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PRETORIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 309 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PRETORIA , the administrative See also:

capital of the See also:

Union of See also:

South See also:

Africa and of the See also:

province of the See also:

TRANSVAAL

Transvaal, 46 m. by See also:

RAIL

rail N. by E. of See also:

JOHANNESBURG

Johannesburg. Pop. (1904) 36,839, of whom 21,114 were whites. Pretoria is situated on the banken veld or See also:

NORTHERN

northern slopes of the high veld, on both See also:

banks of the Aapies tributary of the See also:

LIMPOPO, or CROCODILE

Limpopo, and is 4470 ft. above the See also:

sea, being 1300 ft. See also:

LOWER

lower than Johannesburg. Built in a hollow surrounded by hills, the aspect of the See also:

TOWN

town with the See also:

RIVER

river flowing through it and its broad streets lined with willows is picturesque. In summer the See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat and moisture are excessive, and the Aapies (which is spanned by four See also:

bridges) is liable to floods. The town is regularly laid out in rectangular blocks of See also:

UNIFORM

uniform width. The older See also:

PART

part lies on the See also:

west See also:

side of the Aapies River and between it and a smaller stream known as the Spruit. In the centre of this part of Pretoria is See also:

Church Square, so named from the Dutch Reformed Church which stood in it, but was demolished in 1905. See also:

Government buildings on the south side of the square contain the See also:

chambers of the Provincial See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

Council and other public offices. They were erected in 1892 and are a handsome See also:

block in See also:

RENAISSANCE, THE

Renaissance See also:

style, three-storied, with a central See also:

TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower surmounted by a statue of See also:

LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

Liberty. On the See also:

north side of the square are the See also:

law courts, on the west side the See also:

POST

Post See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office.

The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief banking offices are also in the square. See also:

RUNNING

Running See also:

east and west from Church Square is Church See also:

Street, the chief business thoroughfare. A little east of Church Square this street opens on to See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

Market Square, with commodious market buildings. The former See also:

PRESIDENCY

Presidency, the See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence of See also:

Paul See also:

KRUGER, STEPHANUS JOHANNES PAULUS (1825-1904)

Kruger, is at the western end of the street near the Spruit. Opposite it is the Dopper Church, in which Kruger used occasionally to preach. Other churches in the See also:

heart of the town include the See also:

ANGLICAN

Anglican See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral, dedicated to St See also:

ALBAN, SAINT

Alban, and the Presbyterian Church, both in Schoemans Street, the See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic Church in See also:

Koch Street with See also:

SCHOOLS

schools, See also:

CONVENT (Lat. conventus, from convenire, to come together)

convent buildings and extensive grounds, and the new Dutch Reformed Church in Vermeulen Street. In the north of the town is the See also:

NATIONAL

National Museum and adjacent are the Zoological Gardens. Other public buildings are the government library, the University See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College and the See also:

OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera See also:

house. East of the Aapies and on the slopes of the hills are the residential districts of See also:

ARCADIA

Arcadia, Sunnyside and Muckleneuk. Bryntirion, a suburb on the northern slopes of the hills, contains the residences of the chief officials, including Government House. Here is Meintjes Kop, with a broad natural shelf midway below the See also:

SUMMIT

summit. This shelf was chosen in 1909 as the site of the public offices of the Union.

The designs of Mr See also:

Herbert See also:

Baker were accepted for two large blocks of identical See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design connected by a semicircular See also:

COLONNADE

colonnade (passing behind the narrow kloof which bisects the shelf). Besides other open spacesthere is See also:

BURGER, GOTTFRIED AUGUST (1748-1794)

Burger's See also:

park, originally planned, during the first See also:

BRITISH

British occupation, as a botanical See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

garden. It is beautifully wooded and through it runs the Spruit. A park and See also:

sports ground at the western end of the town contains the See also:

PEDESTAL (Fr. piedestal, Ital. piedestallo, foot of a stall)

pedestal for a statue of See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

President Kruger. The statue itself remained for years at Lourengo Marques and appears to have been lost. Adjoining this park on the north is the See also:

CEMETERY (Gr. Korrsnri7pwv, from Hoiµav, to sleep)

cemetery. Among those buried there are Kruger and many of the British who See also:

fell during the See also:

war of 1899-1902. See also:

SIGNAL

Signal See also:

Hill, which rises 400 ft. above the See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, is west of the park. The See also:

plateau at its See also:

FOOT

foot was the site of the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

LAAGER

laager during the war of 188o-81, and is now occupied by the central railway station and workshops. North of the cemetery is the See also:

PRISON (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. prehensio, seizure)

prison, a See also:

BUILDING

building which replaces a notoriously insanitary See also:

GAOL, or JAIL

gaol used during the republican regime. The See also:

WATER

water See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply of Pretoria is See also:

DRAWN

drawn from the source of the Aapies River, where rise magnificent springs. The Fountains, as they are called, are 3 M. west of Pretoria.

