In the
"Golden City," as at Pretoria, the shops were open, and seemed
wonderfully well supplied, butter and cigarettes being the only items
that were lacking. I remember lunching the next day at a grill-room,
called Frascati's, underground, where the cuisine was first-rate, and
which was crowded with civilians of many nationalities, soldiers not
being in such prominence as at Pretoria. The afternoon we devoted to
seeing some of the principal mines, including the Ferreira Deep, which
had been worked by the Transvaal Government for the last eight months.
For this purpose they had engaged capable managers from France and
Germany, and therefore the machinery was in no way damaged. At a
dinner-party the same evening, given by Mr. A. Goldmann, we met a German
gentleman who gave an amusing account of the way in which some of the
city financiers had dashed off to the small banks a few days before Lord
Roberts's entry, when the report was rife that Kruger was going to
seize all the gold at Johannesburg as well as that at Pretoria. They
were soon seen emerging with bags of sovereigns on their backs, which
they first carried to the National Bank, but which, on second thoughts,
they reclaimed again, finally confiding their treasure to the Banque de
la France.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] Colonel Baden-Powell had been promoted to the rank of
Major-General.
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