davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
The United States Takes Three
 FourtFs of Precious Stones

1908. by Frank G. Carpenter

Copyright, 1908. by Frank G. Carpenter) ) HHE manager of all the great
 diamond mines lying about Kim
 berley is an American. His name is Alpheus Williams, and he is the son of MT. Gardner F. Williams, who took charge of the mines at the time the De Beers company was organized, and who managed them until three years ago Dur ing Gardner Williams control the mines became the chief source of the diamond supply of the world. He had charge of them for about 20 years, and in that time they produce almost s3O0. 900 worth of diamonds and paid out SIS 900 in divi- dends. Since his son has been handling them they have been yielding in the neighborhood of s25. 900 a year, and the prospect is that they will produce mill lions annually for many years to come.
 Manager of the De Beers Company
 It is a big thing to be the manager of company like this. It means the control of an army of wage workers greater than that which Xenophon led on his march to the sea, and equal to the standing army of the United States before our war with Spain. During the past two years MT. Williams has had on his pay roll in the neighborhood of 26,000 men. This num- ber has been reduced since the American panic; but still it runs up close to 15,00O and it will be increased as the times im- prove. All of these men have to be fed, and the supplies which they consume cost millions. The five great diamond pipes, which are now being mined here, are operated with the most expensive ma chinery. They have vast works connect ed with them. and the weathering fields. with their miles of cable cars, cover Il 900 acres, or over r square miles. Most of you can realize the size of a 160-acre farm. The diamond floors and washing works and mines of the De Beers com pany here would cover just about 72 such farms and every square yard of that area
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
THE ADVENTURES
 OF A BEEFSTEAK

Speaking of food. I believe ] have not l mentioned the beefsteak which we brought with us into the woods. It was Eddies idea, and he was it's self-ap- pointed guardian and protector. That was proper, only l think he protected it too long. It was a nice srlon when we start ed-thick and juicy, and of deep, rich tone. Eddie said little age would inn prove it. and l suppose he was right-he most always is. He said we would ap- preciate it more, too. little later, which seemed a sound doctrine.
 Yet, somehow. that steak was an irri- tation It is no easy matter to adjust the proper age of steak to the precise mo- ment of keen and general appreciation. We discussed the matter a good deal, and each time the steak was produced as a sort of Exhibit A, and on each occasion Eddie decided that the time was not ripe that another day would add to it's food value. may say that I had no special appetite for steak, not yet, but l did not want to see it carried off by wild beasts, or offered at last on falling market.
 Besides, the thing was an annoyance as baggage I don't know where we car rled it at first but I began to come upon it in unexpected places. If 1 picked up yielding looking package, expecting to find dry undergarment, or some other nice surprise, it turned out to be that steak If I reached down into one of the pack baskets for piece of E.ddie's choc- alate. or some of his tobacco-for any thing, in fact-I would usually get hold of curious feeling substance and bring up that steak.
 I began to recognize it's texture at last and to avoid 1t. Eventually banished it from the baskets altogether. Then Ed die took to hanging it on a limb, near the camp, and if a shower came up sud- denly, he couldn't rest-he must make a wild rush and take in the steak. I refused at last to let him bring it into the tent, or to let him hang it on near by limb. But this made trouble, for when he hung it farther away he some- times forgot it, and twice we had to pad dle back a mile or so to get that steak. Also, sometimes. it got wet, which was not good for it's flavor, he said; certainly not for it's appearance.
 In fact age told on that steak. It no longer had the deep, rich glow of youth It had a weatherbeaten discouraged look and I wondered how Eddie could contem- plate it in that fond way. It seemed to me that if the time wasn't ripe the steak was and that something ought to be !, done about thing like that. My sug- gestions did not please Eddie.
 I do not remember now just when we did at last cook that steak I prefer to forget it. Neither do I know what Eddie did with his piece. l buried mine.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
Diamonds For America


