The record-union., 1891-09-03
TONS OF DIAMONDS.
The South African Mines Where the
stones are Gathered.

From the day in July, 1871, when the
first pick was Struck into the hawthorn
crowned 'kopie," which then marked
the site Of the present city OF Kimberly,
III South Africa, there has been dragged
out ottho dephts Of the earth, according TO
the estimate Of the best authorities whom
asked, no less than sos, ,G00,OG0 worth Of
diamonds.
Wlth Mr.. kregor as my guide I visited
the mines, reaching there Just as an
/ earthquake was being tI&hiOSed by arti
! ltcial means. We stood on the brink of
the prGcipice and watched the ll&iiirs
Gartlng hitheT and tlithar like SO many
! black anus. While ~e were looking at
them and maryciing vi the untold treas
ares that lie concealed beneath the I'M
GonS2 bowl that giarcs up at us, Wc arc
warned by the changing OF an immense
| bell t3it q blast Is about 10 occur.
us warning note has scarcely sounded
when the t.anifS rush heltGr-SkO!tCr for
the place of safety. Down III tie bottom
| OF The pit you cam see u pun Of smoke, a
I tllc!.crIng Hash OF light, all indicative OF
| the many fuses leading TO the concealed
dynamite cartridges. : fcw White men
/ rGHlalned behind, bat only foT 4 moment,
when they TOO rash i0r the compound.
Presently, with a dGalening rO&: alter
roar, fGSilado begins. Masses OF
ground heavc with a burst of smoke, rise
high III the air ana fall uaC.l III the gap.
y mass OF stone iS hurled almost 1T your
| feet. Ter ten minutes a terrible clat,Cr-
ing anG roar continues and aAGtAGc bell
rings. The SinokG OF the U6. tie with
nature has cleared away ana t0r twenty
lUUr hours more the only stiffness Is the
click OF the picks or the harsh, resonant
grating Of the shoveS. Emoagn blue
earth has been loOseued Tor the next
days work.
70 select the diamonds from the 'bluc,"
says f.. j. LaWier in the Cosmopolitan
MagUz&nc for July, is q laborous task
| ana involves every power OF endurance
| that can be got from the men. At the
! surface OF the mine the precious "blue'
is run IN trucks by an endless rope to the
drying grounds, which are some distance
away, and which cover a considerable
area. Each truck load-siXteen cubic
| feet, or about ton of 'bluc"-c0ncealsO on
an average a karat and quarter of Gia-
monds, ranging in value from IS I'd to 5e20
a karat.
On the drying grounds the blue is
SOfteEGd by the sun and air, broken
with picks, and then conveyed back to
begin the process of reduction, which
magicaily transforms each ton or two of
dull earth into a tiny brilliant, destined,
perhaps, TO flash some day from the colt
fure OF q Chicago pork-packer's daughter.
First, the earth goes into the washing
machine, primitive cradle on a large
and perfected scale, the working Of which
depends on the fact that the high specific
gravity Of the diamond makes it behave
differently from other stones under the
joint action of centrifugal force and grav-
itatiOn. Swung around in perforated
cylinders undor q whirlpool of water, the
bulk Of the earth flows Off in tailirgs of
gray mud. The residue Of divers sorts
and sizes is then shaken about with some
water in the pulsator, an evolution from
the primitive baby.
This machine is a huge framework Of
graduated sieves aud runlets, which sorts
the divers stones into several sizes. and
after much percolation delivers each uni
form lot at Il separate receptacle. After
the pulSat0r, there remains a number of
dry sortings and loose sortings on various
tables, by hands both black and white.
But, mind you, all this is done under
the most lynxeyed surveillance; the
pretty red garnets and other valueless
pebbles being swept OF 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 10 the impregnable safes.