The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-20
An Annual Product of S25,0O0,O0O-
Two FffthS of il Profit.

1t is possible TO watch the native ia
borers, who had before been able in
hundred ingenious Ways to conceal
stolen gems and sell them to the un-
licensed buyers. The strictest watch
ing az4d searching of the Kaffir work
men is maintained; and they are prac-
tically kept prisoners within the
compounds" during the period Of
their service, either three or six
months. Severe laws prevail against
not only the stealing of stones but
even the buying of them: yet nearly
every class of society, both sexes and
all ages, may be seen among the thou
sand or more cOnvicts accused Of this
crime, who are building the great sea
wall at Cape Town, and who frequent
ly conceal their identity, preferring to
be believed dead. The detective inn
presses all conditions of man. woman
and child, irrespective Of color, race
or creed.
Decline Of Diamond Mining in Bra
ziI.
Let US now turn to the older fields
of Brazil When diamonds were dis
covered there in 1874, the government
took possession of the whole district
and drew a military Gordon about 1t
with severe regulations. The loss from
clever negro and Indian smugglers
was to farm out the whole privilege
to contractors, but this worked little
better and was succeeded by an ar
rangement with the firm of Hope &
Co. the Dutch bankers, who took the
entire product at the rate of about
So a carat, and assumed the debt of
Brazil, which was cancelled by the
sale OF the diamonds. This built up
the industry of diamond cutting in
Amsterdam In 1S4S this arrangement
came to an end, and since then the
mines have been free to anyone who
would pay rent of about 81 a square
yard.
AN the diamonds of Brazil have
been found in the sands and gravel Of
old river beds, or in a conglomerate
called cascalho, resulting from the ce-
menting of these gravels. For over
century Brazil was the greatest source
of the worlds supply. but since the
discovery of the African fields in 1866
and the cheapening of diamonds by the
great supply, 1t has furnished only
about > per cent. falling to 100000
from 100000. When the country
has advanced sufficiently to make the
districts accessible by steam, and al
low the introduction of machinery and
improved methods, fresh returns may
perhaps be expected.
In 1882 a poor miner discovered the
prolific mines two days journey from
CanaYieras, near the river Pardo.
where the gems were found a depth
of about two feet in red gravel
They are very fine in quality, and re-
markable for their purity and white
ness, the crystals being of such
form that scarcely any cleaning is
necessary. So great was the rush for
these mines at first, that, nothwith-
standing the rumors of a malarial eli
mate, and epidemic diseases, by the
end of the first year 5000 miners were
at work where shortly before was a
virgin forest.
The Diamond Fields of India.
In India the diamond region IS very
extensive: it has been worked from re-
mote antiquity and has yielded many
| of the largest and most noted dia-
mOnds in the world These regions are
! the valley of the Kistna river, in
| southern central India. where are sit
uated the long-famous Parma mines,
and other properties worked formerly
! by the natives, and more recently by
| Europeans The name Golconda dia-
/ mOnds was given, not because they
/ were found but because they were
! sold at GOlconda, the diamond mar
/ ket
The Indian diggings are both in the
/ loose gravel of The banks and bed of
/ the Kistna river, and some Of it's trib-
utaries, and in the rocks where the
1 diamonds occur in a matriX of con-
/ glomerate, overlaid by a series of
4 limestones, sandstones. and shales cut
/ up by intrusive veins. 1t contains peb-
1 bles of jasper, serpentlne, quartz, ETC.,
I and dlsintegrates on exposure to the
weather or is easily crushed.
During the dry months of the year
the water Is diverted from shallow
reaches of the Kistna river in places
/ where diamonds are known to occur.
! and the gravel lying on the exposed
/ bedrock is collected and examined by
! young women and children. 1t is firyt
/ screened so as to remove the large
! and the very small particles; the re-
! mainder is then spread on mats and
! carefully examined in the sunshine.
. By long training, the children are at
once able to detect the gems, even
though covered, as the Indian dia-
monds are, with groFnd-glass-like
/ exterior
At Parma, in the native state OF
/ Bundel Kund, mining is done by dig
ging down to bedrock, often 60 a
depth of thirty feet.
The Indian mines were the source or
the worlds supply until 1884. when
/ the Brazilian yield began. Traverrier
in his time. about 1860 Some interest
IN these Indian mines was manifested
I in 1889, and two or three English com
panles with large capital began opera
tons. but nothing has been done
lately.
Diamonds have been found in the
tertiary gravels, and recent drift near
/ Bingera in InVerel Australia: also
along the Cudgeon river. 100 miles
northwest of Sydney, and in other dis
tricts of New South Wales. but with
no important results as yet, although
fair trial was given to the Bingera
mine. An isolated diamond has been
found in New Zealand, and at Ho-
| bartstown, Tasmania
Borneo has FURNISHED some valuable
diamonds, especially from the Dutch
district of Dandak, along a river of the
same name. One crystal from here
| weighed 367 carats. The methods of
mining are identical with those in In
Ola. The gems are taken from the
river beds by men and women, who
search and wash the gravel at times
of low water.
Diamond ''Finds" in the United
States.
In the United States diamonds have
been found in a few regions remote
from each other. The first is a belt of
| country lying along the eastern base
of the Alleghanies, from Virginia to
Georgia; another extends along the
western base of the Sierra Nevada
| and Cascade ranges in northern Cali
! fornia and OREGON. Recently a. few