MEMBERS ON TOUR

Southland Times, Issue 19458, 24 January 1925, Page 8

MEMBERS ON TOUR

INTO NORTHERN RHODESIA. i PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA. The following interesting jottings on the South African tour are taken from notes supplied by Hon. A. F. Hawke, M.L.C. LIVINGSTONE. ! On Tuesday, October 7, we went on to Livingstone, the capital of Northern Rhodesia—a short run of seven miles, where we ■ had afternoon tea with Sir Herbert and Lady Stanley. Livingstone is a clean little ; town, and there are nice parks and gardens round it. The country all round looks good, and will grow maize, wheat, tobacco and cattle, while sheep should do all right. There ! is some mining going on in Northern Rho- : desia, and the land is full of minerals. : Both South and North Rhodesia want i people, as there is plenty of room and land for a million white people and more. As time goes on, no doubt, it will carry a big population. The people are, and keep healthy, and can work, so it should be a good spot for any Briton to go to. MAFEKING. On Wednesday we travelled to Mafeking, and arrived there on Thursday, October ■ 9. The country around here looks light, but is fit for sheep, although they say sheep won’t do on it. There is plenty of lime in the soil, but it wants superphosphates. We had a look through the alluvial diamond diggings. We did not see any diamonds, but the diggers all seemed cheerful. It is all red soil and gravel. Mafeking is full of history over the Boer War. The redoubt just outside the town isn’t big, but it saved the town. We had a look at the Slurry cement works a few miles out, where they make fine cement, • about 3,000,000 bags a year. They have • the bulk of the material handy, lime two miles and shale seven miles away. They had the Zulus on show loading the cement into railway trucks, and they did some smart work. TRANSVAAL. We arrived at Johannesburg (Joeburg), which is at an altitude of 5735 ft, on Friday, October 10. Some 20 or 25 miles before getting there we got among the dumps—the waste from the mines—and the white pyramids looked interesting. Some of them run up to between 200 and 300 feet high, I and they will grow nothing owing to cya- • nide being in the waste. We went down the Crown mines, and the first cage took us down 3000 feet. Next we went down in a big iron basket another 2300 feet. We had a five-mile run through and around the bottom of the mines in an electric railway train and saw the reef, five miles thick, j yielding some five to seven dwts., and they • seem to be able to make the mine pay at ; this. The native labour helps towards the • keeping of the mine in good order, and | the work looks well done and finished, but ■ they say this is the show mine. AROUND THE TOWN. i On a nice run around the suburbs we I saw a great number of nice dwellings and ■ gardens. Everything seems to grow here, ! and the high altitude seems to help the trees, flowers and vegetables. On Satur- [ day we visited the Water Board’s Vaal i River barrage, a big dam, which is going I to store up a large quantity of water for the I use of the town and the mine. The first : rain we had in South Africa came on Suni day. J The town is full of schools—high, teehnic- ; al and others; also universities. On Mon- ■ day we had a look through the gold rej finery and it was very interesting. We saw I £200,000 worth of gold on the table. Then I we visited the hospital for medical research ’ and the Miners’ Phthisis Medical Bureau, i This place is doing good work, and no doubt i they are helping miners’ phthisis very ! much, but they cannot say they are going ! to get rid of it altogether. We had another | motor run round the outside of the city, ! through the Orange Grove, Auckland Park, | to Hermann Eckstein Park, where we had , afternoon tea. They are both fine parks. ! There are some 30 to 34 mines in and around I Johannesburg, and they spend on the averJ age £40,000 a year each, or £1,250,000 in ! all. This keeps the town going, as 60 per [ cent of this is in wages, while the balance • it for material and dividends. They have ; faith in the mines, as a big contract has i just been fixed up for 20 years with the Electric Lighting Co. for a sum running into millions. The country all round is very good, and they grow big crops and big quantities of maize. There is a large number of cattle about, and several herds of stud Herefords. Some of the farms and farm houses looked very good. CIVIC SALARIES. The Council treat their Mayor and Councillors very liberally. The Mayor receives £2500 a year, and out of this he has to pay the Deputy-Mayor. The Cbuncillora get £2OO each, and the Chairman of Committees £3OO. ON TO PRETORIA. On Tuesday, October 14, we visited the Cullinan diamond mine, just out of Pretoria. It is a big mine, and the drive is 400 ft deep into the