Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-04-29
Diamond Mines.


mouds ia South Africa was superin-
tendent OF the work carried on Al
Kimberly in the British Diamond
Mining Company.
The control of the RothschiIdS'
said Mr.. Longstreet, lis entirely due
TO the over capitalization of the orig
inal companies. Some of them were
capitalized as high as Sl5,OOO,O
Speculation in diamonds had some
thing TO do with our failure. My
father, for instance, made and LOST
half-dozeu times in few years Tor
time OF $500, 900. The result OF II all
was that the sheriff appeared, and
the RothschiIds bought in. They are
now limiting the production to the
demand; diamonds will never go
down in price, and the days OF ro
nance in South Africa diamond min
ing are past forever. In those days
the mines were divided into little Al
lotments OF thirty feet square, no
each OF these was sold 10 corpora
ton for $500, 0OO-a neat sum Tor
price of land scarcely large enough
to put a shanty on. | have seen
1900 men working for one company
and in one mine as many as lo'oOO
naked Zulus, whose work, oddly
enough, was carried on by electric
light within a year after il was IN
vented.
I'm those days our chief difficulty
was to prevent the thefts OF the
workmen. We had al overseer Tor
every five men, and yet the beggars
managed to steal large numbers OF
diamonds. They would conceal them
in their mouths, between their toes
and I'm the most nnimaginable places.
These Zulus have but one fault-they
are born thieves They are the hnest
race physically and mentally that
have ever known. Their la nguage Is
musical and has great power OF poetic
expression. Some forms OF 1t are
purely Greek.
Their origin is mystery, but
from their legends | imagine that
their ancestors knew the mines from
which came the gold for King Solo
mons temple, and that the Bib'icai
Oueen OF Sheba was their sovereign.
All the tales OF Rider Haggard. whom
| knew i'm South Africa, have heard
often from the lips Of the native
Zulus.
THE mines are four in number the
Kimberly mines proper being but one
NJ these. 1t is 200 feet deep and the
10 900 men at work in it look IKE
mere pigIuies. 1t was originally all
one hill, formed by some gigantic
volcanic action from below. Long
before the chimney was dug afew
diamonds were washed from this hill
into the stream where they were dis
covered. 1t is thus that they nave
been found in other countries. Inc
true formation has never been uls'
coyered i'm Brazil or elsewhere. 1t IL
nv theory, however, that wherever
diamonds are thus found their lorna
ton must exist somewhere near. They
have been found thus in North caro-
lima. Montana and elsewhere III the
United States. and some day actual
diamond mines will be worked In these
regions. il my theory is correct. Al
Kimberly the diamonds were EN-
bedded in a strange hard mud, which
had 10 be blasted with dynamite be-
fore it could be brought up. Tons oi
this were then carried of 10 one SIDE
and allowed to remain year before
the precious stones could be secured.
We could not use crushing machines,
for they would crush the diamondshs
well rs the earth, so that We had TO
depend upon the sun and the rain to
disintegrate the mass into dust
"TheIe is a popular b"lisf that the
Kohinoor, or Mountain OF Light. In
the crown jewels OF England, is the
largest diamond known. This IL an
error. 1t has been cut twice. and Is a
midget compared with II score oil
Others. / have seen stones OF as
much as 46O carats, but they are not
worth as much per carat as those OF
only three or four. There II no one
who would wear such hug things
and they have no use except as eI-
hibits.
The most beautiful diamond by
far that have ever seen WAS the one
found at Kimberly by little Ameri-
can named Porter Rhodes. ! paid
e5 lust TO look at 1t. The sight WAS q
liberal education for a diamond e1-
pert. lie afterwards sold it 10 the
Countess of Dudley for t5O0.0O0 La
bouchere gave ali amusing account
ia Truth OF his efforts 10 sell II to the
Queen. 1t was lost once before 1t left
Africa, and Rhodes gave the Zulu
who returned il a reward OF SIS. 900.
The jewellers endeayor TO con
vince the public that the Brazilian
diamonds are far superior TO those OF
South Africa, and indeed there IL a
popular belief to that effect. 1t isa
fallacy. 1t makes absolutely DO dif-
ference in the value OF diamond
where it comes from. A diamond Is
pure carbon. 1t can be nothing more
or less or it is not a diamond. The
value depends almost entirely upon
the geometical accuracy with whieh
it is cut. The fact that a thousand