Washington sentinel., 1899-04-08


and fall and be killed in the at
tempt (tor one side OF the noun
tain is dangerousl, they would be
all the happier, for would not their |
sins be all washed away at one fell
swoop, and would they not be hur-
ried into Nirvana, the aim oi every
proper-minded Buddhist
Where the Diamonds Come From.
Kimberley is six hundred and
seventy miles by train from Cape
Town, and as dreary thirty hours
journey as one could imagine. 1t
is some four hundred feet above
sea-level, and,as a consequence. is
what is considered fairly well situ-
ated Tor a city. The streets are
mostly we'll planned land there are
quite a number of good shops.
The houses are not like those at
home; very few of them are more
than one story high, and all are
rooted with iron. Every house
has a verandah to protect it from
the hen and It is there that all
free time is spent. Half of the
entire population is colored, and
these I've in what are called loca-
tions or villages outside the town,
where they must remain during
the night. Any coloTed gentle
man or lady found away from his
or her location" alter nine o'clock
pm. is forthwith arrested and
accommodated with lodgings tor
the night. and the following morn
ing is introduced to the magistrate
and without fail gets a month in
prison with hard labor. During
the day time these colored folk
cannot use the { otpaths in the
to wn, they must keep to the road
way and leave the side walk free
Tor their white brothers and sisters.
1t can be gathered from this
arrangement" that's Dsrkie's life
no more than a policeman Sis
not very happy one. The sable
portion Of the population is made
up OF almost every nationality
Kaffirs, Hottentots, Zulus, Indians,
with any number of Chinese, Jap
anese, as we'll as Moors, Ara bians,
and Persians, and each one dresses
land undresses) after the fashion
OF his own country so that motley
crowd is constantly passing.
Should the diamonds all Kim
berleY will be added to the list Of
lost cities; but experts say that the
supply of the precious stones is
inexhaustible. So far, at any rate,
ten tons weight have been found,
representing a value OF eighty mil
lion pounds. 1t reads like romance
to say that De Beers Company ex
ported over two million pounds
worth last year. The diggings are
OF two kinds-the wet and the dry.
AT the river diggings the diamonds
are found among the pebbles along
the bank. The soil is dug up and
carried IN buckets TO the river, and
there washed in boxes Of zinc
pierced with holes. This is called
a "cradle." 1t is rocked to and
fro under stream of water. When
all the earth is washed, the boxes
are examined, and in a "faiT
claim" about one diamond will be
found in every ten bucketsful Of
earth. But the "dry diggings" are
the most important ones now, and
are several hundred feet deep.
They were formerly known as the
Du Toits Pan, Bultfontein, De
Beers and Kimberley Central.
They are now amalgamated into
one huge company, known as the
De Beers Consolidated Company,
with a share capital Of many mill
lion pounds sterling. In working
the old open mines, the trolley was
rolled on wire cables a Sloping
distance Of one thousand feet, and
perpendicular depth OF FIVE hun
dred feet. The open mines are not
worked now. They are fenced in,
and are tremendous chasms. In
these old diggings the grit was
first riddled through a coarse
sieve, then through finer one, and
so on, until the whole had been
carefully examined. Now, how
ever, most of the diamonds are OBJ
tanned from mines more than a
thousand feet deep. They are
found in a serpentinous breccia,
known as "blue ground" This is
first pulverIzed and crumbled, and
then passed through rotary mach
ines, where the lighter particles
are washed away and the heavier
remain.
There are over twelve thousand
colored men employed in the var
ious mines, with a staff OF nearly
three thousand white men engaged
as officers, tradesmen, engineers,
&c. The work goes on day and
night, Sundays included, without
intermission. Two thousand men
are employed below for eight
hours at a time. The remainder
live on the surface, and while
awaiting their turn are enclosed in
what is called the compound, re-
sembling vast barrack square,
and surrounded on the inside with
sheds, where the colored folk sleep
on the bare ground. The cooking
is carried on by each one in front
OF his shed in the open air. Most
OF them have on as little clothing
as one likes to imagine. They
are entirely cut of from the outer
world for three months, then any
che who wishes to leave his work
Cexcept the convicts) is kept in a
rom hu hlrnself Enr a ,rrnnI. .u.hnn