The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-12-16
A Land OF Diamonds.

A Land OF Diamonds.
Perhaps a brief description of this
land Of gems may interest your
readers. This place In about 700
miles inland from Cape Town, and
about 500 miles from Port Elizabeth.
To reach Kimberly from Cape Town
one has to travel through a country
called KarrOo, q barren, rocky tract,
with scarcely my signs Of life In IL.
a more desolate region can scarcely
be found. do not think saw ten
acres for distance of 200 miles that
could possibly be plOwed; and, iIdg.
ing from appearances, think rat,
to travel through KarroO, would need
u knapsack on his back, we'll laden
with provisions, to sustain life on his
journey, unless he was of near kin to
DR.. Tanner. Kimberly, like Its sur.
roundings, is barren waste. very
unpleasant for q family home. Most
of the country here is worthless for
farming purposes. Water IL scarce;
wood Is very scarce. 1t Is brought
here by OK teams from distance of
100 miles, and sold on the market at
auction for from $25 to $50 per load,
according To size and quality. None
of II would be understandable in your
city. Old dead wood dug up by the
roots and brought to market, and q
load Of live wood (nnsplit,) contain.
ing one and half cords, sells for $40
and $50 per load. Potatoes grow to
about the size Of an English walnut;
beets, carrots, onions, cucumbers and
lettuce are luXuries nearly unknown
here. The dust and dirt is fearful.
can not describe il and do justice to
the subject. 1t fills your eyes. ears
and nose, and mats your hair and
whiskers; and as for the clothes, the
natives, who wear none, have the ad.
vantage, as the water is hard and
miserable, full of dirt, and sells for
sixty cents per barrel for washing
purposes, and rs for drinking. some.
thing stronger is the common bevcr.
age here.
But the diamonds! II is truly land
of diamonds. Already over 1925 ,000,.
600 worth have been discovered. In
the late war one of the chiefs. (Sac.
cahnnD offered u quart measure full
OF diamonds for II cannon. Claims
Of thirty.onc square feet have sold
for $S4S, 900 per claim.
The mines are all worked by large
companies. The largest is French
company. The manager Informed
me that their expenses were $4,000
per month. They take ont of their
mines 400 loads of diamOnifferous
earth per day, worth on an average
$l4.40 per load. There are several
large companies in the same mine.
A mile and half from here Is anoth-
er mine called Old De Bees Mine.
Three miles further there is another
one called Du Tait's Pan, and one
mile from that Is another called Bul.
pattein. All these are extensively
worked by large companies. Bulpat.
tein Mine was originally farm, on
which was built a brick house. and
on the discovery of diamonds the
house was found to contain the pre-.
cious gems In the plaster used to lay
the brick, and the children played
with what they called "the shiny
stOne.''
There has recently been q diamond
mine discovered eight miles from here
called ELEPHANTS Fantein. Claims
to the number Of 900 have been sur.
veyed and sold in the mine, and PEG.
pie here are wild with speculation.
An acquaintance Of mine bought
claims in Jager's Fantein mine, forty
miles from here, which cost him ST.
000hnd in short time he WAS offered
S33, 800 for said claim. 1t seems that
men are like bubbles the world over;
some 60 up, and some explode fnan.
cialiy. the exploding portion being by
far the most numerous.
The penalty for buying a diamond
of negro Is five years Imprisonment
at hard labor and a fine of 80 400 for
the first offense. and ten years for the
second; and yet the temptation Is so
great that ont of population of 49,.
600 there are over 900 now In prison
for Illicit diamond buying and dia.
mond stealing. Some of these prison.
ers are worth from $40, 900 to 5000 900.
Surely the way of the trangressor Is
hard Hart oyd Times.