The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-07-27
TONS OF DIAMONDS.
The South African Mines Where
the Stones Are Gathered.
The Drying Grounds-The Washing Machines
and Pulsator-Sorting the Gems-Lynx-
Eyed Surveillance Of the Employees

From the day in July, 1871, when the first
DICK was struck into the hawthorn-crowned
kop1e." which then marked the site of the
present city Of Kimberly, in South Africa,
there has been dragged out of the depths of
the earth, according to the estimate Of the
best authorities whom asked. no less than
$3.50, DOC, 600 worth of diamonds.
with Mr.. Kregor as my guide l visited the
mines, reaching there just as an earthquake
was being fashioned by artificial means.
we stood on the brink of the precipice and
watched the Kafirs darting hither and
thlther like so many black ants. While we
were locking at them and marveling at the
untold treasures that lie concealed beneath
the immense bowl that glares up at us we
are warned by the Changing of an immense
Dell that blast is about to occur.
lis warning note has scarcely sounded
When the Katirs rush helter-skelter for the
pace or safety. Down in the bottom OF the
pit you can see puff of smoke, Pickering
nash OF light, all indicative Of the many
fuses leading to the concealed dynamite
cartridges. A few white men remained be-
hlnu, but only for moment, when they
700 rush Tor the compound. Presently. with
adea1ening roar after roar, fuSilade be-
glns Masses of ground heave with burst
oI smoke. rise high in the air and fall back
IN the gap. A mass OF stone is hurled almost
at your feet. For ten minutes a fearful
clatterlug and roar continues aud another
DELL rings. The smoke of the battle with
| nature has cleared away and for twenty
-FOUR hours more the only stiffness is the
Click OF the picks or the harsh, resonant
grating OF the shoyels Enough blue earth
mas been loosened for the next days work.
10 select the diamonds from the "blue,"
says h. }. Lawler in the Cosmopolitan Mag
zine for July, is laborious task aud in
volVes every power Of endurance that can
be got from the men. At the surface of the
milne the precious blue" is run in trucks by
an endless rope to the drying grounds,
which are some distance away, and which
cover considerable area. Each truck-load
sixteen cubic feet, or about ton of
'Diue'-conceals on an average a karat and
quarter of diamond, ranging in value from
IS Cd to $40 karat
On the driving grounds the "blue" is sof-
tened by the sun and air, broken with
picks. and then conveyed back to begin the
process of reduction, which magcally
transforms each ton or two of dull and
heavy earth into a tiny brilliant destined,
perhaps, to flash some day from the couture
OF Chicago pork-packer's daughter. First,
the earth goes into the washing machine, a
primitive cradle on a large and perfected
scale, the working Of which depends on the
TACT mat the high specific gravity of the dia-
mond makes it behave differently from
other stones under the joint action of GEN.
trllugal force and gravtation. Swung
"i"unu III perforated cyilnuerS uuuer d
whirlpool OF water. the bulk of the earth
flows off in tailings Of gray mud. The resi-
due OF divers sorts and sizes is then shaken
about with more water in the pulsator, an
evolution from the primitive baby.
This machine is huge framework of
graduated sleeves and runlets, which sorts
the divers stones into several sizes and after
much percolation, delivers each uniform
iot at separate receptacle. After the pull
sator, there remains a number of dry sort
legs and loose sortings on various tables,
BY hands both black and white
But, mind you, all this is done under the
most lynx-eyed surveillance; the pretty red
garnets and other Valueless pebbles being
swept off by dozens, the diamond dropping
into sort Of locked poor-bOx. until finally
the coveted hoard, all scrutinized. classified
and valued. lies on the Office table OF the
company on its way to the impreguable
eS-Philadelphia item