The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1901-04-26
pIantNe nIAMnNns.

The methods OF compelling Mother |
Earth to disgorgo her hidden stores |
OF wealth be II In the form OF dia-
monds. gold. silver. copper or coal
appears TO be much the same every
where. You arst find your mine, your
reef or crater OF blue clay as Il is at
Kimberley. and then you bore a hole
down TO H. which you call a shaft
Sometimes, as at Kimberley. you can
begin at the top. but sooner or later
you have 20 resort to burrowiug later
ally or pcrpcndicularly. Then the
thing you are in search or is wound
up on a pulley. over wheel such as
you see In any train journey through
the mldlands and the north OF En-
gland.
Mouth OF tho Crater.
The blue clay-as everyone knows
by this time-is found In circular pits
tonce craters) filled up from an I'M
known depth; they have not touched
bottom at 1000 feet The inclosing
walls are basalt and then layer OF
shale Is superposod In the open. or
through shafts. the clay ia blasted and
carried on trucks by endless wires to
the floors" The trans run on dou-
BILE lines, one set OF trucks carrying
the clay. the other returning empty.
The floors" constitute one OF the most
interesting features OF the place. Tho
earth which contains the diamonds be-
comes very friable when exposed TO
sun and air and crumbles like loan.
Tho harder rock. consolidated under
tremendous pressure. has to be pulver-
izod by crushing Thousands OF acres
are inclosed by barbed-wire fencing
a much disguised blessing OF South AZ
rica-and there. hidden In the molder-
Ing earth. are hundreds OF thousands
OF pounds worth OF precious stones
Some. OF course. become detached and
are picked up by the boys" and gener-
ally accounted for. though. In spite
OF the necessarily stringent l. d. d.
laws. II is difficult TO believe that none
falls to reach the sorting house.
Aid OF sun and Air
When sunshine and atmosphere have
done their work the decomposed clay
Is taken back from the floors and COM
mitted to the pulsators. writes the
Kimberley correspondent for the Lon
don Telegraph. The matter Is shot in
TO receivers and passes down to the
pulsator. graduated plane OF metal.
as the name implies. is shaken by ma
chlnery laterally. as a man shakes a
sieve In his hand. The different steps
of the pulsator are covered with grease
to which the dlamonds-at least, all
OF any slze-adhere MS the broken clay
rushes over mingled with a cream OF
water. The top step generally man
ages to catch the larger stones and
very few escape the lowest grade. The
refuse, however. Is all carefully hand
sorted by natives, whose natural quick
ness of eye and dizziness OF finger have
been improved by long practice. Many
of the hands so employed are convicts,
hired by the government 10 the COM
pany. These victims OF civilization
most OF them are guileless OF any Grim
inal appearance-much prefer this
work to the duh monotony OF prison
labor. The sight OF these convlcts en-
gagged In sorting out minute gems from
the dross might suggest many renec-
tons. The contrast Is the most strik-
ing; at one end OF the scale diamonds
representing the highest luxury OF civ
lization, at the other the native 10
whom European culture means the
magistrate and the politician. How
ever. II the native criminal moralizes
which | am sure that, as n rule, he
is far too sensible to do-he can chuck
10 at the idea that each stone he ex-
tracts may easily prove an incentive
20 his fellows on a higher plane to 10
and do likewise.
Washing II Out.
The sticky matter, holding little but
the gems. is thoroughly washed out
and the deposit is ready for the sort
er. Diamonds are by no means un-