The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-10-08

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mine has now been carried down to and
beyond 1,4o0 and the Kimberley TO 1.sa
feet. The Premier is less rich than these
two, but has a larger area and is very
easily worked, so that much lower cost
of production compensates for smaller
yield
The amount of blue ground reported as
in sight was estimated al that time as
5,0e0.0O9 loads in the De Beers and 4.000, 01
in the Kimberley: while in the Premier
there were 2.75s000 loads above the 125-
foot level and 100000 loads brought to
view by further exploration to 167 feet.
in all 6,275O00 loads. The total in the three
mines would thus be over Is. 600 900 loads.
| That is enough 10 keep them busy at Kim
! berley for five years, but Mr. Rhodes is
| cautious and advocates constant diminu-
| alton in the yearly output for fear that
his vein Of blue ground may suddenly be
exhausted AMI humanity deprived OF its
! supply of diamonds
! He has also instructed Mr.. Williams 10
| tighten the watch against diamond thiev-
ing. for when the employees learn that the
STONES have increased in value nearly one
half there is sure to be an outbreak Of
in that direction which the Illicit diamond
buyers will take advantage OF.
| Although the l. D. B. traffic has been
suppressed TO great extent the Kimber-
| ley detectives are kept very busy and
the surgeons at the hospital in the COM
| pound have plenty Of sore legs TO ban
| dage. While visiting there recently saw
I -rrg,
| by a terriable wound in his right leg He
| had cut open the calf and concealed a
! diamond weighing 80 carats in the flesh
| This seems to be the favorite place OF
| concealment. Formerly the boys lid a
| thriving business by swallowing diamonds
but Mr.. Williams has put stop to that
! by penning up these 11,OO0 natives in one
| great Enclosure called the compound, and
| It is safe to say that no such habitation
as this is TO be found on the face Of the
| earth.
It is built in the form Of square and
| includes about five acres. Along each side
of the square are built one-story corrugat-
ed iron buildings divided into rooms hold
ing twenty natives each.
A high iron fence is erected around the
| compound. ten feet from the building. and
guards armed with Martini rifles patrol
thereabout
Even with this arrangement. however,
1T was koun6s that many diamonds were
being flched. and it transpired that the
boys stole them in the mines. concealed
them until they got in the compound, and
then pitched them lover the fence to
confederate on the street. Mr. Williams
thereupon had the entire compound rooted
with fine wire netting and this termin-
ated the thefts of that sort.
There is very little opportunity these
days for a native TO dispose Of a gem. He
is never permitted to leave this COM
pound, and when his time OF service is
approaching he is kept for two weeks In
a special compartment absolutely naked
along with fifty or sixty brothers. If the
boy has concealed in his anatomy some
where a precious stone it Is bound to
make its appearance in that time. A sur
geon kgoes Iove1 each boy every two days.
and If he looks sick puts him through
sort of third degree that generally illicits
a diamond or two. The company recov-
ers about 100000 worth of diamonds in
year from the native employees in this
way.
The boys in the compound are a jolly
lot. The convict laborers. on the contrary
present sullen appearance and look like
murderers. These men are employed most
" in sorting the diamonds as they come
from the washing machines Keen-eyed
guards. with instructions 70 shoot the first
man who attempts to escape. watch every
nsvement of these unfortunate beings.
The law against T. B. d. in fact, is ter
ribIy stringent. Any person caught in
Cane Colony with rough diamond in his
possession and no certificate Of registry
gets atshort shift. If white man he is
sent to the Breakwater convict station
at Cape Town for perhaps ten years.
where he is employed in excavating for
the new docks. One OF theimost distress
ing scenes in South Africa IS the march
OF these men from prison to work through
the streets surrounded by regiment Of
guards. One entire section IS made up OF
Americans. and among them Is the son OF
an ex-congressmen of a New Orleans fam
fly.
To be a successful diamond thief there
fore requires the utmost cleverness. but !
the detectives at Kimberley viii tell you
Of many instances when they have been
outwitted. An American from Chicago. .
who owns Ia saloon a johannesburg. .
wears on his shirt bosom one Of the finest .
stones 10 be seen on the Rand and glor-
les IN telling how he beat the kimberley
sIe1ths BY feeding the diamond in bunch +
Of hav TO his horse lie rode the animal .
out Of Cape Colony. pursued by the Off f
GERS. until he got over the border into the .
Transvaal where he cut the horse open {
and took out his prize.
Another man got ahead OF the detectives +
by loading his gun with about I'D carats.
Suspicion rested on him ana he was fol- .
lowed. but escaped detection by firing +
charge into an OK. When the detectives
LEFT he cut out the stones and made Tor +
the TransvaaI which IS the haven % the (
7. n. 3. men A great many diamonds
have been stolen by feeding them 70 f
chickens and shipping the latter 20 Jo-
America has proved a bonanza for NJ
Rhodes and his syndicate Il is chiefly
owing - our Increased demand that pric-
es have been raised. NJ. George ?. kuuz
the Tiffany expert. who knows more about
diamonds thanh any one else IN America
has jus; completed his annual report on
the production os precious stones in Is>
for the Department q The Interior Unit
a states Geological Survey. and therein
predicts that the year leeo VII chronicle
the greatest Importation into The Unites
states that has ever been known and
further advance in prices.