The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1888-10-27

A Gigantic Ent~rprlse la which Over
$4,000 900 of European Capital
Il Annually Employed.

South African diamond fields, by which
twenty : four whites aud 200 natives
persisted, as reported IN cable dis
patches from Cape Town, via London.
has awakened fresh interest among
those who deal In the most valuable OF
precious stones. BY far the greatest
portion of the diamonds now obtained
come from the mines of South Africa.
which were discovered near Hopctown
in 1867 by some Dutch children. The
mines are situated In Griqualand West,
now n part of Cape Colony. I'm latitude
20 degrees 40 minutes. longitude 25 de-
,y'ces 10 minutes east. about 400 miles
northeast of Cape Town, and 500 miles
from the sen cost. Although they are
az an elevation Of nearly 1000 feet
above the sea level, the heat is exces-
sivc during the summer months. when
the work Is principally carried on.
According to the first report OF the
terrible calamity il was that the De
Beers Coal Mine at Kimberly had
caught fire. The manifest error IN re-
gard To the character OF the mine was
not corrected In subsequent dispatches.
but the canse Of the fatal iiro ws,s eN-
planned I'm this way: while the shifts
were being changed the hauling wire
broke and the skip rushed down tho
shaft with frightfnl rapidity. The oil
lamps were broken, and the blazing
fluid quickly ignitcd the wooden easing
of the shaft. completely preventing
egress. The mine was soon filed with
smoke, and the lights carried by the
miners were rendered useless. The
panic-stricken natives and whites, in
their efforts TO escape. became massed
together in the galleries aud were suf-
located 10 death.
The superintendent Of the De Beers
Mine is Gardener +. Williams. OF Oak
land. Cal. He went 90 South Africa
on his second trip In the latter part of
1886. He is irregular correspondent OF
George Il. Kunz, Tiffany II Co.'S gem
expert aud mineral0gist A New York
Times reporter talked with Mr.. Knnz.
aud obtained from him some interest
ing- facts about the De Beers Mine.
The mine covers IL l-2 acres OF Clio
claims. each 81 feet square. with
roadway of 10 feet between each claim.
The mines were originally worked in
individual claims. 3.l43 in number.
each 81 feet square. with roadway
Z - feet Wide between each pair Of
claims Tie, small claims are now
consolidated lto about ninety large
companies = A private farms. having
gross cap al of nearly SJ0,000O0O.
There are four large mines, MI within
radius of mile and "A half. The
celebrated Kimberley covers seven and
half acres. Thirty three million
karats lover six and u half tons of dia-
monds have already been taken out.
valued in the rough ut f45. 900. 900 and
after cutting at 100000. 600. The abb
sorptiOn of the smaller by the larger
companies is constantly going ON. and
il is proposed 60 consolidate all the
companies into one. Ten thousand
natives, each receiving II week. are
employed In the mines under The sn-
pervision of l. POO European oycrSccrs.
The enormous sum of over El 900 900
is annually expended for labor.
This mammoth investment ~ Eli
ropean capital would have been more
profitable TO the shareholders were IL
not for the thicvishness OF the native
diggers. who, insligated by the vicious
whites that congregatc on tho field. M
one time stole aud disposed OF from
one-iifth Ia one-fourth of the entire
yield. More improved methods Of
surveillance, recently introduced. have
diminished this loss. None but author
lied agents are permitted TO purchase
or possess rough diamonds. and large
detective force is on the alert 30 pre-
vent any Infringement Of the rules. 4
record Is now kept of every diamond
found. The thieves have been caught
making chickens swallow diamonds IN
the mine. and post-mortcm held on
one OF the natives who died suddenly
revealed the fact that his death was
caused by GO-karat diamond which
he had swallowed.
According to the latest Official re-
ESQ. II il the opinion Of Mr.. kuuz
that the recent accident will cause
another decline In shares. From Sep
iembcr /. 1882, To- December 81. 1871.
the DE Beers mine yielded 3ft.0l5
carats. valued ut EI.sSO, 1913, an aver
age Of f19d per carat. This includes
everything taken from the mine. ga
the beginning of the enterprise tho
mine produced A carat per load. but
last year the Yield WAS g carat per
load. n significant increase.
Water ilows from the mine AZ the
rate Of 1900 gallons per hour. and ~
the rate Of 200 gallons from the rock
shaft. There are nine big washing
machines in use. which are more re-
liable than the hand or eye. IL Is 20
accurate that diamond the size Of sr
pin head cannot escape.