SOUTH AFRICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2529, 3 September 1902, Page 73

SOUTH AFRICA.

(Froii Our Ovx Corhespoxdext.)'

JOHANNESBURG, July 15

I was in Johannesburg 18 months ago. It m a different Johannesburg to-day. Then the fine business premises along Cor^n Is'oner and Pmchard stieets and in the vicinity of the squares were boarded up. Now a'l thc-e have fronts and vrindows burnished, wi'h goods temptingly displayed for purchase. Then the population consisted for the most part of khaki clad men. Now, while there are Mill a great many to be seen in soldiers' toggery, the great bulk are in the Fobercst of attire, but though the streets are filled with a bu-tling crowd tho number aimlessly parading up and down or loitering at the corners is \ cry largo. Then the thoroughfares were cobbley and unkc-pt. Now, with notlui.g done to ip = tore them, the greater traffic has broken awa}' tho sulrpathn, and the haulage along c\cry a\eiuio has cut them up, <=o that there are deep ruts every few yard 0 , — for the rest chiefly sand; red 'and everywhere, and when it blows, which happily it seldom does in this dry springtime, it makes life's burden.' hard to lirar. The incongruity of an opulent city like tins being so dirty and ili-attendcd to will, of course, pass away. II will be '(range if cesspools will for long be permitted to exist in front of the e-pli'iiilid swell establishments in the nir.cr circle. Homo was not built in a day. neither can Johannesburg be restored to its former order in a like time. There is an immensity of work before the municipal authorities, but the expressed intention i? to undertake what is to be done vigorously and thoroughly. As indicated there are numbers of idle people hang ; ng abmu the Golden City. Many of these are in actual want. It was inevitable with the conclusion of per.ee that tho position would be such as it is, for the terms of cmollment in nearly all the irregular corps pio\:ded for di&bandmcnt in Johannesburg. \\ hen, then, forac thousands of men wore puddenly dumped down in the city it was impo-sible to at once ab-orb them in work. It will take a con--tidcrablc period to get all sifted into ph'ce, yet it will only hr> a question of tirno, {< r the limits of expansion are enormou".

What makes things worse just now i* the slump m the sliaro maikct. As tho pioopccts of peace Ik (Mine more assured stocks losi:, and on II J c:iCf* Day \\ ire at the higl ( ->t : iratiud a le\-M tint ii was suppos •(! \kould reman a bedrock price. Jn slc-ad, !m,\f\''-r, of the use being maintained the d-oclaiation saw stocks leceed. On the Rand th-? riic and fall of stocks meanseverything. Consequently the iirpsc-nt per\admg tone of th© community is g'wnpy. Things aic ture to come right — =o say the best informed, adding, now is the time to buy. 'Die icjMiii of tiie slump is <-et clown to the icareity of Kaffir labour. A serious problem is before the nunei to secure worker-. The recruiting that is going on d'Mss uot kor-p nat-e with those that are leaving. White labour is beinjj =ought after, but the liig-liost wage that can l>p given \\'ll hardly kc> p body and poul together. I'ho unties, indeed, cannot pny white, labour and bo roimmetatu'o. The war is rc»spon=ib'p fur, m a measure, making the Kaffir labourer dissatisfied with his lot. While hostilities la&ted those attached to the army not only received far more money than they weie accustomed to, but imbued exalted id<?a-> of their own importance. The army hangcison them are disinclined to resume tlitir normal place; more than thi-i. they spread dissatisfaction among their fellows. It itcoming to be recognised we are not Hkclv to manage the blacks as well as did the Boer*.

All tilings considered, it would be unwise, I think, for anyone except with considerable capital to make a precipitate descent on the Rand. With accommodation difficult to obtain. Ihirig is very < xpcn«-ivo. Skilled labourers even, for the time being, find it hard to get a start. Whether it is so or not in New Zealand—

for it must be said the thirst for the gore of our enemy was vory much otronger with you, especially among the street-corner generals and those of that ilk, than it ever was with the fighter- in the field. — the revulsion towards the Boors is most remailiable. Our soldiers and those they fought against fraternise freely, and fight their battles o'er again in relating the different experiences they went through. AH along the line the resolve appears to be to treat the burghers of the extinct Republics as friends and brothers. This augurs well for the unification of this part of the Empire. Iv tli •=* scramble for peaces v. hnn pcar-e came a few of the plunv- were allotted New Zoalanders. Mr Hoc for Rollcot«.n, son of the Hon. W Rollcston. who first came to Afnca with the Foiuth Contingpiit, in wl ich lip ro->e to be lieutenant, raid returning got a captaincy in a local coips. has been appointed magistrate for Lichtenburjf. a post can y ing a salary of £1300 per annum. The Liehtenburg district is a very fine one, and it is there Ue la Rey has hi=; home-. Tl ough Mr Rolleston haa had no legal tiainii^g, hr> has the abilities that go to make an excellent judge.

Another from the colony that lias fallen on Ins feet is Mr Leo Noi thwoft, for many \ear-. editor of the West Coa^t Times. H" • ' now soi-nt.iiv to the (Jo. eminent Land Dop.u tire !il. .d'hanne-burg. Mr Xorthcroft J'hs inn been loiitf in South Africa. Probably letter* of his on the laud yuesuon brought him, iftti fto&Qfi.

