The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-11-14
TONS AND TONS
OF COSTLY GEMS.
The Most Complete and Graphic Des-
CriptiOn Ever Written Of the Dia-
mond Mines Of Kimberley.
by Charles Edwin Schulz.

tive operation, since the war in the
Transyaal has practically come to u
close
These mines are the most marvellous
/ In the world. 1t Is estimated without
exaggeration that they have produced
Ten tons OF diamonds at value Of al
most thousand million dollars an
amount so vast that it Is practically
Impossible Tor the average mind to
form any idea OF what 1t really means
hlmbeilty mas mohnp7iized great
ueal OF attention during Tho present
South African war, ana with it3 Tor
tunes one name Is insepafahty con
neeled. that Of cecil Rhodes. 1t was
rhodes, aided by one OF lhe most as
tHtt hhahelefs Of the century Alfred
btiI " no welded together the "hoie
diamond industry OF the hlmheiley
district IN the lie beers Minih@ Com
pany' ana formed a corporation whose
h,'P - Nii,''ti''y an" ~ E'i''9 = mo-
'pao'ut' '"'tt any p'nsi e"l'iiii'iti" Ia
''''a' ~ ''i' N'l'i' WI III.
lNCALC' Liable WEALTH
what the actual wealth OF kimberley
hlhy DE no one can accurately Eaes3.
MILLIONS upon millions may he stored
away IN inc nllEt3 OF tn De Eeers
company. Nebody knows NO secret
mas ever Deem better Kept What Is
known ~ that the business "l The lie
i'etfs company Is 10 Keep tn price 81
diamonds mp. once let the supply IN
crease 10 any extent aud prices ""eld
drop. Therefore only a limited mum
Der OF diamonds ma their way INTO Tie
market each 5edf-lhe remainder meyer
leave hlmbefIeN
Like many another great source of
wealth. the discovery Of the diamond
mines of Kimberley was due to an aC=
cdcnt In the late "sixties" Il Beer,
With the distinctly Ilibernau name of
b'Rciily. happened 10 take shelter one
night In ii Kaliir lraal. Some of the
native children were playing with
particularly bright stone, and this at
tracing oReilly's notice. he offered 10
exchange few beads and other trlilc3
for 1t.
lie knew little of the real value of
diamonds, bat when he reached han4
he Was able to dispose OF the gem FOR a
substantial sum of money. lie told his
friends. Too. that the Eafiirs had tnIa
him there were plenty more similar
stones In the district. and soon there
was quite an influx of nroapeFtors Ia
tile neighborhood of the =Vaal river
The surrounding ralutry was. scoiued
| hv fortune-seekers and of U.nutnvu
| Hulfontein. small discoveries or liaz
| monds were made. Rut II was an tbe
spot where the town of Kimberley now
stands IN All its prosperity fh.t= In
greatest Gads -Werr made. aud The very
| inst MINI To- be OPENED th.ra was an a
safm owned by a Hoer one De Reerg II
Is this mine which stIl holds sway a4
the monarch Of ali diamond producers.
md which gives it's name To- che vast
CORPORATION of which Alfred Rqit and
cecfl Rhodes arr the LEADING spirits.
Whose. wealth Is so fabulous and Whns,.
newer is SO flrzrpachiu,
Another vast mine Is the Kimberley.
fhis and the DE Beers have the honor
If being the largest holes eyer dug bv
man in the surface OF the earth. When
one imagines that the mouth of the
Kimberley mine iq nineteen acres In
area. and thai the latter has an omen
iug covering thirty five acres. while the
depth of each il something like five
hundred feet. one can gain some CON
ceptiun of the magnitude OF these great
pits. IatterlY, however. it has become
necessary to adopt other methods of
securing the diamonds than that of
digging great open pits such ms these
When the necessity arose for de
sending to very great depths. aud to
use violent explosives such as dyna-
mite, tor blasting the hard blue ground
IN which the costly gems are embed
ded. it was found that the destruction
Of life and property through the CON
slant callapsng Of tho wallis of earth
was too serious aud alarming to he
allowed To continue. 50 other methods
had to be devised Al some distance
from the great open pit shafts were
sunk, aud from these ran horizontal
galleries. penetrating the blue clay.
The lowest OF these galleries is 200
feet IN the De Beers mine. and 500
feet in the Kimberley. In naugurating
this newer system of diamond mining.
m enormous outlay WAS necessary in
.XCaNdting appliances and il is estl-
mated that these cost millions Of dol
lars. The wheel used for mining pur-
poses is the largest in the world and
was east by the DE Heers Company ut
Kimberley.
AN ARMY OF I.ABORERS.
la the various mines a vast army of
laborers is kept in constant employ
ment when cverything is In running
order. over twelve thousand eoIored
men ar at work. With u staff of nearly
three thousand white men engaged "a
oNcrsctra. engineers and tradesmen
bay and night. Meek-days and sun
st.,n E,,tt h',,,,., ~, '.,,s.,'', -,
gang works. While one gang is below
hta al IL 4 nj