earth. They have a complete system of separating the diamonds from the gravel and earth, and we saw plenty of diamonds in the office. They were of small and medium size, but they got one big one the day we were there. The whole thing was very interesting. The dirt and gravel goes through a process of washing by machinery. The diamonds, being heavy, go to the side of the big circular pans. There they go through different stages of washing and separating the gravel and dirt. The residue is then put over the final washing sheets smeared with castor oil, to which the diamonds stick, but the pebbles and stones go on. PRETORIA. We got to Pretoria that afternoon, and were tendered a big banquet that night by the Government. Mr Hertzog was in the chair, and he gave a nice speech. He is not fluent by any means, and did not get over much ground, but he has plenty of common-sense. People seem to think his Government will have a decent run and will bring the two races closer together. On Wednesday, October 15, we had a look round the city, which has some fine shops and buildings, the residential part also being very good, while the streets are all asphalt tarred. Pretoria seems busier than Joeburg. We had a look through the Mint, where only copper and silver is being minted just now. The Zoo is very good, and the gardens around here are fine. The people all through Africa cater for their pleasures in a bigger way than the New Zealanders do. We had a good run round the country outside Pretoria. On the hills around the city the five forts that the Boers built are still standing, while the country land is good all round, and there are some very good farms about. Maize, wheat and cattle seem the main lines on the farms, and there is a fine Agricultural Laboratory at Klapperkop Fort, with a fine set of buildings. They are working on a vaccine for anthrax, and they say they have got one that prevents, while they also have a vaccine for abortion in cows, which is giving good results. AU sorts of experiments are going on with horsess, pigs, sheep and cattle, and I think they will do excellent work as time goes on. On Tuesday we motored out to the big dam at Haartebeestpoort, which looks too dear to me at £1,500,000 to irrigate 50,000 acres. The Union Government have the administrative buildings in Pretoria on a hill, and have a fine position and a glorious view from the buildings. The gardens will be very fine in a few years’ time. The place is fuU of history of the two Boer Wars, and if one had the time one could get a lot of information. We saw the house in which Kitchener lived, and General Ryrie and myself spent three days in Mr E. F. Burke’s house, which the British took and used for headquarters. A nice old home and gardens. NELSPRUIT. On Friday, October 17, we left for Nelspruit and got to Mr Hall’s farm at Tomango. A fine farm, which grows oranges,

lemons, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, pawpaw, etc., and he has a factory for making orange, lemon and other juices, lemon and orange peel and other stuffs. We had a good drive around the country here, and the land does not look dear, outside of any in oranges, but this runs up to £3O to £5O an acre if the oranges are bearing. They told me that very little of the country would carry sheep. One property, owned by Mr Webster, had in, and they were putting in, 3000 to 4000 acres of cotton, and as we drove on we saw several fields in cotton. It was looking extra well, and with a favourable season will have an extra good picking. If cotton is successful this part will have a big future. Further on we got to the White River settlement, which is all oranges. Mostly Englishmen have settled in this quarter, and are going in for citrus fruits. The farms are 15 miles from the train, which is rather costly for carting the oranges, and they were battling for a railway to come in. LOURENCO MARQUES. On Saturday, October 18, we arrived at Lourenco Marques, in Portuguese East Africa. The harbour is a fine one, and is equipped with all modern conveniences for loading and unloading. The Governor gave us a luncheon at the Lourenco Hotel, situated on the cliffs overlooking the bay. It is a good bathing beach, and there was a big crowd out. A great quantity of stuff inwards and outwards is put through this port by Transvaal and Rholesia, and the latter also uses Beira as a port. The town is Oriental in its setting and the shops are fair, with some very nice residences. The port by Transvaal and Rhodesia, and the Transvaal and Rhodesian trade, and the Government seems to be keeping it up to high-water mark to meet all requirements. It is a pity England did not take this country when it was offered for £1,000,000 in Mr Gladstone’s time. It is the gateway to the Transvaal and Rhodesia, and these countries may have to pay too much for the use of