TTTE OMAHA RUXDAT BEE: OCTOBETt 4. 100?.
Acres Near Kimberley Are Plowed and Harrowed for Precious Stones
(Copyright 108. Frank (i. Carpenter.
IMBERLET (Special Corre
spondence of The Bee.) Eleven
thousand acres of diamonds!
Hundred! of fields of blu
clay sprinkled with Jewelsl
A mighty farm where th
1
li..i.u. 11 out under th lun and th
dlamonrilferous earth 1s worked with steam
harrows I
These are some of the things you may
ate any day here at Kimberley. Last
year the crop from this vat diamond
farm amounted to $S2,000,n00. It was
equal to more than Sluo.OOO for every
working day the whole year through. It
was mora than 70 for every minute, or
more than II for evcy tick of the watoh
though all the minutes of all the hours
of all the days of that year.
P-'-ClJJ. v-i'li: T tsZ ..
stars; m
)
Mlalusr the nioe.
AH the sull of this mighty farm has
been taken out of the diamond pipes,
which I have described In a previous let
ter. Thore are five auch pipes at Kim
berley, and each contains a pudding of
this blue clay, sprinkled with white cur
rants of diamonilH. Thu pipes range from
fioo feet to several limes that In diame
ter. Two of them, the Kimberley and the
De Beers, have already been excavated
to a depth of more than 2,000 fet, and
the three others, the Wesselton, the Bul
fonteln and Dutoilspan, are now being
mined at 600 or more feet from the sur
face. In every pipe the blue rock ha been
found continuous, and everywhere It Is
peppered with diamonds. How far down
the deposits go no one knows. In the Kim-
Deney iney nave ceen prooea to a depth
of more than a half mile, so that it Is no
exaggeration to say that there are hun
dreds or millions of dollars' worth ol dia
monds In sight.
As to the origin of the gems, they are
supposed to be volcanic, and Mr. Gardiner
Wllittma, who managed the mines for
twtenty years, believes that thk-y were
shot up by mud volcanoes. There Is no
doubt but that the pipes were formed by
some convulsion of nature and that It was
at about the same time that the Jewels ap
peared. The mining, as I have described, consists
of Hasting out and raising to the surfuoe
the blue clay containing the diamonds.
On tbe Diamond Floors.
I have spent a part of this week in go-
lug with the diamond ore to the field or
Jluora where It is left to weather, and In
following It to the washing machines
whero the Jewels arc flnully won. As the
rok comes to the surface It bears no
sign of them. I have looked over several
thousands cars of It, but have not seen a
single brilliant Imbedded In the blue, and
I am told that the priceless stones are
seldom discovered, except when they
come out In the washing.
This blue ground Is as hard as rock. I
can Just scratch It with my knife. It Is
so hard that you could drive a nail with a
chunk of it, and It takes a heavy ham
mer to break It. The ground Is carried
from the mines to the floors and spread
out there to u depth of one foot, all over
the surface. It lies out for about a year,
being plowed and harrowed from time to
time. If the weather is dry It Is sprin
kled, and as a result It so melts or softens
that the diamonds can be washed out of
It.
Every one of these great mines has Its
own fields for such roc,k-weatherlng.
There trs at least 8,000 acres In all. Of
these. In the neighborhood of 1,000 acres
belong to each pipe, and all are now
covered with this rock, containing dla-
monJs. There are about 10,00,000 carloads
lying but undor the sun, and I am told
that thera Is something like $28,000,000 worth
of diamonds In them.
,)
Guardian the Fields.
In looking over these fields one seldom
sees diamonds, but the brilliants are
there and they must be carefully guarded.
Think of $SS,oOO,000 being scattered over
the earth within easy reach of any town
of O,U00 In the United States, and you
have the situation at Kimberley. You
would Imagine that the fields would bs
raided and the stuff carried off. It Is not.
The fields are guarded day and night by
men who march around them with guns
ln their hands. They have electric lights
which keep them bright from sunset to
sunrise, and they are surrounded by
high fences of barbed wire, the strands
being so cla.su together that a man can
not cruwl through, and bo high that he
eannot easily climb over them. There ara
tw(. of these fences around every field.
