The Washington herald., 1907-06-02
new DIAMOND FIELDS
HOrdeS Of Seekers After For
tunes Are There.
GREAT FINDS IN CAPE COLONY
from the World over
Are in Africa Unearthing stones of
Unusual Value In New Grounds
That Give Every One IA Chance Mt
RIches-Everyb Digging.

one of the greatest sensations in South
Africa to-day. and most In the public eye,
Is the discovery OF diamonds i'm hitherto
undeyeloped districts in the Province Of
Griqualand West. Cape Colony. and at
old diggmgs. where i'm former years the
,rudencss of appliances. mode Of working,
and cheapncss Of diamonds caused them
10 Doe abandoned. and whore now, under
new conditions OF mining and increased
value, the stones are found in paying
quantities. Thousands are 1ocking 20 tho
new fields, in the hope OF making a for
tune. says johannesburg letter TO the
New York Evening Post.
This matter has exerted SO much public
interest that the writer determined 90
proceed 20 the districts and investigate
for himself. Several days We're spent in
going over the whole area and making
personal INSPECTIONS. These fields consist
OF The old digsings along the banks Of
the Va8l river and the newly discovered
aluyial deposits parallel 20 but some
miles from the Vaal river.
The old diggings stretch for many miles.
and where the old debris, years ago abau-
doned as Improbable. is being rcw8shed
by improved machinery. more than pay
uE the cost of removal, are discovered
stones of fair size, unusual briliIaucy, and
often great value This is especially the
case 1T "OId PnIel," opposite the little
village uf B8rkIy West on the \Bsi
about eighteen miles from. Kimberly
where the Puiel Diamond Mining Com
pauy has acquired the majority Of tho
ground and thrown IL open TO the public.
under generous terms. with the result that
these once quiet banks Of the Eagl have
been almost magicdlly transformed into
q hustlug hive Of t0ilers. an intent Ou
finding the precious stones, digging from
morn tII night with am energy and boue
that Is the great fascination ol the oia-
moud and gold digger 70 is au remi-
uisreut of California iH the forties.
From the main camp directly opposite
t1 BarEy West for miles al ai1Us the
river are the miners, who lease their
claims from the company. to which they
pay "a royalty on AL finds Such Us the
confidence, that these diggers who arc
ururpsaodIy the most independent class
ur men in the world are noCkug iU large
numbers 90 This new El Dorado. and tho
majority of them are doing we'll Some
lro working iudIyiius liy an single claims.
others have formed gVndicatgs ou "a larger
su.ls with au average return that is
most profitable. some. 0f course, are not
s1 fortunate. but all keep oB working.
with the hope that IS So ingrained iu men
of their class. and seldom could a more
prosperous or optiWIstc crowd Dee found
than among this band Uf workers along
the Naal river.
Men from au parts of the world. nation
aluss and classes are 10 Doe found here
unI0usIs British Beers Americans. AUS
traIans. Canadians. Germans living to-
garher iu harmony The college grad
uats professional man. CX-1rmy officer,
retired actor uugiHst sailor cowboy. and
ulEvv. an t0l together side bv sid. with
20 vim and good fellowship gratifying
tH saa. and crime is practically unknown
among them.
Tho finds I saw were on % fairly level
average. and in some instances rich. with
tla stones Of great purity and value. Iu
one pocket some thousands 0t dollars
worth had been discovered, and one Cam
ad.4n admitted having cleared $3.50 out
of 3D. weeks work. He had in his posses
sion stones worth $500 from q three days
wash The revenues derived from the
claim licenses and royalties 10y the COM
rany are considerable. and ITS prospects.
as wcll as those of the individual digger,
seem particularly bright
Unusual Diamonds.
In addition 90 those ON the river banks,
the aHuviaI digEiugs, situate parallel wi,.
but about sixteen miles from the NaaL
include Dgomlaag-e and Saardebers Nes,
also controlled by the Puigl Diamond
Mining Company. These holdings cover
am enormous area. partly in the division
of Kimberley and partly iu Barkly. COM
prisiug no Jess than eighty square miles
an of which has proved 10 be diamond
iferious TO "a paying degree. An alluvial
wash of phenomenal richness has been
found. and diamonds worth many thou
sands of d---14rs already discovered
The diamonds found here, however. are
essentially different from the river stones.
both MS to color and Shg oa, and they are
peculiar I'm that they show no sign Of
being water-Worn of Of travel" as is
the case with those recovered from the
Naal river digEings. while the large pro-
portion of CJrbuns and garnetS always
found iu dry miueSl In the same uuworn
state. despite their being soft stones
lead many experienced mining engineers
and digcers To- come 60 the conclusion
that these diamonds are of purely local
origin and are derived from the erosion
OF pipes lvct undiscovered in the imma-
diate vicinity and that I'm this locality
are mines of wonderful richness from
which the diamonds have been washed
down in hyEoue ages by "a sl0w-ruHnius
stream from the east. and lodged i'm the
layer Of gravel which runs in three dis
unct beds of varying thickness. The
gravel already proved 10 Toe diamond
ferrous TO an extraordinary degree over
an enormous area. has yielded more than
2N.010 Of good stones
This fact with the fact that diamonds
have been discovered and workings profit
ably exploited by individual diggers has
caused an enormous rally ID the now
fields, and what was yesterday "a stretch
Of bare vcldt is now series of large
and well-ordored camps An unprecc-
dented application has been made for
shares. and no less than 5000 claims
already have been allotted by the com
z z ~ ~