ORANGE 



586O 



ORANGE FREE STATE 



Orange. Town of New South 

 Wales. Situated 3,000 ft. above 

 sea level, and 190 m. W. of 

 Sydney by rail, it is the centre of 

 a fruit and wheat-growing district, 

 and a rich mineral area, yielding 

 gold, silver, and copper. The town 

 has been since 1830 an important 

 point on the route W. from Sydney 

 over the Blue Mts., first by the 

 main road, and later by the rly. 

 Pop. 7,700, including Orange East. 



Orange. Town of Connecticut, 

 U.S.A., hi New Haven co. It stands 

 on Miller's river, 85 m. W.N.W. of 

 Boston, and is served by the New 

 York, New Haven and Hartford rly. 

 Manufactures include sewing- 

 machines and accessories, machi- 

 nery, lumber products, and boots 

 and shoes. Pop. 13,000. 



Orange. City of New Jersey, 

 U.S.A., in Essex co. It is 12 m. W. 

 of New York, and is served by the 

 Erie and the Delaware, Lacka- 

 wanna and Western rlys., and by 

 electric services communicating 

 with Newark and other near cities. 

 It contains fine mansions belong- 

 ing to New York business people, 

 and is within easy reach of several 

 picturesque spots. Its chief manu- 

 facture is hats, for which it is 

 noted. Settled about 1670, Orange 

 was incorporated as a township in 

 1806, and chartered as a city in 

 1872. Pop. 33,300. 



Orange, EAST. City of New 

 Jersey, U.S.A., in Essex co. It 

 adjoins Newark in the W., and is 

 served by the Erie and Lacka- 

 wanna rlys. Chiefly a residential 

 place, it manufactures medical 

 appliances and electrical appara- 

 tus. East Orange was formed from 

 part of Orange in 1863, and be- 

 came a city in 1899. Pop. 50,700. 



Orange, WEST. Town of New 

 Jersey, U.S.A., in Essex co. It is 

 12 m. W. of New York, and is 

 served by the Erie rly. It is a 

 residential town, Llewellyn Park 

 containing many fine mansions. 

 Here is the laboratory of T. A. 

 Edison, the predecessor of which 

 was destroyed by fire hi 1914. 

 Hats and boxes are made. West 

 Orange was formed from part of 

 Orange in 1862. Pop. 15,600. 



Orange. European family now 

 represented by the ruler of the 

 Netherlands. It is taken from the 

 little French principality, which 

 had its own rulers from about 900. 

 In 1500 the family died out, and 

 Orange passed to a member of 

 the Nassau family, later princes 

 being known as of Orange-Nassau. 

 One of these was William the 

 Silent. The title was retained by 

 his descendants, one of whom was 

 William III, although their in- 

 terests were mainly in the Nether- 

 lands. See Nassau ; Netherlands. 



Orange Free State. Map of the province of the Union of South Africa, 

 formerly a Boer republic 



Orange Free State. Province 

 of the Union of South Africa. En- 

 tirely inland, it is bounded N. by 

 the Transvaal, E. by Natal and 

 Basutoland, and S. and W. by the 

 Cape Province. The area is 50,389 

 sq. m. ; length about 350 m. and 

 breadth about 300 m. 



The country is an almost tree- 

 less tableland at an average alt. 

 of about 5,000 ft., sloping from the 

 Drakensberg 

 range in the E. 

 to the valleys of 

 the Orange and 

 Vaal rivers, 

 which form its 

 N. and S. boun- 

 daries. Subsidi- 

 ary ranges and 

 hills rise in 

 many parts 

 above the veldt. The climate is 

 temperate, and the rainfall moder- 

 ate, chiefly in the form of violent 

 thunder-storms in the late summer. 

 There is much good soil, but irri- 

 gation is required in many parts. 

 Cattle, sheep, and ostriches are 

 reared. Maize is the chief crop, 

 others being wheat, oats, potatoes, 

 tobacco, and fruit. Diamonds, of 

 which there are rich deposits, and 

 coal are worked, and gold and iron 

 are also found. Wool, diamonds, 

 and ostrich feathers are exported. 

 The Cape to Cairo Rly , with 

 numerous branches, traverses the 

 province. Bloemfontein is the 

 capital, and Jagersfontein and 

 Harrismith the next largest towns. 

 The Dutch Reformed Church is 

 the largest religious body. Pop. 

 528,000, of whom 175,000 are white. 

 The province was annexed by 



Great Britain in 1900 during the 

 South African War. Responsible 

 government was given to it in 

 1907, and in 1910 it joined the 

 Union of South Africa, being re- 

 named the Orange Free State in 

 place of the Orange River Colony. 

 To the House of Assembly, at Cape 

 Town, it sends 17 members, and 

 to the Senate eight. The franchise 

 is confined to British subjects of 

 the white races. For managing its 

 internal affairs the province has 

 an executive committee of four 

 members, presided over by an 

 administrator appointed by the 

 Union. This is responsible to a 

 council of 25 members elected for 

 three years. The matters under 

 its control include education, and 

 its income is derived from taxation 

 and subsidies from the Union Par- 

 liament. The judicial system con- 

 sists of a provincial court at Bloem- 

 fontein from which there is a right 

 of appeal to the supreme court. 



European authority in the 

 Orange Free State began about 

 1824, when some Dutch farmers 

 crossed into it from Cape Colony. 

 Previously the only inhabitants 

 had been Hottentots, Bushmen, 

 and other Africans. In 1836 more 

 Dutch farmers arrived, and to 

 these one of the chiefs sold some 

 land between the Vaal and Vet 

 rivers. The Dutch settlers drew up 

 a constitution and declared their 

 land a republic. Meanwhile, in 

 1843, the British had appeared and 

 taken the Basutos under their 

 protection. Some of the Boer 

 settlers thereupon left the country, 

 and the position of the rest was 

 further endangered by a short war 



