THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 22, 1903.
CAPE
i
BT FRANK O. CARPENTER
CAPB TOyN! How shall I describe
It? It U the biggest city of South
Africa, and It has nothing In common
with this savage black continent. Its
buildings and Its people are all Euro
peans. The town Is as bright as a
button and as clean as a pin. It lfes
right on the Atlantic, washing Its feet
In Table Bay. Behind and above It
the two mighty rocky formations
known as Table mountain and the
Lion's Head. They are bedded In
green and they shut out the half desert
lands which fade away Into the great
Karoo, farther north.
Table Mountain.
Table mountain Is rightly so called.
.It Is a mighty block of rock which
rises almost stralghc up behind the
town to a height more than six times
that of the Washington monument,
cutting the sky line with a Jagged
horizontal front two miles in length.
If you could take one of the highest
of our Allegheny Mountains, slice off its
top so that It looks like a table and
plant It down behind Eoston you might
have about the effect that Table moun
tain has at the city of the cape. The
mountain sides would need to be cut
so as to be almost precipitous, and Its
top should be as regular as though the
gods of nature had smoothed It off
with a knife. Standing In Boston,
there would be times when the whole
great Table rock would be clear and
clean-cut. At other times It would be
lost In the mist, and again low. over-v.-ir,r
rloudi would rest upon It
and fall down over the sides like a
tablecloth.
Table mountain is 3300 feet high.
One side of It Is such that tt can be
climbed In three hours, and In that
space of time you can reach one of the
finest Tiews in the world. The mighty
"Southern ocean stretches beyond you
at the front and at the right and the
left. Tou can almost follow with your
:ye the course of Bartholomew Plax.
when he discovered the Cape of Good
Hope. That was six years before Co
flumbua started out to find the new
world, and the ocean below us was
then so rough that he named that point
Ithe Cape of Storms. It was along the
I same track that Vaaco da Gama went
I on around the continent to India a
I few years later, skirting Cape Agulhaa,
I the southernmost point of the African
I continent, which lies down there a
I little off to the left.
Cape Town is" Just under you. so
' close that you can toss a rock into Hs
' streets, and beyond It Is Table Bay.
the great port of entry tor the whole
tf South Africa. Dlax and Da Gama
: had ships of less than 100 tons, the
! mighty steamers which are floating
down there at the wharf each run
i high Into the thousands of tons and
'. more than 2000 of them leave and call
every year. Ships with a tonnage ag
gregatlng more than 10.000.000 went In
'end out of that port within the last
,12 months, and this has become one of
the great water gates of the world.
The harbor looks small from the top
of the mountain, but It has more than
two miles of quays, which can accom
modate vessels drawing SO feet. It Is
sheltered by a break-water 60 feet
long, and Its larger division. Victoria
basin, covers S acres. Looking along
the quays yon can see the electrio
cranes, and back of them the ware
bouses, which can store 70,000 tons of
cargo at one time, and at the reser
voirs, which hold mountains of coal.
Among the ships are boats from East
and West Africa, from London and Ham
burg, and great liners on their way to
Australia and India. There are the mail
steamers of the Vnlon Castle Company,
wht-ii carry not only passengers, and
express, but the vast treasures which
are always flowing out of the diamond
and gold mine of thte great vault.
Now turn your eyes from the harbor to
the great hill which lies across the ravine
from where we are standing. That Is the
Lion s Head, which forms another part
of the background of the horseshoe val
ley surrounding the bay. That peak Is
almost as high as Table Mountain and
the electric car which you can see whii-
aing along at its feet, looking pygmy
like in the distance, will give you one of
the finest streetcar rides of the world.
You can take It In the heart of Ope
Ton and wind your way around the bay
back through the valley between Table
.Mountain and Lion's Head to the city
with brautiful views in sight all the way.
The Capital of South Africa.
But let us go down and take a walk
through this capital oi soutn Ainca.
Cape Town is the gate to this end of the
continent and for more than 0 years
it has been the chief door through which
tn whites have gone In and out. It baa
now in the neighborhood of .O0O peo
ple and l one of the fine little cities
of the world. Laia out as iu.. u "
in avenues running from Table Mountain
to the sea aad crossed by other street at
rv
right angles, its old Boer buildings are
gradually disappearing and it has now
shops and streets which would do credit
to the largest cities of the United States.
