dence. But that Is ajl.
The population is everywhere now com
posed of both English and Boers. The
crowds on the streets are made up of both
nations, and the families are marrying
and giving in marriage. "Within a stone's
throw of my hotel Is the parliament
house, where the British and Boers 6it
together, and where the Boers, notwith
standing their defeat, are In the majority.
It Is a Boer who is the premier. General
Botha, who led the Boer armies, now
rules the Transvaal, and he, with a cab
inet largely of his own race, directs the
policy of the state and, to a considerable
extent, dictates Its laws.
The Parliament of today Is held in the
government buildings which were erected
by President Kruger In the early '90s at
a cost of about $su0.000, and the Palace of
Justice, another magnificent building, was
commenced by the Boer government be
fore the outbreak of the war, although
tt was not completed until after peace
was declared.
A Dutch Town.
Notwithstanding tills, the Pretoria of
today is a Boer town. Its people are
more Uutcii man angiisn. inere are
Dutch signs over the stores, and the
rim. m JUST y-i-'; JP .
hears the people talking in Dutch' as he
goes along the streets, and the farmers
in the country about are almost alto
gether Boers. It is the Dutchmen who still
own most of the lands, and their long
teams of oxen may be seen going through
the city or standing in the market places
just as they did when Paul Krugfir ruled.
Pretoria was laid out by the Boers and
built by them. It is a little over 60
years old, and it is named after President
Pretorius. who founded It. It lies in a
valley formed by a small tributary of the
Crocodile River, and it has grass-grown
hills on every side. The streets cross one
another at right angles. They are wide
and well paved, and In many places
shaded with willows, which were set out
as fence posts and grew Into trees. Most
of the houses are of Dutch architecture.
Nearly every little home has a garden
about it, and the whole town is full of
flowers and fruit. Of late years the
business section of the city has
grown, and it now compares fa
vorably with any town of Its
size In the United States. It has good
stores, a streetcar line, electric lights, a
public park and a zoological garden. It
has a museum, a library of 24,000 vol
umes, social clubs, cricket and football
grounds and a theater and an opera
house. It has a half dozen churches, and
among them the Dopper Church, where
President Kruger sometimes preached.
In the Footsteps of Kruger.
Indeed, everything about the city still
bears Kruger's marks. The hpuse in
which he lived Is here, and his bones lie
under a plain monument out in the cem
etery. I went down the other afternoon
and looker at the home of the ex
Boer President. It is a plain one-story
building, situated on the principal street,
with a garden about it. It is not much
better than that of many a clerk in the
United States. Kruger was supposed to
be rich, and statements have been made
concerning the millions which he sent to
Holland during the Boer war. These
stories are denied at Pretoria, and tlis
truth seems to be that the Boer Presi
dent came out of the war comparatively
poor as far as money was concerned.
His wealth was mainly in farms, which
he bad divided among his relatives be
fore the war began. While the struggle
was raging he lent something like $250,000
in cash to his government to keep the
soldiers in the field, end this was paid
for in the money of that government,
which Is now worthless. He also lent
about $70,000 additional, which, I believe,
was In the hands of General Botha at
the time the war closed. This was of
fered to the British, but they refused It,
and the money still forms a part of the
Kruger estate. It is said here that Kru
ger was not a money-lover or nioiyy
grubber, and that he cared more for his
country than his fortune.
A Word About General Botli&.
I understand that the same is true of
General Iouis Botha, the present ruler of
the Transvaal. He is a Boer in the full
sense of the word, but he believes In the
building up of South Africa, and is doing
all lie can to further the Interests of the
united races. General Botha was noted
as a statesman before the war began.
He entered politics early and was a
member of the llrst Volksraad and a
leader of the Progressives of the Boer
Republic at that time. He left this po
sition and went into tho army as a pri
vate, and by sheer force made his way
from rank to rank until he became coin-mander-ln-chlef.
One of his greatest
battles was that of Colenso, where he
fought General Buller and his 12.000 men
with a Boer force of 20U0 and defeated
them. It was after that right that Kru
ger made him commander-in-chief of the.
Boer forces, and it was largely due to
him that the army held out as long as it
did. making one of the bravest cam
paigns ever known in the annals of war.
Pretoria, South Africa.
Treasures of Uncle Sam's Libraries
In the War Department Alone There Are Fifty-rive Thousand Volumes.
1
N THE State, War and Navy Build
ing are three of Washington's old
est and most complete libraries.
They afford Interest in a hundred and
one different ways other than the mere
fact that they contain books. They are
the archives of the State, War and
Navy Departments, says.the Washing
ton Star.
