The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-02-19
DIGGING rAIIC,Ac1ANE
New the Precious stances Are tn
earsaei ia Brazil.

New the Precious stances Are tn
earthed ia Drnsil.
The black diamond IL MI important
article of commerce not because 1t In
destined to embclish the hand of fem
saine grace. but beeauae Of the fact
that II hns been widely applied In III.
siaairy, where Ii Ii almost us valual&ls'
as the white fellow. The home of th,'
black diamond IN i:rnGjl. the classical
land of the diamond. the richest beds
aT the mineral nnvlfi@: h"en found In the
province of Bahia nud on the banks
and In The bed oI tnt - ) Jose river,
The stone. which j. -. riettly OPAQUE.
IN not beautiful. AMI II the magical
anrd diamond hal never been applied
to the substance there In no doubt that
To this day The black diunnnd would be
a thing unknown. However. the favor
which this mineral ell Joys III of very
recent date, for twenty years ngo It's
properties were unknown and the
trade In the stone was practically moth
ias.
The constr ntly increasing perfection
N boring instruments brought out the
value of the black diamond. the use OF
diamond point drills now having be.
sosne so general that the price Of the
mineral has In consequence rapidly In.
creased. Today the diamond has be-
come OF prime necessity In working
tempered metals, saving of marbles.
ptercing OF tunnels and galleries and
IN mines. At the time Of the Inaugural
tson OF the Laboratory Of Arts and
Trades. July ]. 1908. a circular saw pro.
staed with diamond points produced
surprising results, cutting into thin
giiees the hardest materials
On the banks Of the Sac Jose we find
the traces Of the first exploitation Of
the mines by the natives. the Garim-
peros. The black diamond, however,
having no commercial value did NOT
attract these people. and they were mp
parently ignorant of the real character
III tho mineral.
From the report of an engineer who
explored the region In 1858 we learn
that one day the diamond diggers dis
covered q black stone In Sac Jose.
They took the stone to one of their huts
and sought to discover its nature by
attempting to eruek 1t. All their ef-
forts were ffuitless. the stone resist.
Ing the most powerful hammers. ana
affer time It was thrown back into
the river. The stone weighed about
10000 carnts, and ut the present price
Of $40 carat represents loss of $780,
COO.
The exploitation Of the Brazilian din.
Mhund mines by the Garimperos. 1t IL
unnecessary to say, was not scientific. i
The creyices Of the rocks are explored
with the hand. the gravel being taken
away In little barrels which ure carried |
M tho Aead. Attempts have been nude |
70 lessen the time of the work by driv-
lug for the mineral, but the violence of |
the stream Ia such during the rainy |
seasson that this plan has been but little
adopted. The only method which Will
produce results und the one which Will |
shortly be put Ia operation IL that OF
Dams will be erected 500 t
feet apart. and centrifugal pumps will
b Installed for the purpose Of drawing
" the water. The i.ssults Of the work
r1nnot be u auestion OF doubt. Judging
from the pact performances Of these
diamond mines.
Tho question naturally arises. Why
have the diamonds been found m the
Emo Josef The answer tothls Ii not
aedicult, and Il given when we state
hat the original rock. which formerly
the high plateau, has been
IrAdually distintegrated, the debris of
- rock being carried by rains Into the
1ao Jcse. Because OF their density The
Dlack and white diamonds were cor.
caaed under the sand. together with
he mineral accessories which surround
hAm aud which are the Indications OF
nv precious stones. Thus lii the course
Z years these beds have been formed.
se1a the richness OF which Ii ineal.
'ulable. World Wide Magazine. E
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