The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-29
A TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA
Diamond Mines of Kimberley
and Their Compounds"
USE STRICT PRECAUTIONS
Miners Locked in Rooms and Foroed to
Wear Gloves-A Consul Gem
eral Reports on His
Observations.
Washington Bureau of the Standard,
No. 1l46 q Street N. WI. \

NO. 1l46 Il street N. w.
Washington. Aug. 23.-T. G. Stowe,
the United States consul general at
Cape Town, has forwarded to the state
department an account of his tour of
South Africa, which is particularly in
teresting in view of the present dis
turbances in this region. The report
contains much valuable information
about the mining and commercial de-
velopment Of this important region. He
started overland from Cape Town to
Kimberley. The first afternoon he
reached the Hex River mountains. He
says:
1.-THE scenery of these mountains, and
the ascent by many horseshoe bends,
along precipices, through tunnels, from
Is feet to 5000 feet above the sea level.
reminded me of Colorado. In the dis
lance on the east side could be seen
the 'koppies' assuming all shapes and
heights. These wastes are covered with
stunted bush. the food Of the sheep
that once roamed about in large num-
bers, now largely decimated by dis
ease At the foot of the koppies are
some fertile fields, the principal prod
ucts being kaffir corn and mealies. The
kaffir corn, or grain, is in the tassel
and not the ear. the mealie is like an
Indian corn, only smaller in ear and
grain, and when ground and mixed
with cold water is more palatable than
our Indian corn meal when scalded
The mealie is planted in rows, both
by hand and drill, and left to grow and
mature. 1t Is never cultivated, hence
the plant runs to stalk and not to ear"
For two days and one night Mr..
Stowe rode over these wastes in the
compartment cars of this country; at
night furnished with bed consisting
of one sheet doubled, one small pillow
and two blankets, made up on the seat,
for which he paid los. (S243). The
monotony of the ride was broken by
occasional small herds of cattle, sheep,
goats, or ostriches, coming to the barb
ed wire fences to watch the train as he
passed. He describes Kimberley as SAT
miles from Cape Town and as having
$4,000 population. and the greatest dia-
mond mines of the world. The United
States is represented here by a consul
lar agent-Gardner F. Williams, who
is the general manager of the mines.
Many of the most responsible positions
are held by Americans. The company
occupies 100000 acres of land, employs
$1,000 natives and $4,000 whites, con-
sumes each month in the compounds
$4,000 pounds of mutton and 100000
pounds of beef, turns out 100000 carats
of diamonds a month, uses 5000 tons
of coal day, has 1000 horses and
mules, ~ stations of the best breeds
(some from America), and 200 brood
mares. The shops connected with the
mines for the manufacture and repair
of machinery and supplies compare
well with some of our large harvester
factories or railroad shops The i'm
mense driving gear of a pumping en-
CINE made in England had TO be sent
YC,r To 1,ax he o,yf
company is operating an ice plant sent
from Chicago and has three more or
dered, each with capacity of five
tons per day and 10000 cubic feet of
cold storage; and a complete dynamite
plant, with an American to manage it,
is on its way here from America.
All the water used in and about the
city flows through pipes made in the
United States. The consul general was
pulled to Kimberley by an American
locomotive, and there are several others
now in use in Cape Colony. On the
narrow gauge railroad are thousands
of trucks made of plate iron and hold
ing about a ton of rock each, pulled
in trains by small engines or by over
head cables. These trucks ought to be
made in the United States and the ten
ders competed for
Among the features OF the mines are
the compounds for the natives. On
the -FOUR SIDES or large square are
erected one story buildings. of CORFU
gated iron, opening to the center of
the square. They are divided into
rooms which hold 20 people, who sleep
in hunks three high. Within each COM
pound is store which supplies the ma
tives with all the clothes, food, etc,
they need, at very reasonable prices.
In the center of the square is a large
swimming pool, in which medical at
tendance, nurses and food are fur
nished free to the sick or injured. Ex-