It has a poKtofflce structure which sur
passes In else that of any American
city of twice its population, and lis
Parliament Houses are perhaps the finest
buildings In Africa. They were erected
some yearn ago at a cost of more than
itnrmonn Thev are of the renaissance
They are of the renaissance .
style, with porticos upheld by Corinthian
columns and are surrounded by beauti
ful gardens, in which a marble statue of
Queen Victoria stands at the front. Each
of the houses has a noor spate
as that of the House of Commons in hnm
land and the building contains a throne
room, showing the allegiance of the coun
try to the Kir.. The Parliament which
meets here is that oi mire '.'" -
thi. vst territory, comprising
f-. , .. ti, lamia notith of the Trans
vaal, including Klmberley and Us dia
monds and al the cruel sneep
tle-trrowlng. frult-ratelng and ostrich
farming parts of this continent.
Business In South Africa.
Cape Town is largely the business
capital of South Africa. It has tne
headquarters of all the big banks and
of the chief exporting and Importing
firms. Alderley street. w v
thoroughfare. Is lined with big business
blocks, and there is a wholesale section
which has many fine buildings.
During my stay nere i navo nau
with ome of the leading nnanciois .
to the financial conditions of this part
of the world. Business Is still bad and
It has been so since tne now wai.
recent panic and expression i.i
United States have seriously
the diamond mines and have led to the
a,.tv of thousands of hands. There
are many other men out of employ
ment and not a few of the business men
are mortgaged up to their eyes.
It seems to me that times cannot but
continue bad In South Africa for a good
while to come. Just before the war
the conditions were excellent, and dur
ing It prospentv reignen m
here are naturally as optimistic as we
are and they have all the push and en
ergy of a people developing a new
country. When times are good they
borrow all the money they can and bet
on the future. Before the war much
of their business was done on credit,
but conditions were then comparatively
fixed and they could reiy on mu"s
their bills. As long as the struggle
continued England's purse-strings were
opened and money flowed like water.
Business was boomed to correspond
with the new conditions. Many build
ings were erected In all tne cities, ana
especially in Cape Town. Durban and
Johannesburg. New ships were brought
Into the carrying trade, new institu
tions of all kinds created, and wages
and expenses, already high, were enor
mously Increased. Then the war ended
and the soldiers left. The money flood
was succeeded by a money drought,
and the creditors began to ask for the
payment of their bills. This caused
failures In all departments of trade, the
tide of Immigration turned the other
way and thousands were thrown out of
work. At the same time stores and
houses became vacant, the prices of
property began to drop, and the' com
petition for tenants brought down the
rents.
This situation has almost steadily
continued since the war and the country
is now getting down to a hardpan basis.
It will probably Improve later on, but
Just now Its condition is bad.
South Africa's Big Banks.
PinUnf here la not the same as in
t United States. With us every little
town has its individual bank, and there
are hundreds of small institutions op
erating with capitals of $50,000 and
upward. Here all the moeny is handled
by a half doxen great banks, with
branches reachlns to all narts of South
Africa. These big banks report to each
other, and. although competitors, work
largely In harmony. If a man's credit
la bad It soon becomes generally
known, and if one bank drops him he
has little hopes from the others
Am th tent of the banking. I
have before me some reports of the
big Institutions. The Standard Bank of
South Africa Is now doing a Dusiness ui
something like $160,000,000 per annum
on a capital of less than S. 000.000. It
iff.
. I MM f
ft
Ml "r.
4f -a
I
has about $100. 000,000 worth of deposits
and its prolits are 1600.000 and upward
per year. During a great part of Its
existence it has paid as much as 18 per
cent, and it is now paying 16, notwith
standing 'the hard times.
Another big institution is the Bank of
Africa, which has a capital of J5.OUO.00O.
This bank has deposits of J30,O0O,00O or
ts5.O0O.OiiO. and its assets and liabilities
- . " - ' r
ripnriii were cut to 10 per cent.
prospect of going down still lower. The
Natal Bank, which does business chiefly
in Natal and the Transvaal, lias a cap
ital of only JL'.oOO.OOO. but Its deposits
amount to something like $19,000,000 or
$3t.XiO,0OO. and it pays about 12 per cent.