"Whesn I last heard, Lieutenant Dan A. Hickey was still an inmate of Harrismith Hospital Shot through both legs close to th© knee, the injurie.9 he received will, it is feared, leave him a permanent cripple — one leg will be some inches shorter than the other. Probably no volunteer that left Nrw Zealand has Fecn more figfyt than Hickey. and certainly very few as much I dare =ay the wounded lieutenant did not look to gain higher rank than he enjoys, yet it is galling to his old comrades to find others with far !es3 service and deficient in the soldierly qualities he possesses, starting, too, below him, taking military precedence. The reward for merit has been quits' secondary in New Zealand contingents, compared with that given for political toadyism :<:ncl sycophancy. A step in rank would, of course, bo everything to Hickey, now that he may have to depend on Ins pension. Mr Harmsn Reeves, who cany across in the troopship Norfolk with the Tenth Contingent, is .'till at the port of di-embarka-tion. He has not been altogether idle while in Durban, but hope- to get into the huilyburly of tho Golden City ere long. Mr W. Mrndelson, of Temuka, fo well kiiovi m athletic circles, is also m Duibr-i. awaiting the withdrawal of permit restrictions to get to the Rand. Mr W. A. Bowling (Dunedin), late of the Fourth Contingent, after serving tome rime in the police force has got an appointment in the Railway Department. The other day I came reross Mr Mc?atgomery, formerly of the Telegraph Office. Dunedin, and who came over as a quartermaster in the Tenth Contingent. He tells me he has joined the telegraph service in this country, and will likely be quartered at Pretoria Another Otarjo boy. also a Tenth Contingent man, yeigeant-major A. Wost, got his discharge here, and is thinking of going to Buluwajo. Lieutenant Edward Saunders, of the Eighth Contingent, 13 making a trip to England, but comes back to this country to settle. Captain Ileaton Rhodes, M H.R., whose regiment leturned to the colony in the. Britannic, is waiting hero to join Mrs Rhodes at the Cane on her way home from England. While" here the member for i;ilesme,ie is interesting himself in the settlement of New Zeabnders ci the land. Amoig the officers w.th present headquarters in Johannesburg is Major Madocks, the hero of New Zealand Hil'. His many friends in the eolonv will be glad to learn he is very fit and well.

Mr P.it Fit7.h-->ihert. an c\-High School boy, a scion of the well-known Hutt family, son of Mr H. S. Filzherbert, and who reached Afr ca as a =oldirr. has a good appoiratinont here in the offico of a leading firm of "obcitoi".

Notwithstanding the execrable roadways in and aiound Johannesburg quite a number of motor eais— the double-seated cars such as aro in vogue in Paris and London — are- to be seen dashing about the place. One of Hip fine=t is that of the ex-New Zealaudcr, Mr George Hutchison His motor i 3i 3 capable of attainting a speed of 40 miles ppr hour, hut such a pace is uot permissible under present coiiditions. Mr Charles Peake, formerly of Dunedin, who was in the Eighth Regiment, is now bookkpeper in a big soft goods establishment here.

Two ex-oontingente-rs, Messrs John Williams and >facklin, both from Southern New Zcaln'id, have set up in the livery stable bu-ines-s here, and are doing well. Probably no junior officer— certainly no colonial officer — made such ropicl '■trkle 1 ? in the- military profession during the past war a^s the Port Chalmers boy— Aithvr Bauchop. [r is v. oith calling to mird. when the Fourth Oontiniio'il «a n being equipped and got into fchapo for service at Forbury Park, how many :i:id lonj? wore the contio\erMCs that arote p.-> to the ofiicorinja of the rogiment. While it \Mts generally allowed met oi tlio appointments made wore exceptional and comparatively free from the malign influences that mar'-:r.d the granting of r-ommiesions in later contingents, there, was a feeling that one or t« o of tho subalterns were lacking in the experience of men and things that wab recju'-'t^ in those designed to command. And yuuiig Bauchop wac as often as not riled a-5 w.inting in tho respect named. But if some ckoply interested in the contingent had mis(;i villas on this score the men in tho rfiiiks soon learned to have faith in the Pprt CiiP.liner, licutrn.mt ; on the truopihip and affc-r Afi.ca «ai reached ho w>us markod as being mo-it a'i-uluoii j in jtt^ntion to his tlutip-5. and earned them out, 100, in tl.e ploaEantost mannior. Long before the rpgiinont got into action Bauchop was iic.t only popular with his men, but was regarded as one of the most cmcifiit officer-! on t lie staff. Whfn Ihe real test came h wvrtli u.n dc>mon=tratr-d He disrtingui-hr •• himself m ib.e icry fiivt erigagement — ii.it in. fortunate ongjge-mciit that depr.vrd the Otriijo half of thf^ >'oirrth of both 11yauadrou lpadcrs. By common poii-.ni Nicnlson. who had long held oommliaioni <1 ;ank, was naVied for one of the captainc \ a *. but there was some rnalry as lo w! o phould fill the other vacancy. This was <■<..< <\ settled whon Colonel (then majot) l)a\,itook over command. Tlip oolonol called to getlipr lim officer^, and inquiring from eac'i the date of their commission, lie aunouncv: Arthur Bauc'iop to be acting-captain. Theiowas no br-ating about tlie bu«h : the bu.-inc-^-was o\er and done witli in two minutes. Modest in counuel, but impetuous in tho field, Bauchop took many chance?, and was lucky, perhaps, to get out on occasions. A dashing leader he proved, and with experiei.co camp discretion. Volunteering for further service when reliefs came for the Fourth Contingent, he got his majority in the Seventh. An uninterrupted run of good &ervic« and Miocess gained him a further fctep with the peace promotions, an additional mark of f.ivour being shown in hia being named a Companion of the Oichr of fit. Michael and 3t. George It may be ll'.at Bauchop would have preferred a purely mih tarj' di-ln.ction, ye-t there is no need for him to wear that, the .-Ling from lieutenant to houlenanl-colonel sufficiently dcmonstral ins; that li:-i militaiy ability is oi the highest order. Port Chalni< ro and Ut-ago !■, and should bt pioud of Arthur Bauchop.