The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-17

ter, owing to the hot African sun and
the utter absence of ice. This meat can
be purchased as live SOCK from the
constantly travelling katfir herds for
ABOUT three cents pound Inc climate
is fairly healthy for Europeans. and es-
pecially beneficial for pulmonary weak
nesses. Female society is out of the
question, as far as white women are
concerned. During my first two wears
of residence there saw only one white
woman. She was travelling through to
join her husband. a missionary When
the presence of this ru-ralled angel be-
came known in the vicinity, everybody
quit work in order IT, gaze upon her.
From the discovery Of diamonds in
South Africa until the present day one
great obstacle the diggers and the conn
pany have had always to contend with
has been the enormous loss annually of
rough diamonds stolen by the native
kaffir laborers while ut work In the
claims or on depostlnG floors. These
theftS reached such enormous proper
lions and the diamonds found such
ready market among the INSCRIPTIONS
element of the white lurulatlon that it |
became necessary to enact special laws
to cope with the eVl In the earlier !
days, upon conviction the kaf1ir was
simply punished for theft by about IL
months imprisonment. and the white |
buyer, for receiving stolen property, |
was subject to a fine Of about five times |
the actual value of the diamond and
three months impris nment with hard
labor The profit to The buyer was so
great that this punishment proved to
be utterly inadequat7. Trial so far had
been by magistrate, 1t became now
necessary to create a special court. |
I 9af Y
islature. commonly called the illicit dia-
mond buying or damned trade act, this
court consisted of three supreme court
justices, doing entirely away with trial
by jury. Upon conviction the maxi
mum sentence for a katfir. the thief,
was % lashes upon the bare back with
the cat of-nine-tails and to undergo
at hard labor for a term
net exceeding 10 years. The receiver or
illicit diamond buyer upon conviction
as a maximum sentence 10
years Imprisonment al hard labor, the
first one-fifth of the term to be spent
in isolation and in chains, and he was
also liable to fine not exceeding s5,ooo
as we'll as confiscaton of all real and
property which he held at the
time of his arrest within the diamond
mining area. The ground taken was
that the criminal had accumulated this
from the gains of his Illicit
traffic. Isolation in prison consisted in
being kept apart. from all other pris-
oners as well as not having the prlVl-
ege of seeing, a visitor or writing a let
ter or communicating with about so
others, consisting of Kaffirs and Bush
men, in a large dormtory cell about
100 feet long by Is feet wide, was
obliged to work ~ hours day in the
hot sun in stone quarry. and had
'hains weighing from seven to eighteen
,;,,o l.; No
havior during this part of his term had
o be exemplary; otherwise it was pro-
onged at the discretion of the prison
Upon my leaving the
colony there We're about 300 whites thus
sentence. There was no APP
peal from this sentence excepting to
he privy council or house of lords, and
average convict. 'F
This law checked to certain extent
Illicit diamond buying. but it must be
that the inducement to
commit crime was enormous. For in
3tance,7'a ftir'~was--induced to steal
1 diamond say s9f about 40 carats,
mouth, and even swallow. The native
'unner, or go-between in the employ Of
he white buyer, would pay him about
10 for this stone, which might have
market value Of from $1,000 to 81, 900.
The runner received a present Of about
IS in addition to a. weekly salary of
about $25 and his board. Upon con-
fiction the runner Jared the same a. his
master. Many fortunes have been
made in this traffic and the buyers
lave slipped from the colony in the
lick of time on the eve of being trap
BED. Tramping is the mode of Droce
lure resorted to by the detective de-
)artment in order to catch the buyer.
The detectives get hold of a runner,
who is induced to betray the master.
\ trustful Katfir is procured and thor
'ughly searched and stripped by a
number of detectives, SO that he has
nothing in his possession. A rough and
lncut, well identified, and accurately
weighed stone is then handed to him.
reduces him to his master. These two
ire followed and watched by a num-
Der of disguised detectives. The white
nan will ask to Sc the stone. which the
<affir takes from - hiding place. A
bargain is struck for a few dollars, the
money is paid over. and the kaffir de-
,arts. AS soon as he reaches the open
signal is given to the detectives, a
ush is made, and the diamond buyer
S arrested. Upon search being made
he diamond is found in the buyers
possession and the money In the Kaffir's.
The runner turnes queens evidence
against his employer and is held as
witness. The detectives corroborate all
letails and a conviction is certain."-
New York Sun.