The National Bank of South Africa,
with a capital of over $5,000,000, has de
posits of $S,O00.0ii0 and pays 8 per cent,
while the African Banking Corporation
has running accounts of from $20,000,000
to $25,000,000 on a capital of $2,000,000, and
pays 6 per cent dividends. Nearly all of
these banki have had a considerable re
duction of deposits, during the past two
years, and their stoCKS nave luueu la
value.
A Country Inflated.
When It Is remembered that South
Africa is largely a desert and that It
has. all told, only about l.ooo.ouo wnite
people, the wonder is that it can support
such banks at all. It seems to me that
business of all kinds Is much overdons.
The steamship lines are too many, the
railroads too expensive and the cities too
big for the populations. This Is especial
ly so sonslderlng that the products of
these 1,000.000 whites are almost altogether
owned In Europe, and the profits of their
labor are spent there. The diamond
mines and gold mines are owned abroad.
They are worked by cheap native and
Chinese labor, and the country lacks the
means of prosperity of the great produc
ing regions of the United States. Indeed,
the Boers claim mat ooum ainca uum
h far better off if It had less gold and
diamonds and went more Into agriculture.
They think that a higher wage rate would
benefit its Industries, causing more ot
the money to be spent at home.
Cape Colony.
In manv respects Cape Colony is better
on- than the Transvaal, the Orange Free
State and other provinces of South Africa.
It is given up to farming ana stocK rais
ing and is ' a land of mixed industries.
The colony Is one of the largest of the
British possessions of tnts part ot tne
continent. It is 600 miles long and MM
or 500 miles wide, being more tnan lour
times the sire of either New York or
Pennsylvania. It is twice as big as
Great Britain or Ireland, and. including
Bechuanaland, which was annexed some
years ago. It Is bigger tnan xexas or
any country m Europe, wun trie et-ei-tion
of Russia.
Cape Colony Is the oldest part of South
Africa and Is by far the best settled. It
has almost as many white people as Bos
ton, and Its colored population numbers
almost as many as there are souls In
Chicago. There are many good-sized
towns. This place, with its suburbs, has
ax.0u0; Klmberley has about 35,000. and
Port Elizabeth 33.000 or more. Wood
stock has 39.000: Grahamstown, 14,000, and
East London. 25.000. There are towns of
from 5000 to 10.000 scattered here and
there over the country, and there are
many thriving farming .communities.
The Farms of the Cape.
, In coming here from the Transvaal I
rode for a day through the Orange River
Colony and from there across Cape Col
ony to the Cape of Good Hope. The land
is all high and dry and the most of it
has a climate in which a white man can
work. The Orange River Colony Is
about as big as the State of New York
and Its population of whites is not half
as large as that of Buffalo. The coun
try Is mostly a grassy plain, fading out
here and there Into desert Considera
ble stock is grazed near the railway. I
saw droves of cattle, a few Sheep and
now and then a herd of Angora goats.
Most of the territory has been practically
Inaccessible until within the past ten
years.
As to Cape Colony, its northern por
tion is of much the same nature. The
land drops in mighty steps known as the
Karoos. The upper Karoo at the north
ranges In altitude from 3000 to 6000 feet.
1 -
win w
WW
y V if
i k
I J.
I Ian I
-t'A r
. -
It is almost a desert and drouths are 1
frequent. Below this is what is known
as the Great Karoo, consisting of rolling
plains rising gradually to a height of
about 4000 feet. This country is covered
with a sort of sheep bush, upon which
the cattle, goats and sheep feed. It is
dry and healthy and Is fitted for stock
raising. Still further south about the
Cape and west of here back of the ocean
is a large area devoted not only to stock,
but to grain and fruit raising. Back of
the Cape of Good Hope are large vine
yards, which produce something like
10,000,000 gallons of wine and 1,500,000 gal
lons of brandy every year. They raise
peaches, apricots, apples and pears and
ship fruit in cold storage to London and
the United States.
A great part of Cape Colony is well
grassed and there Is considerable stock
farming. The average ranch contains
about 3000 acres and upward, land of that
kind selling for $2 or $3 per acre. The
grass is thin and it is estimated that
every head of cattle will need from 10
to 20 acres' and every sheep one or two
acres. In the Karoo even more land will
be required.