They are about twenty or thirty feet apart,
and the guards march between them. If a
thief could crawl over the first fence he
would be sure to be shot before he got to
the second, and so the diamonds are com
paibllvely safe.
Washing Out Diamonds.
This b!uo grounl s bruught ,o t e fields
In s:eu cars. Thc.e ar.i i mlle.i ut rail
road tracks, which run from tn m.nes to
tbe floois, und from Uiem to the crush
lnj und washing machine.), which handle
the earth, after Its ineUlng. Over every
i er truck Is a steel cable, and the thou
sands cf curs are moved by the steam en
ill. ex of thd five central plants.
I saw tl.e process or washing out dia
monds at tlu De lieers m ne. The rock
was lar.ied th re a distance of eight n.les
by the ..able. In reduclr.g lt, lt was divided
Intj tVo clases, .ne sft and one hard.
The hard rock was thut wr.lch had not
b.n atfa.ud by the weuh.r; and it had
to be c.ushed to a powder I e fore the dia
monds could be taken out. This was done
In mlth.y steel crushers uhhh are to u sdj
tha. t..ey will grind up the lock, and at
tho same lime not Injure the still harder
diamond wl hln. After ciUahng, ths
coarser pieces ure crushed a.-ain, and at
'the end It Is all rc.luccd to about the con
sistency of soft ground, made so by the
weather.
loth tha rof; and tha crushed ground
are then w ish, d to get rid of tha waste,
ar.d. a.) a le.tilt, ujt of every hundred
had of the mixture- comes one load of
graval, co::tulnlntf the diamonds.
Diamond KntVd by Grease.
It used to be .hat ail the giavtl obtained
In this way w.is sortej oe. hy men. Both
natives and whites were empljyed, but tha
chances for stealing wi-rj great, and It
was found that many small stones were
loat. Ind.cJ sonu of the g avel which
was sorted over In that way years ago Is
now being sorted again and at & great
prollt.
Today the diamond are saved by tables
covered with a grease Just like axle grease.
The gravel Is run through what is knowii
as a pulsator. consisting of a series of Iron
tables corrugated like washboard. These
Cables Ha at a slight angle, and tha ma
chinery shtkttt them, so that they are al
' ways moving aa tha gravel passes over
t'oetn. Tfcwy are covered with this grease,
and by shaking almost every stone at one
tiro cr another cornea In contact with this
grease.
Now It Is a curious thing that diamond
wilt stlck in this grease, and that all the
ether sttiMit will flow off without catching.
Xvary faw hours th tables ar stopped
and tha grease scraped off. It Is found to
contain all th diamonds and also small bits
0f ron pirites, garnets and pieces of metal
from the miners' hoots and the copper fuses
used In the blnstlng. It is now put up In a
steel bucket which is perforated with holes,
and this Is sunk In boiling water. As the
water touches the grease It melts and
goes to the top and may be poured off,
leaving only the scraps of metal and the
diamonds. The diamonds are picked out
and Cleaned and sorted, after which they
are ready to be valued fnr the market.
flortlna; Diamonds.
I spent some tme wiUcning the diamond
sorters pick out the precious stones after
the grease was poured off. Each man had
on a table before him a handful of dia
monds of all shapes and sixes, and he was
picking them up one by one with a pair of
tweeters and dropping them Into a tin cup,
which cost, I ventuie, less than 5 cents.
As I wntched one of these men he lifted up
a little white stone, saying: "This Is
worth IIW," and then showed me another,
not mueh larger, worth double that sum.
The manager afterward poured out a pint
of diumonds on the table, showing me
some that were worth J60 a carat and others
cheaper. He took up a little scoop shovel
and with It threw the diamonds back Into
the cup, handling them as though they
wero peas.
Later on T visited the company's offices
In Kimberley Itself, and was shown quarts
of diamonds from the various mines. The
sorters can tell by Its shape and color
from Just which pipe each diamond conies.
ana i was snown specimens rrom every
mine. I had In my hand a little bundle
which contained about a pint of small
stones, the value of which approximated
$300,000, and I was shown other bundles
containing brilliants as big as the end of
my finger. Borne of these rough stones
had smooth edges and they were almost
pebbles In shape. . Others appeared ready
for setting and somo were broken and
chipped from other stones. Many of the
diamonds contained flaws, but there were
many which were absolutely perfoct. The
diamonds were of different colors. Somo
were as yellow as topazes, others a light
blue tint and others pure white. ,
'
Boylnsj Diamonds,
All the diamonds of the Do Beers com-
pany now go to the diamond syndicate.