the harbour as time goes on. We all enjoyed the run to Delagoa Bay. There are plenty of Britons about, and the British Consul was very good to us all. On Sunday, October 19, we went through the Sabie Game Reserve in North Transvaal, where there are big herds of wildebeeste and other kinds of South African deer, with plenty of jackals. Some of our party saw two lions, the male with a big black mane. Licenses can be got for a shoot in this reserve under the supervision of the manager of the reserve. It is a great stretch of fairly good land, but is covered in small bush, and there are not many large trees about. On Monday, the 20th, we arrived at Messina and looked through two copper mines, which are not very big, although they gave us a good idea of a copper mine. The people about here looked after us very well indeed. RUSTENBURG. On Tuesday, the 21st, we arrived at Rustenburg. It is good country all round here, and a nice town. The farms grow mostly tobacco, and three tobacco factories are working and turning out a first-class South African tobacco. The native boys do the classing, and it is good to watch them and see how quickly they pick and put the leaves in their different qualities. It was very interesting going through the whole process of sorting, drying, steaming, etc. A fair amount of cotton is grown here, and there is a nice small ginning plant, which separates the cotton from the pfld, and for baling up. They have hopes of increasing the output tenfold during the next few years, as the climate and soil are all right for cotton. We arrived at Potchefstroom on Wednesday, October 22. Nice farms here and the cattle all good. They are selling all then Herefords as Transvaal breeders are catering for Herefords and keeping Friesians, which are very fair. They are breeding with these and the Africander cows and the progeny are looking veil and resist disease much better than the purebreds and travel much farther for their food. They are also breeding half-bred sheep from a Sussex ram and a Persian ewe. All the lambs come black and kill about 401bs net. The ewe has a white body and black head and kills fine mutton, 80Ibs each. They have no wool, just a hard hide with a very fine skin, which sells at from 6/- to 8/each. The land all round looks very good, and we had a good run through a number of orange farms, which were looking extra well. KIMBERLEY. One Thursday, October 23, we had a nice clean run to Kimberley. Kimberley is a well built town and the streets are in good order. Before arriving a Mr Ching took us out to see some big deposits of iron, easy to work, but too far away from coal to smelt and make pay. There are some nice farms around here a..d sheep and cattle are both looking well. The diamond mines started Kimberley and have kept it going ever since. They seem to run the whole place. We had a good look through the mines and the works. They run on a newer or later process than at the Cullinan mine and we saw plenty of diamonds on the grease mats, and thev also showed us some of their stock in the town office. Six mines around Kimberley are working just now. We motored out to Magersfontein battlefields and had a look over the spot where the Highland Regiment had such a bad time and looked at the monument and the graves. De Beer’s have a fine farm at Mauritzfontein breeding light horses. Some 300 to 400 young and old run on the place and they all looked exceedingly well, while their stud entires were good and in splendid order. They say they can sell all they breed and at prices ranging from £l5 to £25 for the bulk. For studs they can get £3OO to 1000 guineas. KARROO AGAIN. On Friday 24 we were on the road to Capetown and passing through the Karroo country. The country had some rain and looked better. The sheep were all looking very well. We passed through some of the highest country and felt the cold after the sunny weather. We saw some very good scenery and had a very enjoyable run. On Saturday, October 25, we arrived at Wellington and had a look around the apricot, prune and almond farms and the vineyards. They were all looking very well. It was raining very hard, the first real good rain we had seen in South Africa. Wellington is a nice little town and the country all good around and very closely settled. One farm runs a factory in the town for drying apricots and prunes. They are of very good quality and they find a good market for all they put through. We went on to Paarl, where there was a flower show, and it would take Invercargill all their time to beat their roses, sweetpeas, etc. Their carnations were extra good, also azelias and annuals. But the best show was their wild flowers and they must have had over 2000 blooms all around the big room. One will never forget their variety and their beauty. Dutch descent are in the majority around both Wellington