Some 3 M. north of the town is the Wonderboom, an enormous See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild fig-See also:

tree, the only one of its See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind in the See also:

DISTRICT

district. At West Fort, 7 m. from the town, is a leper See also:

asylum; at Waterval, 15 m. north, the British prisoners captured by the Boers up to the fall of Pretoria were confined. See also:

THIRTY

Thirty See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles east by north of Pretoria is the Premier See also:

DIAMOND

Diamond mine. Bronkhorst Spruit, where in See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1880 a detachment of British soldiers was ambushed by the Boers, lies about 30 M. east by south of the town. See also:

HISTORY

History.—Pretoria was founded in 1855, the ground on which it stands being See also:

PURCHASED

purchased by the See also:

BOER

Boer government from Marthinus See also:

PRETORIUS

Pretorius. It was made the centre of a new district created at the same See also:

time, both town and district being named in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of Andries Pretorius. By treaty between the South See also:

AFRICAN

African See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

Republic (then comprising the districts of See also:

POTCHEFSTROOM

Potchefstroom, See also:

RUSTENBURG

Rustenburg, Pretoria and See also:

ZOUTPANSBERG

Zoutpansberg) and the re-public of See also:

LYDENBURG

Lydenburg, concluded at Pretoria in 186o, the two republics were See also:

UNITED

united and Pretoria chosen as the capital of the whole See also:

state, and in See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September of that See also:

YEAR

year the Volksraad held its first See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting in the new capital. Until 1864, however, when the See also:

CIVIL

civil war in the Transvaal ended, Potchefstroom remained the virtual capital of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. From that year the seat of government has always been at Pretoria. There in 1877 See also:

Sir See also:

THEOPHILUS

Theophilus See also:

SHEPSTONE, SIR THEOPHILUS (1817-1893)

Shepstone proclaimed the See also:

ANNEXATION (Lat. ad, to, and nexus, joining)

annexation of the Transvaal to See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain. In December 188o it was invested by the Boers, but held out until the conclusion of See also:

peace. In 1881 the See also:

convention restoring self-government to the Transvaal was signed at Pretoria.

From that time until Igloo the dominating figure in the town was that of the president—Paul Kruger. As See also:

revenue flowed in from the See also:

gold-mines on the See also:

RAND

Rand many See also:

FINE

fine buildings were erected in the capital, which was placed in rail-way communication with Cape Town in 1893 and with Lourengo Marques and See also:

DURBAN

Durban in 1895. To Pretoria Dr See also:

Jameson and his troopers were brought prisoners (See also:

JANUARY

January 1886) after the fight at Doornkop (to be handed over in a few days to the British government), and thither also were brought the Reform See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

Committee prisoners from Johannesburg. In May Igloo Kruger fled from the town, which on the 5th of See also:

JUNE

June surrendered without resistance to See also:

Lord See also:

Roberts, despite its formidable encircling forts, which however were never effectively armed. On the 31st of May 1902 the articles of peace whereby the Boer leaders re-cognized British See also:

SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty were signed at Pretoria, and five years later there assembled in the capital the first See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament of the Transvaal as a self-governing state of the British See also:

EMPIRE

Empire. On the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 Pretoria became its administrative capital, the seat of the legislature being however at Cape Town. The Transvaal parliament was replaced by a Provincial Council (see TRANSVAAL: § History). The town is governed by a See also:

MUNICIPALITY

municipality, which since 1903 has acquired See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the sanitary service, water supply, electric See also:

LIGHTING

lighting and tramways. In 1909 the proportional See also:

REPRESENTATION

representation See also:

SYSTEM

system was adopted for the See also:

election of town councillors.

End of Article: PRETORIA

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