This la a sort of a trust which contracts
to take ths whole profits of the mines up
a certain point for five years at a time,
11 s"rees to take so many million dollars'
wtrth of diamonds every year at a fixed
' '
MISd PETKR3.
MISS
MISS MOOREUKAD.
HARROWING THE BLUB GROUND FOR DIAMONDS.
price, and more If tha demand iustlfles It.
The syndicate cannot taKe less than it
agrees, but It may buy more at the same
price if the demand Increases. One provi-
slim Is that the De Beers company shall
sell to no one else during the term of the
contract. This synOlcate Is Independent of
the De Beers company, although many
men belonging to that company are mem
bers of the syndicate.
On account ot tnia arrangement It la not
an easy thing for a stranger to buy a dia
mond In Kimberley, and anyone who might
purchase a rough stone cf a native would
be In danger of prison. The laws here
provide that he who buys diamonds must
first take out a license and that all dia
monds bought and sold must be shown
to the government officials In order that
they may be valued for customs. In fact,
every num who takes a diamond out of
Eouth Africa must hav a certificate show-
lug where he got that diamond and that the blue clay far below the surface. Thoss
he has a right to It who work above ground are not allowed
During my stay I have bought a rough to mx the men who work under
stonu of a few carats at a cost of about ground; and every effort la made to pre
$75 per curat. I have been able to get It vent them stealing the diamonds and smug
through a special introduction to the offl- gllng them to their fellows.
cers of the diamond syndicate, and lt was
sold me at about tho same price that the
diamond would have cost at wholesale In
London. I had to go to a half rozen dif
ferent officials to secure the papers show
ing that I owned It, and I have paid the
cumoms duty necessary to enable, me to
get lt out 'ot Capo Coiony,
Ten Thouinnii Xearro Miners.
During the year 1907 the miners of the
Do Beers company here kept something
like 20,000 negroes regularly employed get-
ting out the blue and working the floors
and washing muchines. They hud there,
all told, more than 3,0 whltos. On account
of Die hiird times in America, which has
seriously cut the demand for diamonds,
about 10,000 of the native miners have been
recently discharged, and also over 1.00J
whites. There are still 10,000 native
miners at work, and this number will bo In
creased us the market Improves. I have
had a good chance to see the miners dur
ing my trips about Kimberley. They are
Kaffirs coming from the various tribes ot
Smith Africa, the company prefering to
have Its men from as many different lo
calities us possible In order to prevent
strikes. The men work weil and are more
efficient than the ordinary Afrlcun labor,
They are big fellows, strong and muscular.
In the mines they are bare to the waist
,
Maids of Honor to the
MIPS DAVIS.
BARKALOW.
MISS
MISS MORGAN.
'i. ''J-
although most of them wear trousers and
nave shoe to protect their feet from the
rocks. Each gang has a white overseer,
but the laws prevent any mistreatment of
the blacks and they have a right to lay
their complaints before a "protector of
labor" appointed by the government. The
natives are never hired for less than four
months, although the company la glad to
keep them as long as they will work.
Theee 10.CM) miners are practically In
prison from the time they begin their Job
until the end of it They have to con
tract that thoy will stay Inside the com
pounds of great walled Inclosures which
constitute the native quarters of each mine.
and the company sees that they keep this
part of their agreement. They do not
go outside even when they enter the mines,
for every compound has a tunnel from lt
Into the works, and they march down under
guards to where they dig and blast out
Take, for Instance, the Dutoltspan com
pound, which I visited recently. It con
tains about seven acres and looks for all
the world like a great racing park walled
with stables. Right In the center of It Is
a platform which might be compared to
the grand stand, and all around the walla
are rooms about twenty feet wide and
thirty feet deep, which corresponds to tha
stalls In which the race horses are kept
The grand stand Is the public bath, where
th block boys come, when fresh from tha
mines, and wash themselves right out in
th' Pen- They Btand ln the mght ss
naked as Adam Derore Kve gave him that
aPPIe and ths water sparkles like dla-
monds as It pours down ln a shower over
them.
l toon a iook at tne rooms wnere the
II... T'l. ..Ut. k...l.. - . . .
men live. They are walled with bunks and
about thirty natives sleep in each room.
