A Taranaki Boy in Johannesburg.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12289, 23 June 1903, Page 3

A Taranaki Boy in Johannesburg.

» , Mr Fletcher Uundie writing from Johannesburg, under date May 18th, to Mr R. G. i/ardy, says : — These few lines may be oi interest to you. On landing at Durban you have no difficulty in obtaining a permit for up country ; you do not require now to have capital or a: billet to go to. Durban has a population of 60,000, of whom, more than 14,000 are whites. : Three trains run a day ironi Durban j ' to Jo'burg, ,and the journey takes a- j bout 26 hours. Fare, Ist class, £fc J 13/. , Jo'burg has a population oi •JO,OCO whites. Things are very quiet here ; the stock market is low, &nd everything else is on the same level. New buildings are spring ng up in every direction on the Hand. Johannesburg's numerous " townships" are quickly assuming the aspect ol real townships in place of bare veidt, and these are now substantial dwellings and gardens. Houses are going up at the rate of 3000 per annum. The Government are having new railway '"stations put up all along the lines, large compounds ' are being built *costifig thousands of pounds for the ' ndtives. They are also having buildings erected for their staffs. We have people here of nearly every nationality, and streams of people from all parts of the globe still roll on the Golden City. Jo'burg is a single man city. Scores of men who came within the last fortnight to make their fortunes have left with much less than they came. The influx consists largely of single men and women. *To ihe pitiable householder who receives £30 a month salary, and has to pay over

£lo of it to the rapacious landlorc before it is earned, the prospect o having to linger 12 months under tin present discouraging conditions is no comfortable. \et one cannot hopi for a general reduction in rents be fore another year. The popular house io-day is the bcmi-detachcd cot tage, and a great many o£ the bettej class citizens join a building society borrow £750 to build two of thes< cottages in one of the suburbs, anc ■let one at £10 a month, while he liv es in the other himself. This, of eour se, is a profitable arrangement. Thos* who ivould be honest huddle themselv es into a couple of back rooms anc hang out the sign "rooms to let," and judging by the number of these notices to be seen throughout the town there are many honest people :n Jo' burg. It may be safely asserted that one-half of the "working people" on the Rand to-day are keeping eithor lodgers or boarders. The people arc very strong against the importation of Asiatic labour for the mines ; the general opinion is that there are plenty of natives in South Africa, and meetings are being held everywhere to protest against it. The recruiting of natives for the mines is going on very satisfactorily, and thousands are being brought in every month. The Jiati\ es get paid at the rate of £-1 to £5 a month and found. The municipality are having the streets and footpaths put in repair as quickly as possible. We only have the ( horse tram system here yet. There are not many New Zealanders here ; they are mostly Australians that come fr< >m the [colonies. The climate is good, and we hardly get any rain during the winter months. You have heard a lot about this place not being safe to live in ; it"s all bosh. The Kaffirs are easily managed, but you must keep them in their place. Such things as fruit, produce, and game command high prices, but groceries and clothing are reasonable in price. Some of Tara— naki's butter-milk -would be much appreciated, and we mostly get the tinned milk mixed with water here. There is a good demand for engineers, surveyors and draftsmen ; hxit only a fail demand now for carpenters, bricklayers, masons and clerks. Of the latter four large numbers have come lately from England. When 1 wat in Durban I saw George several times, and the last I saw of him he told me he was going up country ; prospecting I am myself employed in the Resident Engineer's Department.