Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-08-24
THE DIAMONDS HOME.
Facts Concerning the Great Mines
 of South Africa.
A Gigantic Enterprise in Which 1,2OO Overseers Are Employedssn Over S5,OOO,OOO of European Capital
 Are Expended Every Year.


 The De Beers mine disaster in the South African diamond fields, by winch twenty four whites and two hundred natives per lshed, as reported from Cape Town, via London, has awakened fresh interest among those who deal in the most valuable of precious stones. By far the greatest DOT tlon of the diamonds now obtained come from the mines of South Africa, winch were discovered near Hopetown in 1867 by some Dutch children. The mines are situ- ated Ill Griqualand West, now a part of Cape Colony, in latitude 2S degrees 10 min utes, longitude D degrees 10 minutes east, about 64O miles northeast of Cape Town, and 5oO miles from the sea coast. Although they are at an elevation of nearly LOGO feet above the sea level, the heat is excessive during the summer months, when the work Is principally carried on.
 { According to tho first report of the terri Die calamity it was that "thc De Beers Coal Mine at Kimberley" had caught fiee The manifest error in regard to the char actcr of the mine was not corrected in sub sequent dispatches, but the cause of the 1atal lire was explained in this way: "While the shifts were being changed the hauling wire broke and the skip rushed down the shaft with frightful rapidity. The oil lamps were broken, and the blazing fluid quickly lgnltcd the wooden casing of the shaft Flames ln great volumes shot up the shaft, completely preventing cgress The mine was soon filled with smoke. end the lights carried by tho miners were rendered use less. The panic-strickcn natives and whites, Ill thelr efforts to escape. became uasscd together ill the galleries and were suff0catcd to death"
 The superintendent of the De Bccrs Mine IS Gardener F. Williams, of Oakland. Cal He went to South Africa on his second trip In the latter part of 1SS6. He is d regular correspondent of George r. kunz Tiffany & Co.'S gem expert and mincralogist. 4 New York Times reporter talked with MT. hunz, and obtained from him some inter- esting facts about the De Beers Mines.
 The mlne covers 1915 acres or 6lO claims | each 3l feet square, with d roadway of l3 ! feet between each claim. The mines were 1 originally worked in individual claims. B. 143 ln number, each 3l feet square, with g road way 113 feet Wide between each pair of claims. These small claims are now consol- ldated into about ninety large conpanles ana private firms, having a gross capital of | nearly S5OOOO,OO0. There are four large mines, all within q radius of a mile and a half. The celebrated Kimberley covers 1 seven and half acresP Thirtv-threc mill ! lon karatS (oVer SIX and a half tons) of dia- l monds have already been taken out, valued ln the rough at 445, 100000 and after cutting at 49O, ,0O0O0O The absorption of the small. CT by the larger companies is constantly going on, and it is proposed to consolidate all the companies into one. Ten thousand 1 natives, each receiving e1 q week, are en- -Fteyer in mines under the supervision ot 1,2OO European Overseers. The enor- nous sum of over 91,OOO,OOO is annually ex- pended for labor
 This mammoth investment of EurOpean capital would have been more profitable to the SnarenolderS were 1t not for the thieV- lshness ot tho native diggers. who, insti- gated by the vicious whites that cQugregate on the field, at one tune stole and disposed 1 of from one-tfth to one-fourth of the entire | yield. More improved methods of surveil- | lance, recently introduced, have diminished thls loss. None but authorized agents are permitted to purchase or possess rough dia- monds, and large detective force is on the alert to prevent any infringement of the rules. A record is now kept of every dia- mond found. The thieves have been caught making chickens swallow diamonds in the mlne, and post-mortem held on one of the natives who died suddenly revealed the fact that his death was caused by a sixty-karat diamond which he had swallowed.
 According to the latest oficlal reports there were employed Ill the De Beers mine 394 whites and 2,15S natives. of the latter BOO were hired from the Government at a cost of 43S per annum. Formerly the na- tves were allowed to leave the mines, but owing to the fraudulent traffic carried on 2,3OO of them were last year compounded They practically lived in the mines. and were better off than those who had their freedom. The old system ot open work lngs has been to a great extent abandoned for the shaft and underground plan Under ] the original method the excavations were carried on to a depth of 800 feet. There were many accidents, owing to the falling shale or reef. A rock shaft is completed to 1 depth of S41 feet and taps low levels. During the last year over 21,G21 feet of main tunnel were driven. There is one shaft of 191 feet, another of 417 feet, and a third of 125 feet. As many as eighteen | tribes of natives have been represented in | the mines. Some of the natives have been known to tramp 1000 miles to get work.
 In 1SS7-SS S90,0O0 loads of "blue stuffn were hauled out of the mines, and S5O9O6 loads yielded 910, 1;}21., Carats, for which the company received 49S4,0 ,0S5 Ills 6d. The actual expenditure was G415 1SS leaving a profit of :e56S, S91. Tho Dc Beers mine is capitalized at 2,50O,62O in 91O shares. These were quoted as high as 453 last month, and slnce then have slumped to 430 and again advanced to e39. It is the opinion of Mr. Kunz that the recent accident will cause an- other decline in shares. From September l, 1882, to December 31, 1887, the De Beers mine yielded 344,015 karats, valued at e, 450,33S, an average of q Id per carat. This includes every thing taken from the mine. In the beginning of the enterprise the mine produced 4 karat per load, but last year the yield was & karat per load, a sig nificant increase.
 Water flows from the mine at the rate of 1,5O0 gallons per hour and at the rate of 1 200 gallons from the rock shaft. There are nine big washing machines in use, which are more reliable than the hand or eye. It is so accurate that diamond the size of pin head can not escape.
 How tO Raf11a TickIers