While at rest, or loafing about In the
court, they take off their clothes and fre
quently have nothing but blankets about
them.
To Catch Diamond Thlrvri.
Th. ). v r,.iBi.v.
do their own cooking. There are store- fences t0 confederates outside,
houses Inside the compound which furnish The greatest care 1b taken by the De
groceries, and butcher shops where meat Beers company to prevent diamond smug
is Bold lower than anywhere else In South gllng. No man Is allowed to leave the
Africa. Connected with tho buildings are mine until several days after the comple
the offices of the managers of the com- tion of his contract. During this time he
Queen of Ak - Sar -
MISS CONGDON.
BATJM.
MISS PATTERSOH.
MISS WHITE.
poUnd, a hospital for the sick and rooms
for the guards.
.rh n.Mvo. ar cnrefnllv watched to
Drevent tnem stealing the diamonds while
i,v or wnrltln. Their rooms ln the com-
pound are built against a wait, around
which are marching guards, with guns in
thelr hands. One hundred feet beyond this
wall there is a tight fence of galvanized
iron about fourteen feet high, and out-
slde that are other guards, so that It is
impossible to
throw diamonds over the
Ben
MISS POWELL.
MIES BOVRKE.
. ; .! -si' V r'
MINERS DO THEIR OWN COOKING.
',, , .'- ........... '. A-
:.'-.. pf-.-' V . " - . P : '
DIAMOND WASHING MACHINES.
Is stripped naked and put Into a room so
warm that ho will not catch cold. He is
kept there for several days and watohed
the time. Every pit or nia person is
... , . , J I .-. .1
then gone over Dy me diamond aeieccives
to see that he has no precious stones con-
cealed anywhere in It His toes, ears,
teeth, gums and hair are examined, and
he has any sores on his body they are
probed. While the examining goes on the
natives have mittens of sole leather upon
meir lianas, inese aro so sun iium, uiejr
could not pick up a diamond if one lay on
the floor before them.
At the same time the miners are paid
for being honest. Every man receives $1.25
per carat for the diamonds he discovers
and hands over to the overseer. The other
day a negro dug out a gem as big as a wal-
nut It weighed more than 100 carats, and
lie received a premium of $160 for It.
It used to be that many diamonds were
Quaint Features of Life
mru( Up Twice.
T can be safely said that H.
Miles Moore Is the oldest resi
dent of Leavenworth, relates
the Leavenworth Times. He
was a member of the townslte
company that came down th
river from Weston, Mo., In 1854, and staked
out the site for Leavenworth. Only two
members of th company ar living, and
the other, A. T. Kyle, Is no longer a resi
dent, having returned to Weston.
"It seems strange," said Mr. Moore, re
mlnlscently, "that I survived thoss ragged
days to enjoy the quietude of old age when
my career came so near being nipped in
youth so often.
"Why, twice In the year 1856 I was strung
up by proslavery ruffians and once thrown
into the Missouri river In the same year.
I was cut down by friends wno found m
hanging by the neck unconscious. Thosa
ruffians were terrified by my reappearance
to life" her he chuckled as In apprecia
tion of a good Joke "when I walked about
the streets ths next day."
Tricks of Alabama "Wets."
The sale and distribution of the whisky
sandwich Is the latest method of evading
the liquor laws In the state of Alubuma.
Loaves of
braal, cut and arranged Ilk
oyster sandwiches, are sold over the coun
ters In lunch rooms presumably operated
for that very purpose, a bottle of whisky
being cleverly arranged between the layers
of the bread.
It Is said that questionable lunch rooms
have sprung up all over the state In which
these contraband goods constitute prac
tically the total bill of fare.
The discovery of the whisky sandwich
was made by the warden at the Birming
ham Jail, who took lt Into his head to ex
amine an apparently lundcent sandwich
which was brought to the Jail for one of
the prisoners by a relative. l"pn opening
tbe loaf a bottle of whisky was disclosed.
A rigid Investigation was then put on foot,
which resulted ln thu discovery that the
whisky sandwich Is already an Important
article of commerce In Alabama.