Best known of these is the library
of the State Department, on the third
floor, wherein the original draft and
the original 6lgned copy of the Dec
laration of Independence, the Constitu
tion of the United States and the Ar
ticles of Confederation are kept. This
library was founded by Thomas Jeffer
son in 1789 and consists of 65,000 vol
umes and 2500 pamphlets, and now is
a part of tho division of rolls and library-
i
This division might well be called the
successor to the committee on foreign
correspondence established prior to the
dettnitive treaty of peace of 1782 and
the adoption of the Constitution of the
United States, for untii recently It was
the custodian of the papers and Jour
nals of the Continental Congress, the
papers of Washington, Jefferson, Madi
son and others nvhlch have been trans
ferred by executive order to the library
of Congress.
The original draft of the Declaration
of Independence Is on exhibition to
visitors, but the original signed copy
of that document and the Constitution
bookshops have many Dutch books. OneXand the-Articles of Confederation are
not." Corrections made by Franklin and
Adams can be seen In the original
draft, which Is In Jefferson's handwrit
ing. It Is In perfect state of preserva
tion, and rests in an open safe with an
engraving of Jefferson and "hla plan of
his tomb beside It.
In the same locked safe with the
Declaration Is the Constitution of the
United States. This famous document
is In a perfect state of preservation, in
spite of the fact that It Is only 13 years
younger than the Declaration of Inde
pendence. With It Is kept the original
Journal of the constitutional convention
of 1787. Other papers In the same safe
are Madison's debates and the original
drafts of the various amendments to
the Constitution and the ratification
thereof by the states.
"Washington's finest collection of rare
old engravings and naval records are
kept In the archives of the library of
the Navy Deparment as part of the
naval war records. Thousands of valu
able engravings, paintings and photo
graphs are on file In this library. Most
of them include portraits of prominent
naval commanders in the history of the
United States, pictures of vessels that
have flown the Star and Stripes and
Civil Wax photographs. This collection
is equipped almost to completeness and
will le Invaluable In time to come.
Every craft that ever flew the Stars
and Stripes' as a unit of Uncle Sam's
Navy has its picture in this gallery of
naval history. It includes a photo
graph of the battleship Maine In Ha
vana harbor taken on the afternoon of
the day of the explosion. One rare old
engraving made October, 1693, shows
the Dutch fleet under Tromp In its vic
tory over the Spanish and Portuguese
fleets under Ocquendo. Another en
graving made In 1646 shows a delinea
tion of the naval war of the Venetians
against the Turks at the Dardenelles.
In addition to the 5000 engravings
and pictures in the Navy Department
Library is a collection of 40,000 books,
which Includes some of the rarest vol
umes in Washington. John Paul Jones'
own personal memoirs. In French, dated
1788, are on the same shelf with a naval
history of Portugal in Latin, printed
In tho days of Queen Elizabeth of Eng
land. A textbook used In the British
navy over 200 years ago, known as Sea
Dialogues, printed In London In 1688.
tells of the early methods of flogging
and keel hauling -In the King's navy.
Every flag known to navies and com
merce Is pictured and described in a
book printed in Dutch in 1685, as a
reference book in the Dutch navy when
that nation was one of the foremost
seafaring nations of the globe. A min
iature volume much treasured by Li
brarian Stewart Is a history of H. M. S.
Royal George bound in wood from the
remains of that ship, which sank in the
harbor of Splthead, England, while be
ing painted In 1772. Dozens of old
books on naval warfare grace the
shelves of Mr- Stewart's office. Any
one Interested In ancient but crude
naval manners could spend weeks look
ing over such volumes as Manvaletto
as a history of ordnance. Volumes on
buccaneers are as numerous as they are
interesting.
The Brady collection of Cival War
photographs, for which the Government
paid $25,000, Is divided between the
Navy and War Libraries. More than
5500 large volumes of the documents
of the House of Representatives, bound
in sheep and marked with serial num
bers, are incased here. They are a li
brary in themselves. More than 8900
volumes on military science can be re
ferred to here, in addition to the of
ficial records of the War of the Re
bellion, of which there are three sets,
two loaning sets and one service set,
which never goes out of the library.
There is also a complete set of the
original Journals of the Senate, and
House of Representatives, which is a
very rare collection of books. A unique
gathering of newspaper clippings on
the Spanish-American War, comprising
20 large folio volumes, to be found on
the shelves of this library, lias the
proud distinction of being the only set
of its kind In existence. It cost the
Government more than $1000. Bound
volumes of 18th century newspapers,
the National Intelligencer from 1S06
to 186D, the Washington Globe from
1831 to 1869, and a perfect set of N'iles'
Register. In addition to numerous In
dexes, dictionaries and grammars in SO
different languagos, and a set of 100
books on Esperanto, the universal lan
guage, are in the War Department LI-.
brary for reference. Other tomes in
this collection are official gazettes of
Madrid, Manila, Havana and Porto Rico
in almost complete series for the last
30 years of the 19th century, and 23
orderly books of the American Revolu
tion, besides a large number of printed
rosters and office reports in connection
with the early American wars. There
is also a set of albums of the Spanish
American War prepared by the War
Department, which are the only orig
inal ones outside of four private sets.
j