The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-29
ROMANCE OF ROUGH DIAMONDS
,sr CEN FOUND IN SOUTH
AFRICAN FIELD.
uho Recognized Its Value Received
H'" >othIns for His Discovery-Eariy Days
=, ,inIng-SOme Valuable finas
u.nltL From West Griqualand Mines.

10 the mind OF any one who sees
aat diamond and realizes a little OF
ga. meant when that gem Of purest
sorene- was first brought into the
"i,,h, and sent out into the covetous
sun Ia If poor men struggling TO be rich
r;cb men striving to be famous. Every
Listorio gem has romance OF lts o"n'
lsr,otnes a tragedy, and the first chapter
:, ore Of the greatest diamond romances
!" tbe world has just been closed by the
death Of John o'Reilly.
I, IA anpropriate TO the character of the
VA with which his name will ever be
e,no;ated SAYS the London Telegraph,
A., ,be man who found the first stone
ooocrized In modern times "a South
African diamond should have died In
.,ora near Taungs In the Kimberley dis
,,ct His name scarcely suggests at pres
~, such moving tales as those which are
.,octad with the Orloff diamond, or
-. Great sancy, or the Pitt-Regent, or
,,t MYSTERIOUS necklace which convulsed
,be highest in all France, the red-hatted
cardinal de Rohan. "the mad volcano,
~. sieilian jailbird Cagliostro, and the
.icted little milirer Lamotte. all in a weird
rr.ln,,rris dance OF unutterable sin and
,orv. involving the very throne itself at
o,s end and the treadrii at the other.
Tbs facts about John O'Reilly give little
rrornise OF all this, and perhaps they ex-
rlsin why he died In a store instead Of in
Park lane.
Tho little baby son OF Mrs. Jacobs,
,hving about on the Dutch farm, near
Hometown, on the Orange River, found
nretty pebble early in 1857. He brought
Il home; his mother showed 1t to neigh
horng Boer named SchallS van Niekirk.
and gave 1t 10 him In her Amusement at
being asked to put price on it. The Boer
showed it to O'Reilly, at that time travel
ing trader. and he took it to Colesberg,
ctt his initials on the window Of the hotel,
announcing il was diamond, and showed
Il IN Mr., Lorenzo Boyes, Clerk of the Peace
for that district. By him 1t was handed
On to the nearest ulineralogist, DR.. G.. w.
ltherstone of Grahamstown, who after
oonsultation with Bishop Ricard. averred
Il 70 be real diamond. This was in March,
1857.
The Colonial Secretary's interest was
enlisted and Sir r. Southey had it oon-
veyed by steamer to Cape Town, whore
the French Consul, NJ. Heriette, agreeing
that it was genuine. sent 1t to the Paris
exhibition. From there it was bought
by Sir Philip Wodehouse, Governor Of
the Colony. for $500. 1t weighed 81 3-ia
carats. O'Reuly afterward found another
diamond OF 81 carats for which he got $500
and he may be said to be the pioneer of
the industry which has now the largest
output in the history Of the world though
ss so often happens the founder of it does
not seem TO have made 40 very much for
himself, As might have been expected,
his friend, the Boer did better, for Van
Niekdrk bought from native third stone,
!, that weighed 63H carats, was sold in Hope
Town for Ei1,200, and is now known as
the Star of South Africa.
What are called river digRinGs we're
begun by j. B. Robinson, near Hebron,
in Bethule on the Vaal River, which still
produce the finest African diamonds on
financial results were obtained from the
dry diggings. These also had a curious
beginning. A Boer named Van Wyk, who
had farm ut Du Toit's Pan found a dia-
mond sticking in the mud walls of which
bis house was built. Search revealed
the gems all over the surro Inding soil.
More were found at Bultfontein. At Yoor-
nitdght further discoveries resulted in
the establishment Of the old De Beers
mine
In July, 1871. man scratching the soil
With his knife ,tnearthed a diamond at
Colesberg Kopje, about mile from the
De Beers mine town was built round
i and called Kimberley, after the Colonial
Secretary then in office, whose family had
already provided one link of the develop
nent In Sir Philip Wodehouse, mentioned
above. A year before this Mr.. Du Ploov
had sold the Bultfontein property and in
lsal the diamonds found on j. j. Vessels
farm began the Wesselton mine. These
formed the property Of the De Beers
+. Consolidated Mines (Limited), Of which
Cecil Rhodes was chairman. Such was
he business result Of John O'Reily's
diamond But there is much more 70 tell.
Undoubtedly diamonds were known in
Africa long ago and then forgotten, TO be
Undiscovered in the middle of the nine
'eenth century The stone and bronze inn
Elements found beside skeletons in the
Monastery mine in the old Orange Free
SAFE show that prehistoric miners had
oeen al work. aud similar Implements have
oeen found IT the Kimberley district. Per
maps one Of tho stones in the pnestly breast
plate Of Moses himself came from tnese
ancient sources, and perhaps the Queen of
aneoa S gift 10 Solomon first saw the light
IN these same regions
her value had not been forgotten in the
eighteenth century, for on a map Of $50
me words Here be diamonds are written
across what Is now Griqualand West The
peculiar formation in which the gems are
found has given a hint Of the possible on gin
h Their formation and the best authorities
consider that the huge pipes or channels
EaIng upward to the modern mines from
Unknown depths we're created by the rush
" steam which followed when water ac-
cqenialiv reached the heated rocks far
-f.oF. and that this steam in Is rush up
ssqrq carried with 1t tie soft blue sand and
.lled II With the crystallizaiians formed
pli 81 deep seated masses Of metallic iron
molten by great heat and under enormous
NJ time
already several gems that viii bear heir
Tn II history have been discovered here.
fepper old his claim AZ Waldeok's Plant
"a we laal for $50 70 Mr. Spalding, who
--atAed " 70 one Antoine 70 work on shares
us antoine first found the July diamond
40 lhen struck huge n GIT yellow stone
sssi called the Stewart diamond, weighing
- oarats in the rough. in 1872. He was
- gg50ted, as can be well believed. that he
LUG eat nothing for two days One Of the
,a YsSt ever found al Kimberley weighed
a-AI ess tnan i2slg carats when found. was
,s1ssilA'e1 IN Paus IN $50 and cut down 70
carats II is called the Victoria
IN feo. y. 1850, Porter Rhodes found the
NJ mat bears his name on his claim at
,,--Jilueriey; It weighs 1850 carats, is OF sim
-. 1917 ~ pure ouo white, and is valued at
,Hs.Sso ms remains intact. and will
rsIe5l2re rank higher than the enormous
nAolNor, found a Jagersfontein. in tina