Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-07-13
News from the African Diamond Fields,

CAPE Town. May lS.-Thc steam
ship William Miller leaves III few
| hours for Ncw York, and | grasl
the opportunity 10 send you partic
ulars Of the q oa,cst postal robbery
ever known at this shank end o
tho world. Whilst | am writing
this there are Il number of diamont
dealers convcrsing tranticalIy out
side of my window in the most cv
dent state Of funk, for they have
no information rs to whc aro Tho
unlucky birds who have diamonds
in the post due here on Thursday
In fact, no ono knows very mucl
about it. The thief or thc'cs were
too careful for that. They have
Just walked off with about ElO0, ,00C
in diamonds and paper currency
and loft the virtuous to imagine
how it was done.
In my last, per Bula, | gave you
brief sketch of Dc Beers, New
Rush, which a year ago was dcscrib
cd as tho richest spot on all the
earth. The amount OF diamonds
which have been taken out Of that
Kopic would furnish q dozen or two
of crowns to all tho crowned heads
of the world. 1t was the most prof.
itablo rush ever made, except this
last ono. This 100000 rush was
about tho easiest way Of making
money that can well bc imagined
The post Office at Do Beers is Il
stately building, as largo as Il son.
try-box, constructed Of such costly
material as old pino wood, and Of
the magnificent design Oft ships
cook-housc. 1t looms up majestic
ally in comparison with the famous
Pig and Whistle opposite it, where
u captain in her Majcsty's Lauccrs
is bar-man, and y late captain in her
Majesty's foot line is waiter. l,
will, therefore, be seen that its sit
uation is elegant and its ncighbor.
hood aristocratic. On Thursday,
the 9th of May, Ascension Day, the
post of Capo Town. was an exceed
ingly valuable ono. 1t is certain
that it contained six pounds weight
Of diamonds, and tho value Of this
with monoy-ordcrs, bank-notcs ana
other currency is roughly estimated
from GS0,0O0 to 100000. The
mails were made up and hcapod by
u window only fastened BY Il bolt
without the security of shutters or
rods. The postmaster was absent
from his Office for ten minutes. AS
he says it was all done in ten, the
surmise therefore is that he was
not in the building. Perhaps he
had gone on u visit to his aristocrat.
ic friends over tho way. At any
rate during the ten minutes a pane
Of glass WAS taken out OF tho Win
dow, the bolt drawn back, the win
dow opened and the bag walked OIL
with. That terrible fire in Chicago
did not dash iastcr over that city,
rousing ali the energy and feelings
of distress Of the inhabitants, than
did the news Of tho robbery at the
Rush. Nearly all were directly or
indirectly Interested, and an anna
tour detective force, hundreds strong
was at onco organized and commcn-
ced searching for tho thief. The
detectives searched and searched;
the post was detained for some
hours, but all in vain. Not the
slightest clue had the robber left
behind him, and it is questionable
whether after tho long start he had
If he will ever be found out. If he
can only manage TO get clear Of the
letters, having the diamonds in his
pockets, ho will bc all right.
There is, of course, great constcr-
nation in tho country. We have
been long suspccting that our mails,
as unprotected as they arc, whilst
passing over some wild tract of
country, would have boon robbed
for the sake of diamonds which are
known to be sent in largo quaint
ties by the post. The postcart is Il
dismal box like arrangement on two
wheels, and is generally drawn
by two animals who evidently over
do Banting. The driver, Il lIottcn-
tot, who at night is just so drunk
that it is a marvel that he keeps his
scat, and during the day is somnam-
buIistic from The nights dcbauch.-
1t is passing strange that some in
vcntivc genius has not taken the
riso out of tho driver and the dia-
monds out of the mails before this.
But the Gl00, 900 haul will no doubt
develop some of tho scientific capa.
bilitics of ight,fingercd gents, and
some of the blessings of civilization
will dawn on this bcnightcd land
The government is being pretty
considerably blasphcmcd on account
of its handsome postal structure at
Do Beers, and if the thief is not cap
tured | conjecture that the postmas
ter stands very favorable oppor
tunity of being lynchcd.