and Paarl and they gave us a real good time. CAPETOWN. We arrived at Capetown at four o’clock in the afternoon, and a fair number were down to meet us. We were all billeted out. Two South Africans, the Speaker, Mr Jansen, Mr White, one Canadian, Mr Fafard, and myself were all put up at Sir Abe Bailey’s house at Musenberg facing False Bay on the Indian Ocean, 16 miles out from Capetown. We had a fine comfortable time here. Mr Wilson, Sir Abe Bailey’s man, gave us a real good time all around Capetown in an Essex four. We went out and inspected the Elgin Plantation of gums and pinis insignis. Some 4000 to 5000 acres are planted out here. We had a fine run through plenty of settlement, some 100 miles in all, and all seemed closely settled, but the mountains take up a big slice of the country. They are not far away and they don’t seem any good for stock. Two Australians and myself had lunch with Mr and Mrs Rawbone and afternoon tea with Mr and Mrs Leather. On Mr Rawbone’s farm they had some 30 to 50 acres planted out in English oaks some 20 years ago and they are big trees now and the acorns off them are a payable crop. Apples and vines were the two main crops on this farm. On Mr Leather’s place they had about 1500

to 2000 fowls, young and old. They had only been it four years and they had a gum tree plantation planted by themselves and the trees were 20 feet high. Trees seem to grow very fast in South Africa. TABLE MOUNTAIN. On Monday, October 27, we went a motor trip around Table Mountain, just on 90 miles, and it was one of the finest runs we had. The sea and bays on one side, Table Mountain with its changes and variety on the other, and a good road all around, gave us a very interesting ride. There is a fair amount of settlement in the gullies of the mountain, but the different hills making up the mountain are no good for grazing. They have the Twelve Apostles as part of the Mountain and these 12 peaks are very fine from the sea view. We did not go on to the top of the Mountain. SIMONSTOWN. We arrived at Simonstown in False Bay. This is the Naval Base, and we had lunch with Vice-Admiral Sir Rudolf Bentinck, and we visited the training ship “General Botha,” on which some 75 boys were training. We had a look through Groote, Schuur and Kirstenbosch and saw the farm and house Cecil Rhodes gave to the Government just under Table Mountain and overlooking Capetown. We had a fine view of the city and both bays from here. On the farm they are making a fine garden of all native flowers and shrubs and in a few years they will have a grand collection and something worth looking through. The plantations all round are very good. One avenue of camphor trees have done extra well, and the balance are mostly gum, wattle and pines. RHODES MEMORIAL. The memorial to the late Cecil Rhodes is a granite building, all open with two flights of granite steps up to it. Two bronze lions stand on each side and a naked bronze man on a bronze horse. The place is rather shut in with trees and not easily seen. The house is a beautiful, home, some 20 to 30 rooms, full of old Dutch furniture, wardrobes, dresser, big brass-bound chest, etc., and some very good pictures and engravings and old prints of South Africa. This will always be a fine home for South African Prime Ministers. STELLENBOSCH. On Tuesday, October 28, we went by car to Stellenbosch, a nice old Dutch town, 150 years old. The oak trees here are grand and meet across the streets. Stellenbosch is a university town and some 700 students, young men and women, gave us a welcome. The students, mostly men, are a fine looking lot and are mostly of Dutch descent and Dutch is mostly spoken. We had a run through nice country, which is all settled to Helshoogte, French Hoek and Rhodes Fruit Farm. It is mostly fruit farms about here and the bulk of the fruit is apples and vines. One cellar let us sample some very fine wines. We looked over a fine old house at Helshoogte, built in 1795, which was still in. splendid order. The run back to Capetown by a different road was through good country all the way and we saw several crops of wheat on this road and they were looking very well. There is a fair quantity of wheat in Cape Province. CONCLUSION. In the evening, Mr Jensen, the Speaker of the Union Parliament, gave us a banquet. A big crowd of gentlemen assembled and Sir George Foster, of Canada, gave a fine speech for the finish up. I.lilted Capetown the best and, I think, it is the best city in South Africa, but Durban runs it close. Its buildings are fine, the streets are narrow and winding, but all in good order. The Mountain makes the surroundings very fine and there is a fresh place to go to every day in the week. The business people were very cheerful and said trade was very good. We got on board the “Euripides” at four o’clock and left Capetown for Albany.