The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-07-02

the very highest order. That which I
have noticed particularly during my
frequent conferences with him Is his
keen and unaffected interest in the So
cial life Of the people. There does not
seem to be any limit to his anxiety g.
aid in building up the new territOl.
over which he was, until recently,
presiding factor, of conserving indus
trial and educational influences. T.
has been called the empire builder and
in an unusual sense the designation is
apt. He builds with a care and pa
tience and foresight remarkable even
in these days of successful colonization.
My gratitude to Mr.. Rhodes for assis-
tance rendered in my own work is so
great that at the time when. In conse-
quence of the Jameson affair, he has
to some extent fallen under a passing
cloud II gives me added pleasure to tes-
tify to the noble qualities of the man.
My work at Kimberly. as you know.
had to do largely with the industrial
training OF the natives. We went to
them with the Bible in one hand and
the hammer in the other, and though
we did not neglect to teach them to
pray, we placed emphasis on the neces-
sity of learning to work. Several times
Cecil Rhodes voluntarily went into his
pocket to help us; at one time he gave
us 5000 acres of land from his own pri-
vate possessions to endow three centers
of Industrial mission work among the
natives. No broader -gauged men walks
the earth than Cecil Rhodes"
How does the Kaffir in Africa re-
spond to your efforts to civilize him?"
"Character-building is slow process.
The Kaffir is a slow man. We have
made progress, but there Is much yet
to be done. The Kafflr has three pre-
dominating characteristics. He is dull
and stolid in his mental processes; he
| is by nature disnclined to physical ex-
ertion and he has a hereditary and
sometimes apparently irresistible in
| clination toward theft. Bear in mind
speak now of the Kaff1r in his crude
| state. After a time, he becomes a
| fairly good workman at the rougher
labor on the farms and in the mines.
his enormous bodily strength generally
| counterbalancing the weakness in his
| intellectual department; but / cannot
say that he evinces much capability for
executive positions. He was evidently
destined by nature to be the newer of
wood and drawer of water"
| Speaking of the Kaffir's propensity
to steal, do the natives employed in the
diamond mines make away with many
| valuable gems?"
"They sometimes try to, but the sys-
TEN of espionage in vogue in the mines
leaves little chance for a theft to pass
undetected. There is at Kimberly a
regular quarantine department where
natives caught in the act of swallowing
diamonds are kept under arrest until
| the gems are recovered. One day as !
was passing through the mine hospital
at Kimberly, the physician in charge
a personal friend, called my attention
to strapping big Kaffir who lay on a
| cot suffering from wound in the
fleshy part Of the leg. The physician
said he had dressed that wound twice
day for a fortnight and 1t wouldn't
get well. He was going to probe it.
awaited the result of the probing. From
the wound, buried deep in the gashed
flesh, diamonds to the value of $15(
were taken"
Are the Kaffiirs who work in the
diamond mines well paid?"
Il will give you the figures and you
can judge for yourself. At Kimberly
where the DeBeers mine is located-the
largest in the world-8,500 hands are
employed, 1000 of them Kafirs. The
latter never receive less than SLIP pei
day for the crudest unskilled work
and often their pay goes as hign as
$162."
But the whites?"
"Well, 1 will have to admit that the
whites fare better. The average daily
pay Of the white laborer in the mines
is IS for eight hours, with double pay
for overtime. Whites who work b!
contract often make more than twice
as much. The De Beers mine pay.
out 100000 a month in wages. It
annual output of diamonds Otter
reaches $16000,000."
Just one more question, please
What is the process employed in dia
mond mining?"
Kimberly is situated on a tabl
land about $500 feet above sea level
This table land has a circumference,
of about 0 miles Almost in the center
there is a big rock. A shaft has beer
sunk perpendicularly through thi!
rock to a depth of 200 feet. On top o
the soil around the rock there is
twelve-foot layer of yellowish deposi
resembling stone but somewhat por
Gus. This substance, so far as known
is valueless. Beneath It Is a bluisl
soil which extends entirely across tn
table land and to a depth not yet es
timated. Test holes show that 1t Il
1900 feet thick at least, but how mucl
more is not known. This blue soil con
tains the diamonds. From the shat
chambers are extended horizontally in
to this diamond bearing earth. Th'
earth is excavated loaded on small
cars and hauled to the surface. Mex
It is spread out on immense floors II
the sun and covered with water. TIL
evaporation of the water tends to dis
integrate the chunks OF earth. Then
is put through a crushing machine
treated to bath which washes most O
the free soil away, raked over by
machine with teeth which break tn
remaining Jumps, and lastly is exam
ined for diamonds. The average yielt
per carload Of blue soil is from one t.
one and a quarter carats, worth from
500 to $125. The mine at Kimberl.
has hardly begun to touch the dia
mond bearing blue soil at its command
There are diamonds enough there +
make them as cheap as rhinestones /
they were all dug out and thrown o!
the market at once. The great prob
lem at Kimberly is TO keep iron
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