to get out the diamonds. In the Dutoit- span we have to handle four tons of earth to every carat; and it is about as bad in the Kimberley. Now, when you remember that a diamond weighing carat is not as big as pea, and that it has to be found and taken out of this great mass of earth and rock, you will see how difficult the problem is. In the first place, we have to blast down the blue ground. We then carry it to the surface and allow it to lie out in the open one year to soften it. After that it must be washed and crushed and handled again and again to find the stones. All this means an enormous amount of labor as well as expensive machinery, which must be carefully operated"
 Yes; but it pays said l.
 Tt does pay. The value of the De Beers mine per load is about "A shillings or y6. It costs us s2 to get out the dia- monds, so that we have a profit there of something like S4 per load. In the other mines the profit varies, and all told about half or more of the values are eaten up by the cost of operating the mines and getting out the diamonds. A load weighs in the neighborhood of three-quarters of a ton The values of the blue ground and the cost of production vary in differ ent mines, but altogether they pay well"
 A Train Robbery Which Failed.
 After the diamonds have been mined and cleaned they are sold to the diamond syndicate I visited the offices of this or ganization in the De Beers company build ing and took a look at the steel vaults in which the brilliants are kept until shipped to London. They are sent there by mail, and usually in registered pack ages. They go on mail cars to Cape Town and from there to Southampton on the big stea mships of the Union Castle line. The trains which carry them over the 500 or 700 miles of track from here to the Cape of Good Hope are equipped with safes, which have been especially built for the purpose. The steel floors of the safes are, as 1 understand it, part of the floor of the car.
 Not long ago a would-be diamond thief got the idea that if he could cut out this steel plate million dollars worth or more of diamonds would drop into his hand. He prepared for his work by crawling under the car before it started. He had board under him and lay there on his back during the first part of the journey, while he drilled 49 different holes up through the safe. He had the floor plate just about loose, and was saw ing with a steel saw from one hole to another when something made him think he was discovered and he dropped out and ran. The alarm was a false one. and he might easily have gotten the diamonds had not his nerve failed him.
 That attempt was made many years ago. and since then the safes have been so improved and fortified that 1t would be impossible to cut through them. It would seem, however, that they might easily be held up by train robbers and that a little dynamite nitroglycerin would suffice to lay their contents bare to the thieves. It is very sure that such enormous values in diamonds could not be regularly carried over the western parts of the United States without great danger.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11

had been excellent until our great panic occurred. Up to that time the world was taking the whole of the Kimberley output, and the company had but comparatively few diamonds on hand. The people were everywhere prosperous, and they were buying diamonds as never before. This was especially so in the United States, which was taking almost three-fourths of all the diamonds produced here. Then the panic came, and our demand dropped Fortunately the De Beers company had an enormous amount of blue ground on it's floors, and it has been able to reduce it's expenses without any danger of being unable to supply the demand of the near future. Today the mines are running with a much decreased force, and they will be operated on a very conservative basis until the times improve.
 The American Market.
 In talking with MT. Williams about the American market, l asked him what Kind of stones were purchased by us. He re- piled:
 "The very best. The finest and purest of our diamonds go to the United States, and within past years that country has been by far our best customer. For some time it took two-thirds of all the dia- monds we mined, and during the past year or so it has bought even more. We send also many ordinary stones there. There is a great demand in our country for diamond engagement rings. In fact, we are about the only people among whom every young pan thinks he must give a diamond ring to his sweetheart to seal the promise of marriage. This is so much the custom that many prospective grooms are now buying such rings on the installment plan, and there is regular t-.. 70 oil fr11a a so much down and at so much per month, until paid Diamonds are also used large ly as wedding presents and as birthday gifts.''
 American Diamond Cutters.
 Tn what shape do the diamonds go to Che United Sta>es, Mir. Williams?" l asked.
 .'The most of them are first cut in Flu rope" was the reply. We have a duty of 10 per cent on cut diamonds which is levied to protect the American dia- mond- cutting industry, but the fact that more than two-thirds of the jmportations are in the shape of cut stones shows that the tariff is not high enough for that purpose. In 1906 the United States inn ported about $34, 100000 worth of diamonds. and of these only $10.O0o000 worth were in the rough while s24.00 GOO worth were cut stones. Rough diamonds are free of duty"
 But. MT Williams, are the American diamond cutters equal to those of Flu rope? Can the stones be as beautifully shaped and polished at home as abroad?"
 .'Yes Our diamond cutters are mainly from Holland and Belgium, and the most of them learned their trade before they emgrated. As 1t is now. we have over 400 such workmen in and about New York, which is the center of the indus try, This is small number compared
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
with the thousands. employed in Antwerp and Amsterdam.
 Saving and Polishing Diamonds.

