The Huttig news., 1907-08-17
easiest method of arriving at the pul-'

easiest method of arriving at the pul-' yerization process for the ultimate washing in the search for diamonds. He states, and certainly there is no better authority than the general man. ager of the great DeBeers syndlcates mining properties, controlling, as 1t does, 95 per cent of the worlds dla- mond output he says that no one, walking over that deposit has ever yet found a diamond on the surface.
 Tn the Pike county diamond fields there has been no spreading out of the blue diamond-bearing clay for dis ntegration-there has been pracu' cally no pan-washing-no machinery beyond the core drills referred to-no scientific mining whatever, but merely surface work, and yet 140 diamonds have been picked up from the ground without any mining of the crater or pipe.
 Takes Trouble to Find Diamonds. It has been stated that less than 3-8 of a carat of diamond is found to ton of earth in the South African mines. The annual report Of the Jagersfontein Mining Company, just published, states that for the fiscal year ending March, 1907 the output of diamonds amounted to 219,275 IA car ats out of 2,405,5S1 loads of earth washed. This is less than 1-10 of carat to the load, yet with the immense labor excavating, hauling and washing l 10 loads of earth to get an average of one carat of diamonds, the net profits for the year were 429,373 pounds equivalent to over $2,00O,0O0 for this I one mine, one of the group operated by the DeBeers syndicate. f
 The South African Discoveries. Where the great diamond mines of South Africa now are the children of the Dutch settlers had diamonds for playthings for many years before their value was discovered. They were wont to pick from the river gravel bright and beautifully colored pebbles which abounded there. One day child Of family named Jacobs found one brighter than usual, and it's mother remarked about it casually to neigh Dor, Schalk Van Neikirk, who asked to see it. It could not be found, but finally it was picked up in the yard, where l it had been thrown with others.
 Schalk Van Niekirk proposed to buy it, but the honest old woman laughed at the idea of taking pay for a pebble and told him to take it along. He entrusted it to John O'Reilly, trader, who offered it to many merchants, but none believed it to be of any value. until finally MT. Reilly would probably have thrown it away, but Lorenzo Boyes, civil commissioner at Coles
 berg chaneed to see it, and by, his advice it was sent to Dr. w. Guybon l Atherston, noted mineralogist, who pronounced it diamond, placed a valuation of s2,50o on it Cat which price Sir Phillip Wodehouse, governor of the
 Cape, bought it), and said there were I-> =.s1--,S..l.1 [ ..es,e--.-s-A, tz.sssasss- l ion was openly derided, even by meu with pretensions to scientific attain ments, who proved to their own satis- faction that it was impossible for dia- l monds in paying quantities to be found in such geological formation. Nev.
 srtheless, he persisted, and ANhough no finds of consequence were made for years afterward, he recommended that the home government of England make an appropriation for thorough investigation.
 This was rendered superfuous, how. ever, by the finding by a shepherd boy of stone which he sold to Schalk Van 1 Nfekirk for what to hilu was a foe tune, consisting of 800 Aheep, 10 oxeR and horse. The new owner, how- 1 ever, sold it forthwith for 5000, and it was. finally bought by Earl Dudley for $125,000.
 This great find brought prospectors from Europe, Asia, Africa and America 1 by thousands and the great era of prospecting and development set in without governmental aid. The Arkan. sas find followed, in measure, that of South Africa.