Stork Refuses to Walt.
A novel suit has been started In New
York by the filing In the county clerk's
office of the complaint ln an action brought
by Mrs. Olga Eisenberg against the Pom Hi
Telegraph Cable company to recover $l".u")
damages for alleged negligence of tiie cjiii
puny In not delivering a telegram sent by
her busbsnd, Aaron RlaenbtTg, to the
family dictor telling him to come at once,
as the stork was exr.c'.ed.
Mrs. Eisenberg says that at 1:15 o'clock
on th afternoon of May 10, 1H06, her hus
band acting for her, sent a telegram from
the defendant's office st 157 East One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth street to her
doctor st &1 East Sixth streat, telling him
to come st once.
"Th defendant failed to deliver It In
swallowed. About ten years ago one aa
big as a chestnut was uius aisposea oi.
and the negro kept lt for mor than
weeic. in is aDoui n,uu worm or iwn
t ,!... MMAnk nA ft...
were lost .n a miner, .luraai uu
wards discovered, and the same practice
would go on today were It not for th. 1m-
prlsonmont In a naked state and the medl-
cal and dietary treatment which all must
go through before they are allowed to de-
part As to other smuggling methods.
u i.-.v- ".
nouow canes, ana in dinner pans wiia
false bottoms. The miners frequently make
gashes ln their persons and try to carry
away the brilliants under tha skin. They
put them ln their hollow teeth, under their
toes and ln every conceivable place. Th
guard grows more rigid from year to- year,
and the detectives have become so expert
that they know Just exactly which places
to search. FRANK O. CARPENTER.
reasonable time," says tbe complainant
"and about p. m., said day, she gave
birth to a child without medical attend
ance." Jumped In Canal from Moving; Es
nine..
Fireman John Mulroy of 213 Academy
street, Trenton, N. J., leaped from his mov
ing engine Into the waters of the Delaware
&. Rarltan canal as his passenger train was
coming from Bordertown, and saved th
life ot an eighteen-year-old Italian, who
could not make people understand his
name.
The lad had fallen Into th canal, which
runs along side the railroad track, and
waa drowning with no on ln sight when
th train came alongside. Mulroy had
been watching out ahead and when oppo
site where the boy sank he dropped from
his engine Into the water, rescuing th
boy, His engineer did not miss him until
he arrived ln the station a half mil away.
He then took the engine back looking for
Mulroy and found him dripping wet walk
lug to the terminal In company with th
lad ha had saved.
Chased 11 y a Meteor.
Mr. and Mis. William Gaddls of Colum
bus. Ind., were pursued by a meteor, or
,ome other stray heavanly body while drlv-
Ing about five miles east of that town.
They were traveling in th direction of
Columbus, and had remarked about th
extreme darkness of th night, as they
were scarcely able to see their horse, when
a sudden bright light shone on them with
such brilliancy thai thoy were blinded.
Supposing that an a jicu:iobil was com
ing from the rear, tney drove to on aide
to await Its passlr?, but as no machine
came, they turned to look for It and wara
startled to see a bi ll o fire which seemed to
be about five feet In diameter coiaing to
ward tlu m.
According to tlie.'i Btory It Wfs coming
horizontally and about six feet from th
ground. They watched lt for about fifteen
seconds, as tliey estimated, when it ex
ploded like a Human caudle, and Immed
iately every thing wus as dark as before.
Handshake breaks Arm.
As the result of a vigorous handshake,
Jereinluh l trti r of Wilmington, Del., agd
60. Is at the Delaware hnppltal suffering
(rf.m a broken arm.
H'Tjer Is u powder worker for the Du
Pout Powder company, uni lives at Henry
Ciay. A few dn;s aio he- n.et Patr ck
Dougherty, a hofl proprietor, and th
two ridj 1 anus In a luarly sl.ske as It
vlm tre first titiv thy had m t for sev
eral months.
A few dajs Inter pcrg.-r's stm h gan to
palrt him. He went to tie hospital to con
sult a physician end was then told a bona
had been broken.
Ueiger de lares h will be careful har
after to whom fa xluU hlM band la
greeting.
f
J
ts
.4
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'.'.',.' hi ,