With the thousands employeu III AntNelp and Amsterdam"
 Saving and Polishing Diamonds.
 "The business of diamond cutting has materially changed of late years" con- tined MT Williams. "We have now dia- mond saws by which we can cut pieces from a diamond and make two or more diamonds out of one Here, for instance, is the kind of saw which is most com mony used"
 At this point MT. Williams handed me a copper disk about as thick as my thumb nail and as big around as the bottom of a teacup. The metal was comparatively soft, and I could not see how it could cut a diamond which is harder than the finest of steel until MT. Williams said that the wheel was dipped in diamond dust and the dust did the cutting.
 Tt is on this same principle that all diamonds are ground and polished said MT. Williams "The only thing that will cut a diamond is a diamond itself. and all polishing must be done with diamond dust In the cutting establishments this is done on flat wheels of soft iron as big as q dinner plate, which are so moved by machinery that they go around at the rate of 2000 revolutions a min ute These wheels are covered with a mixture of diamond dust and water, and the precious stones fastened into cement are pressed upon the wheel and ground off into the facets which increase their briliancy. The splitting of dia- monds is done by other diamonds, which might be called diamond knives. The latter are fixed in cement, and are used to split the diamonds at the flaws which the stones frequently have. There are something like 10000 men and women employed in the diamond cutting and polishing industry of Amsterdam, and they handle gems worth many millions of dollars every year The greater part of the De Beers output is cut in Eu- rope and the center of the industry is Amsterdam. It is said that more than s. 900 900 is paid out in wages to the dia- nond workers of that city every year, and that there are something like 60 fac tories in which the cutting and polishing are done"
 The Diamond Output Not Failing.
 asked Mir Williams whether we would ever have q diamond famine saying that I had heard that the mines were playing out He replied:
 Any statement of that kind is not true We have enough diamonds in sight to keep us busy for many years, and we shall probably be supplying most of the diamonds of the world for several generations to come. As 1t is now we have something like 10000, 900 loads of the blue, containing the dia- monds, weathering upon our floors, and there are between 5o0000 900 and 60,- 900 900 more loads in sight. In the De Beers mine there are more than 5000. 900 loads yet to be taken out about the 2oo0-foot level, and in the Kimberley more than 1.s00.000 above the 2500- foot level, which we have now reached.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11