At present the colony has about 12,000,
000 sheep. 7.000.000 goats, 2,000.000 fcattle
and 500,000 horses and mules. The farm
ers tell me that there Is some money In
horseralsing, as the country does not
raise enough for its own needs. The mar
ket price of draft horses Is now $100 and
upward.
The chief stock now grown here are
sheep and goats. The climate and feed
make excellent wool, and the mohair is
especially good. The country is now ex
porting something like $10,000,000 worth of
wool annually, and its mohair brings the
highest prices. I am told that there are
. S.OilO.OOO Angora goats in the colony, and
that good ones are selling lor upward ot
$5 apiece.
As to the eheep, they remind me of
THOUGH THE LARGEST CITY IT
HAiS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH
THE iePAVAGE BLA.CKL CONTINENT
n
thnB of Australia. . They are Merinos,
hir-h were broueht here centuries ago
from Spain and which formed the start
of the Australian stock. There is also a
common Cane sheep which thrives well.
The farms are largely in the Karoo. The
shiwn a.re usually kept in large flocks,
single farmers havlne as many as 10,000
each.
Cashing Up.
Washington Star.
"Have you ever played poker with
your son-in-law?"
"Only once," answered Mr. Cumrox.
"It wasn't very satisfactory."
"Did he win?"
"No, he lost. But It merely resulted In
my having to write him a check so that
he could indorse it over to me.
The Goblin.
Willie got so frightened
That he was stiff and stark
In the middle of the night.
When it was still and dark.
H thought he saw a goblin
A-standing, white and tall.
Over in the closet
Up against the wall.
Yes, there it stood a-leanlng.
As though tt meant to stay
Till the night should wearily
Go and give place to day.
' And Willie, crouched 'neath covers,
Let out his voice and cried,
A-ealling to his mother. 1
Who came to his bedside. r
"What Is it, sonT" asked mamma.
Seeing Willie ail afright;
And then -she got the matches
And -quickly made a light.
. Ah. the closet door was open.
And there against the wall
Was one of Willie's nightgowns
A-hanglng that was all.
News Without
Daily Happenings as They
the' Professor's Dream Is
UNIVERSITY professor recently
delivered a lecture on "Non-Exaggerative
Journalism." He pre
A
dicted the arrival, sooner or later, of an
age of absolute Journalistic veracity.
when news would be presented wiioliy
without decorative effects."
Hereto are appended a few Items of the
kind that will appear (maybe) when the
of absolute Journalistic veracity
swings along:
Report of a Suicide Case.
The body of a young woman was re
moved from the river at the foot of 309th
street by the harbor police yesterday aft
ernoon. Pinned to her dress was a note stating
that she purposed committing suicide,
signed Edith G. Wannaquit.
The young woman was aooui io
of age. She was not at an Deaumui.
She was, in tact, nonceaoiy yia.ui.
feature.
Her fingers were not coverea wuu
magnificent diamonds. She wore no
rings at all.- Her ciotning waa oi m
most Inexpensive material.
There Is no mystery whatever con
nected with the case, nor have the police
authorities the slightest idea that, she
was the victim of foul play.
It is deemed positive from her appear
ance that she did not belong to some
distinguished family of this community.
The young woman simply had -become
tired of living and she Jumped Into the
river that Is all. The case is wholly
lacking in any element or feature of a
sensational character. The names of the
Wannaquit family appear In the city di
rectory, but no inquiries were made of
any members of the family, the case not
being deemed of sufficient Importance.
Report of an Ocean Wreck.
Seven sailors of the brigantine Scuttle,
Halifax to St. Kitts, Cuttahole- cap-
i whlh was wrecked 675 miles south
east of the Azores on September 4, were
brought into this port yesteraay on n
Turhinsky, the Turbinsky hav
ing picked the castaways up three days
out on her run from Lisbon to this port.
The rescued sailors were not gaunt and
emaciated. In fact, they were fat. sleek
and chipper.
They suffered no hardships after sheer
ing off from their aoomea omp.
loft the Scuttle in the longboat,
which they had amply provisioned and
watered for a month's cruise.
They were adrift In the longboat only
four days, during which time the sea was
perfectly calm and the wealth balmy and
beautiful. They bad all they wanted to
" a rtHnk. and they did not suffer
tt. n-htest inconvenience, for they
knew very well that they were in the
path of steamers and that they were sure
n. Consequently-they had
no story whatever to tell concerning the
terrors of the deep.
