The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-06-04
DIAMOND MINES.

The Dangerous Process by which the
Priceless Gems Are Obtained.
The famous diamond fields near Kim
berly, South Africa, comprise four IA
nous mines. They are now easily
reached because of the extension of the
railroad from Cape Town to Kimberly.
and a correspondent, who has recently
been over the ground. thus describes
the process by which the valuable gems
are obtained: The soil, he says. in
which the diamonds are found in these
mines is called in miner phrase ''blue, :"
from its color, and have never heard
that biologists or mineralOgists have
attempted to give it scientific name.
This blue appears to be tough dry
mud of volcanic origin, sometimes
hardened into absolute rock. 1t is
blasted by dynamite and drawn to the
surface by aerial tramways, and then
carried to the depositing floors; for so
tenacious is the '.blue" that it requires
to be weathered for from three to twelve
months before it will give up its treas
ure, and finally washed and sorted.
Let us accompany it through the
whole process. The courtesy of the
manager of a mining company places
every thing at the disposal Of the visit
or, and after inspecting the engine
house and the powerful hauling-engines
you take your seat in an iron truck,
which travels on small wheels along
the aerial tramway. An electric bell
sounds in the engine-hOuse, and you
begin to descend, not without an uneasy
glance into the abyss beneath. and some
envy of the nerve of your guide, smart
young Englishman, who sits on the
frame of the truck, with his legs dang.
ling in space, and avails himself of the
momentary rest to fill and light his
pipe. The heavy steel ropes on which
your carriage travels are firmly an
chored in the floor of the mine, and YOU
arrive in safety at the bottom. No
sooner have you quilted your convey
ance than another truck, filed with
blue, runs up on rails and is tipped into
it, when it again asccnds; and SO the
work goes on. The scene at the bottom
of the mine is remarkable. Scattered
over the irregular surface are, perhaps,
two thousand Kaffirs, wcll-madc men,
stark naked and black as ebony. These
men drill the blasting holes under the
orders of white miners, work out the
looscned ground with pick and shovel,
load and tip the trucks, take up and re-
lay the tramways as the levels alter, and
do all the hard work under white over
seers, who are directed by the claim man.
ager. To a stranger the scene is weird
and uncanny. The noise of the pump
ing engines, the rcsounding blows of
the heavy hammers on the steel drills,
the Earring noise of the iron trucks and
their tipping. and the wild appearance
and unearthly shouts of the perspiring
katfirs, all combine to make one east a
glance upward, and hail with
inward joy the sound of the bell above,
which proclaims that the days work is
done. The ascending trucks now carry
up the white Overseers and officials,
while the Kaflirs swarm like black ants
up precipitous paths and hanging lad
ders, and in a few minutes the mine is
silent. and apparently deserted. Then
the bell rings again, giving the signal
TO fire the blasts, and solitary figures,
white and black. are seen rushing about
with tiny sparks, and then making for
the appointed shelter place. A few
more and the cannOnade be-
gins. The explosions shake the solid
ground on which you stand. The blue
flies into the air or falls in masses.
Huge slices of dangerous "reef," or
wall, come down with laundering noise.
Then once more all is still. The smoke
clears away, the dust settles, and again
the bell rings, and the might shift of
miners and kafiirs go swarming down
to their work. The blasting takes place
at six and twelve O'Clock. and the roar
from the four mines ut midnight can
be heard for many miles around.
Before leaving the mines word
should be said about the terrible dam
ger of the work. On an average twenty
men are killed every month, chiefly by
sudden falls of treachcrOus blue or
shale. Only week or two
ago mass of at least two hundred
thousand tons fell suddenly from the
north wall of the Dutoitspan mine. For
it was during the dinner hour,
when but few were in the nine, but |
twelve Kafiirs were instantly buried
alive, and a still more horrible fate be-
fell eight Europeans who were taking |
their midday meal in the engine-house,
which was overwhelmed by the falling
ground, so that the poor fellows, when |
their bodies were dug out, were found |
to have been scalded by the escaping |
steam, while the roof Of the building, |
though crushed down upon them, had |
prolonged their sgonies by preventing |
the contact of the earth.
The mines arc, fNr the purpose of |
safety, under the control of the Govern
ment inspectors, whose powers, how
ever, are far too limited, and some |
measures will have to be taken for the |
better protection of the workmcn. For
the management of their affairs inter
se each mine has a mining board COM
posed of claim-holders. who assess the
value of the claims periodically and
levy rates. which are expended in pump
ing ont the water, removing dangerous
reefs. sanitary arrangements. the
searching system and other public mat
:ers. The searching system requires
! word OF explanation. rhe natives
going to work pass through the search
house, on the bank, where in warm
they leave their clothes. On lcav-
ng work they again pass through the
and are searched, after
which they resume their garments. The
system is farce. and thefts of dia-
nonds are constantly effected. The
white employees are not searched. An
attempt to do it in 1884 led to serious
lots and some bloodshed. and, though
he wOrkmen were beaten. the mining