The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-30
FINDING DIAMONDS IN
 KENTUCKY'S BLUE GROUND'
Eastern Hills of the Blue Grass State Excited Over Discovery of Real Diamond
 Earth."

for hidden among the hills, a vast crater-like formation. coveverd with trees and undergrowth. scarcely dis tinguishable from the rest of the country, but to the eye of the old diamond-mining engineer the ideal place, to strike; and there they sunk their prospect holes. The spot had been known for years as the crater, and 1t was here that the cape rubies were thickest, while little pieces of olivine and garnets had been found from time to time in the immediate neighborhood.
 Mir. Draper arrived from Johannes berg and he too was delighted. He directed that a shaft be sunk, and thirty feet below the surface they came upon the true blue ground" the only known formation in which diamonds are found in their native matrix. Mir. Draper did not hesitate to pronounce the discovery true volcanic pipe, similar in every respect to the Kimber- ley pipes of the DeBeers mines and also to the pipes of the New Premier, the, richest mine in the world" He made an exhaustive examination and advised the General and his friends to put up a washing plant and make thorough test of the pipe.
 -Previous to the south American discovery" said MT, Draper to>the Sum day World, diamonds had been found only in alluvial washes, such ast those of South America, Borneo and India. In South Africa the true diamond-bear- ing mineral was found in the craters as of extinct volcanoes. These are known as pipes" and are filled with mineral which is now called Kimber- lite. This mineral possesses special characteristics which distinguish 1t from all others.
 "The Kentucky region lies between Isom's and Creeches' Creeks in East Kentucky. Here craters, or pipes, exactly similar to those of South Africa, have been found, and they are filled with Kimberlite. which it is im- possible to distinguish from the South African.
 May Prove Largest Diamond Mine.
 Since MT. Draper reported on the discovery General Pearson has been sinking shafts and making test drifts to determine the extent of one of the pipes.
 We have clearly located pipe about as large as the-" DeBeers, or a little larger" said the General the other day. There are several of these pipes in close proximity, and in all probability they come together at a considerable depth. The country immediately sur IAc AChbuNhg lS a per- feet duplicate of that adjacent to the New Premier mine, and the combined area of the pipes will, think, exceed that of the Premier.
 "In my opinion there is not doubt that we shall find diamonds, just as they are found in every other pipe of KimberIite ever discovered. The Allis-Chalmers Company, of Milwau- kee, has sent to South Africa for speci- fieations for the plant that We need. and in a few weeks will be at work building 1t. I hope to begin washin g operations within ninety days. In the mean time am now engaged pre- pairing the machinery site. I am now driving a low level 'adit' right into the pipe, and when about the centre will sink a shaft to test the depth of the soft blue and within six months I expect to have proven up the largest diamond mine in the world and the rich est spot on the American continent
 Geologists believe that this blue ground was forced up through volcanic craters or pipes from the bowels of the earth at time when the material was molten and under such enormous pressure as we can hardly conceive when expressed in the ordinary terms of mechanics. The molten material is supposed to have taken up carbon which, under the enormous pressure and heat, was erystalized into dia- mOnds.