Report Of Railroad Wreck.
Two local trains on the Buggville di
vision of the K. & S railroad met In a
head-on collision at
noon. Just outside the city ltalu.
Nobody was killed or even hurt there
fore there were no shrieks of th.
wounded and dying.
, emDtv. and the engl
neers and firemen of the two trains all
Jumped, alighting saieiy in
T i-li. ih track. No ambulancei
T needed The trains, while they
Zt?e cnpfetely smashed, did not catch
fTrl and thus kdd to the horror of the
situation, for there was no horror of any
kind in the situation.
.vi. train cleared away the de
bris inside an hour or so, and traffic was
resumed as usual.
Report of a Tidal Ware.
tj.i swept the entire Atlantic
coast from Portland to Key West yes
terday afternoon. ,
It was not the largest tidal wave ever
known on this coast by any manner ui
"!.-'4lvs.
:
v , , . is
the Trimmings
Will Be Chronicled When,
Kealized.
means. There have been plenty of big
ger tidal waves on the Atlantic coast
within the memory of tens of thousands
of men now living.
It is said that some damage was done
by the tidal wave, but the figures are not
here given for the reason that it is be
lieved that the figures are grossly ex
aggerated. Report of a Debut.
Miss Minnie Gittabundle, youngest
daughter of Mr. Didd Gittabundle, tne
manufacturer or aeroplane sunanes, iuu,
her coming-out party at her father's
home last evening.
A considerable party of young people
was present, but did not include the rep
resentatives of 'the ultra-fashionable
younger set for the reason that the Gitta
bundles do not belong to that set.
They were all well-behaved young per
sons, however, and conducted themselves
throughout the evening with commend
able propriety.
Miss Gittabundle wore the conventional
simple white frock with which debutante
garb themselves for the coming-out party.
She is not at all a pretty girl, being de
cidedly angular and somewhat awkward,
like her elder sisters. There is, besides, a
noticeable redness about the debutante
Miss Gittabundle's nose, due probably to
lack of exercise and to an excessive indul
gence in bonbons, which detracts consid
erably from her appearance.
In addition her mouth is'quite too large
and the freckles on her nose were very
much in evidence under the strong light
In which she stood while receiving her
guests.
Miss Gittabundle is said, however, de
spite her obvious plainness, to be quite an
agreeable young person. She has no ac
complishments worth mentioning.
The decorations of the Gittabundle
home for the occasion were lavish and
pleasing in spots, though decidedly garish
as a whole. An expensive orchestra ren
dered indifferent music throughout the
evening. Nobody has the slightest expec
tation that the youngest of the Misses
Gittabundle will figure as the belle of the
season.
Report of a Horsewhipping.
Mrs. I. V. Skinskln, the wife of the
furrier, yesterday disgraced herself and
humiliated her family and everybody con
nected with her by horsewhipping a
young clerk employed in her husband's
store.
She rounded the young man up in a
doorway on Main street, and drawing a
rawhide from the folds of her cloak laid
It upon her victim's countenance with the
greatest brutality.
When the woman was arrested and
taken to No. 1 station she claimed that
the young man had attempted to flirt
with her.
This Is not believed by anybody who is
acquainted with the young man. He is
known to hundreds of persons in this city
as a thoroughly decent and self-respecting
young fellow, the sole support of his
widowed mother and three young sisters.
He doesn't belong to the goody goody
class, but he is too square a man to be
guilty of any such foolishness as that im
puted to him by the woman who took it
upon herself to horsewhip him.
He is even believed in thoroughly by
Mr. Skinskln, the woman's husband, and
he will remain in Mr. Skinskin's employ,
with the guarantee that he shall not
again be bothered by Mrs. Skinskln.
It is understood that Mrs. Skinskln is to
be Immediately examined by a commis
sion In lunacy. We do not print her por
trait In the paper for the reason that It
is not deemed probable that any of our
readers would care to see a portrait of
her.
Mme. Sadie Wernheart began an en
gagement at the Standard Theater last
evening, her opening play being "lYou
Frou."
This is not Mme. Wernheart's final tour
of the United States. She expects to
come over here and get the money every
'few years for a long period yet to come.
She told our representative so yesterday
afternoon, and she ought to k- .
s,:!!i.'5 ;