The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-01-21

Off one claim I'm the centre Of where the
former three bad been. hired one kaihr
and started to work. Ou the fourth day
when De- was washing mp. he found pure
white octahedron of lH IL carats.
which Dec sold TO- "a visiting broker ON
the spot for $4,000 cash. The largest dia-
mond found ou the Vaal river surface
diggings. known as the Spaldng or
Stewart diamond. was discovered I'm 1872.
10 weighed 2,s carats and was valued
then at $4,000. ID has been cut and
weighs now jos carats. These diamonds
found ON the banks Of the river are of
decidedly superior quality 20 the Kim
bcr.cy mine diamonds. being generally
perfectly white All commodities of life
here are very expensive, owing 20 the
great difficulty OF transportation
have often paid 81 Tor a can Of condensed
milk. 90 cents for d loaf OF bread. ~
cents for small tin OF sardnes, . cents
for "a pound Of sugar. and - cents for
am ordinary glass of Irish or Scotch
"hisAey. The only food which IS cheap
is goats meat, which must be consumed
within few hours after slaughter. ow-
Ing 10 the hot African sun and the utter
absence NJ Ice This meat can be pur-
chased as live stock from the constantly
tNfNH
cents q pound. The climate is fairly
healthy Tor Europeans. and especially
beneficial for pulmonary weaknesses.
female 0cietv is out of the question. as
Jar as white women are concerned. Dur
lne my ilrst two years of residence there
! saw only one white woman. She was
travelling through 10 Join her husband
missionary When the presence OF this
so-called angel became known FIN the
vicinity everybody quit work In order TO
gaze upon her
LOSS by STEALING
D. rom tne discovery OF diamonds fin
9o"'A AIIlca until the present day one
great obstacle the diggers and the CONE
p""y nave mad always % contend with
mas peen The enormous loss annually OF
rough diamonds stolen by tbe native
NdIHr laoorers while az work in The
Claims OF on The depOsiting floors. These
merits reached slch enormous proportions
ana the diamonds found such ready mar
het among the INSCRIPTIONS element OF
me white population that it became ne
ce-sary to enact special laws 10 cone
with the evil. In the earlier DAYS. upon
conviction, the Kahir was simply pun.
lshei for theft by about twelve months
imprisonment and the white Dlyer. for
receiving stolen property was subject
To- ID Inc OF about five times the actual
value Of Inc diamond and three months
imprisonment with hard labor. The pro-
90 to the buyer was so great that this
punishment proved 20 be- utterly made
quate. Trial so far had been by a mag
istrate u became now necessary 10 Gre
ate special court Under an act passed
10y the cape legislature commonly called
INC Illicit Diamond Buying or Diamond
Trade ac,, this court consisted of three
supreme Court Justices doing entirely
away with trial 10y jury. Upon convic-
uon, the maximum sentence for a Kaffir.
the thief. was nifty lashes upon the bare
back with The cat-Of-nine-tails and TO
undergo Imprisonment with hard labor
Tor term not exceeding ten years. The
receiver or Illicit diamond buyer upon
conviction received as "a maximum sem
tence fifteen years imprisonment at hard
labor, the first one nth of the term 10
be spent IN isolation and I'm chains and
DE was also liable 10 "a fine NOT exceed
Ing 5000 as wei as connscation of all
real and personal property which he held
40 the time OF his arrest within the dia-
mond mining area.
1.-THE ground taken was that Tie crimi-
nal had accumulated this property from
the gains of his Illicit traffic Isolation
in prison consisted i'm being kept apart
from an other prisoners as well as not
having the privilege OF seeing "a visitor
COR writing letter or communicating with
ans ono. The prisoner was herded with
dnou- fifty others. consisting ~ kaffrs
ani Bushmcn. iu large dorr1norv cell
ABOUT 100 feet long by 10 wide was obliged
t1 work twelve hours a day iu the hot
sur ZOO "a stone quarry. and had chains
So iglinr from seven 20 eighteen pounds
rveted on his legs ills behavior during
th.s part or dis term had 20 be exem-
piary; Otherwise IL was prolonged at the
discretion ~ The prison superintendent.
Upon M leaving the colony there were
about 2n whites thus undergoing SEN
teuce. There was u0 appeal from this
sentence except 20 the Privy Council or
House Of Lords. and this was hardly
within reach of tha AVERAGE convict.
HAS ITS EFFECT
This Jaw checked 20 a certain extent
Illicit diamond buying but fl must be re-
membered that tie inducement to COM
NIT the crlmo was enormous. For IN
stance. a Kafir was induced 20 steal 4
diamond say Of about forty carats,
which ha could safely conceal In his
mouth. and even swallow. The native
runner or go-betwccn In the employ OF the
white buyer would pay him $40 FOR this
stone. which might have y market value
% from $1,000 20 5000. Tho runner re-
oeived n present OF about S. ln addition
90 o weekly SALARY ~ about - and h.s
bcard Upon conviction. tne runner
Jared tho same as h.- master Many for
tunes have been made In this traffic and
the buyers have slipped from the colony
in the nick Of time on the evo Of being
trapped
Trapping Is the mode OF procedure re-
sorted TO by the detective department
in ogdor 10 catch tho buyer The dciec-
tiyes get hold OF q runner VINO Is induced
% betrly his master. \ trusted kAl4lr
IS procured and thoroughly searche" ana
tripped by number OF detectives 20
hat he has nothing IN his possession. A
rourh and uncut we'll identified and accu-