Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-11-08
DIAMOND FIELDS.
a Natal Millionaire Tells About
the Precious Stones.
Their First Discovery. and How
They are Obtained.

John Agncw, wealthy resident of
Natal, who rec ntly arrived in this coun =.
try, gave n reporter for the New York
Times an interesting account of life and
business in the diamond fields. ''The
centre Of business i'll the diamond fields, {"
Inc said, "is Kimberly, city of over
Oo, 0oO inhabitants. 1t has excellent
police and sanitary regulations, and is
situated on table land in the midst Of a
sterile sandy plain, about 5000 feet
above the level of the sea- The climate
is exceedingly cold in winter, and it is
not unusual 20 find Knilirs who have
been drinking heavily at night frozen
to death i'll the streets in the morning.
The city is surrounded by the four prin-
cipal diamond mincs-the Kimberly. the
Old DE Beers, the Dutoll Span, and the
Bu fantine.
''Evcrbody in and abou: Kimberly is
i'll the diamond business. There is no
agriculture. Provisions arc brought
from Natal or Cape Town or BIZ the
Beers in wagons three or four hundred
miles overland. Going there from
Natal you travel about 300 miles by rail
and 800 miles by wagon. Nobody is
allowed to sell diamonds in Kimberly
without license, and nobody is allowed
to buy them without n permit. If a
stranger is found with rough diamond
in his possession without permit he is
arrested, taken before II magistrate and
is liable TO be sent to Jail for three
years. ] came very near being caught
that way myself on my first visit !
had bought ninc carat diamond from
broker whom knew very well, when
he asked me if had permit. told
him no and he replied: ''IIcrc is
your money; give me back the diamond
We will both get into trouble Then
/ got permit. The diamonds arc
taken now from stratum Of blue clay
500 feet below the surface. This clay,
which is always us hard a, rock, is
brought up in blocks aud broken upon
vast uncovered platforms. Some of the
larger diamonds are found in the break
ing up. The work is done by natives
who are divided into gangs of six, with
a white ovcrsccr for each gang. Both
the oycrsccrs and the men get pcr-
ccntagc on the diamonds they find, as
well as fixed wages When the natives
quit work or come up from the mines
they are stripped and searched, and even
their mouths are examined. After the
clay has been broken upon the platform
it is sprinklcd with water and allowed
TO dry in the sun. Then 1t crumblcs
and is taken to tho washers.
"You remember, of course, how the
diamond fields were discovered. 1t was
in 1869, l think, or Whereabouts, that a
lIottcntot child playing in the sanl
found bright stone. Its father carried
the stone to Dutch trader near the
coast, who gave him an old wagon.
some oxen and goats for it, The Dutch
man carried it 20 Cape Town and sold
it for $4,000. That stone was tho IA
nous S;ar of Africa, aftcrward pur-
chased by the Prince of Wales for, l
think, e30 600. 1t was found on the
plains about thirty miles from Kimberly.
j. ID. Robertson, now one of the richest
men in South Africa was then ped
der. lie went into the interior shortly
after the discovery of that stone
and returned with handfuls of dia.
monds. Then followed the rush to the
diamond fields