Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1870-12-01
STOCK VIRGINIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER l. 1870
The Diamond Fields Of the Cape of
Good HOpe.fe

Inc Diamond F1elds OF the Cape of
Good Hope. 81 ~
The English language, as it spreads
farther and farther afeld, is perpetually
developing new words. or bringing unu-
sual words into ordinary colloeaial USE
One of these latter phiogical improve
ments comes. from the Cape, in the shape
of a formidable aJective-diamondifcr-
Gus.
Diamonds, equal in quality to those of
Golcohda and Brazil, have been discover
cd in araazng quantities, and instead of
being won from tho earth by the forced
labor of slaves, as formerly, in India
and recently in South America, these gilt
tering prizes arc to be obtained by any
man provided Fortune favors him) who
does not mind hard work.
The Cape papers have run quite wild
on the subject. The greater part Of their
ISSUES are devoted to the diamond-felds :;
editors have visited the coveted regions
and picked up precious stones with their
| own hands, and even the great European
war is scarcely needed amid the local fe-
yer and excitement Diamonds in them
selves are not articles of extraordinary
utility nevertheless. as the world choos-
es to value them highly, these shrewd COL
onists know chat the diamond fields mean
brisk trade and the Influx of An energetic
population Z; in short, all the prosperity
which they have seen grow up so rapidly
in Australia
Diamond mining appears to be attended
with the uncertainty as gold~mining.-
Some men are lucky at once, ard continue
to be lucky others, however persevering
they may be, never meet with any success
The work consists in simple quarrying a
very tough description Of stone and grav-
ell. and then carting it down to the river,
where the pebbles are washed and exam
ined. Already the amount Of ''stuf''
turned over is something surprising. The
cradles are going all day, and sometimes
all night, too, for on moonlight nights the
more avaricious spirits refuse to 60 to bed.
but work steadily TIL daylight appears
The diggers gravel the floors of their tents
with the refuse washings of the mines, and
amuse themselves by looking for diamonds
while lying in bed Several have been
found III this way. Gambling and drink
irg prevail to some extent They are
very civil, friendly and obliging, and help
each other in every way. Besides this,
there are large number Of respectable
women and children on the Times, so that
the rowdy,sm of California and Australia
is not likely to be Reproduced. suppos-
ing diamonds are found in extraordinarily
large quantities.. What will be the effect
Will they become so cheap as to be reek-
oued vulgar? win they be like the sill
yer which was nothing accounted of in the
golden days of King Solomon =? Perhaps
it will be considered lawfully bad corn
to wear diamond ring. and nobody viii
think Of appearing at court in diamonds
when every factory girl will have string
of them around her neck. Our belief is
that nothing of the sort will happen; that
diamonds, like gold, will remain nearly as
costly as ever, but we do hope that one
of the effects of the discovery may be to
send some hundreds Of thousands of our
to South Africa. not ne cessa-
rily as diamond hunters-ra ther as far
mers, traders, and artisans.