In the Westselton there are 10000, 900 loads above the 500-foot level, and In the Dutoitspan 31.000,000 loads above the 75O-foot level, while the amount in the Bulfontein mine above the 6s0- foot level to which we have sunk the shaft is about 7S00,00O loads. All told we have somewhere between 60.000, 900 and 70,0o0.000 loads of blue ground on our floors and in sight. The total amount washed and crushed last year was over 5,250, 900 1oads and that pro- duced diamonds which realized about S2S,000,0 1000. At the same rate of wash ing the blue on the floors and in sight would last for over Il years and would produce considerably over $500, 900, 900 worth of diamonds"
 Have you yet reached a point in any of the pipes where the diamonds have played out?" I asked.
 NO. The number and value of the stones in the various pipes have not in- creased as we have gone down, but they hold their own. At the Kimberley mine we are now working a half mile below the grass roots, and the blue ground there Is about as rich in diamonds as it was all the way down. In the De Beers We are down 2000 feet, and in the Kimber- lew and the De Beers they have been working almost constantly for 36 years. and it Is believed that the mines have still long life before them The Wes- selton, Bulfontein and Dutoitspan have altogether an area about four and one half times as large as the Kimberley and De Beers combined, and, although an enormous amount of diamonds have been taken from them, there are still 5000C 600 loads of blue ground above the 500, 6U0 and 750 levels. There is no reason to think that the diamonds may not go as far down in these pipes as in the De Beers and the Kimberley, and the prospect is that there will be no diamond famine for many, many years to come"
 Diamond Pipes.
 Tell me something about these dia- mond pipes? Do they occur anywhere else in the world than here?"
 Yes. There are some others in South Africa, a notable one being the Premier diamond mine, near Pretoria. There are similar pipes near Syracuse, N. r., and elsewhere, but, with the exception of South Africa, the ground within the pipes does not contain diamonds I un- derstand that the Brazilian diamonds are found in a sort of springy sandstone" m ymere,B- ccmfwyp cmfwypcmfwyp-
 Are the pipes regular in shape?"
 No: they vary as they go downward. The Kimberley mine at the top is shaped like pear. At a depth of few hundred feet it becomes somewhat like gourJ and it changes as 1t goes on. In some places the rocky walls bulge out and in others they contract, so that we cannot tell just how they will run, although their direction is comparatively straight"
 A Low-Grade Proposition.
 There is one thing that should be said in respect to the diamonds of this part of the world" continued MT Will liams "The mining of them is a low-grade proposition, and it pays well only because it is scientifically and economically han dled and that on large scale. Indeed, it is wonderful how much work 1t takes
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
The Road Angel.

From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
 .'The road hog" said mortorist, "is the man who scorches on frequented highways, who kills chickens and dogs gleefully. who stays human beings and then makes off The road angel-'
 He paused. He could not think of words sufficiently laudatory of the road angel At length he said
 s.That rare, but increasing type. the road angel, may be told infallibly by one sign. The road angel slows down so that the dust of his great car may not annoy the passing pedestrian. And what bless ings are rained on his head. The pedes- trian sees the oncomng car in it's swirl of dust He shrinks as far away as pos sible He turns his head aside and puts his handkerchief over his mouth and nose. And To! with a gracious smile the road angel slows down, he passes the pedestrian with no more dust than d bl- cycle would make
 'Nhen you meet with the road angel don't neglect to thank him. By the same token. shake your fist and shout aorS~ at the road hog. who suffocates ypn ia his dust for he knows quite well that he is doing a rude and selfish thing"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11

:, is humming with industry. Nearly every
 square of it yields more or less value; | it has to have guards to watch it, and the greatest economy is required to keep the millions from leaking away. In the
 year 1906 the wages paid amounted to
 over $10,O00, ,000 and the food necessaries of
 the native laborers almost one million and
 a half more Supplies for the men who
 have to be fed in walled compounds would
 tax the capacity of our largest depart
 ment stores. They used last year almost 5 000 900 loaves of broad and something
 like 100000 pounds of fresh meat They
 drank 100000 bottles of milk, smoked 100000 cigarettes and were supplied with
 6400O new shirts and 55000 pairs of
 trousers. The items for mining supplies are even larger. It took 100000 pounds of candles to light the men at work in the tunnels and more than 1000 miles of steel wire rope to haul the cars The new timbers for the mines, which came from San Francisco, amounted to more than 18,0O0,oO0 feet board measure. and the iron and steel bars, brass castings and bolts and nuts ran high into hun dreds of thousands of pounds.
 In addition to the mines. the company has a number of other institutions in and about Kimberley. It has 300,O00 acres of land a great farm for raising it's horses and mules, an electric railroad a hotel, 1 and hospitals and clubs. It practically ! controls the town of Kimberley, which
 has a population of 3O,000, so that alto 1 gether the mine manager has little time l to spare.
 Talk About Diamonds.
 It was in the offices of the De Beers i company that I had a talk with the man | who controls all the institutions. MT. AL ! pheus Williams is not yet over 35 years of age. He was born in the United , States, and educated at Cornell and the , University of California before he came 1 out here some years ago to be his fathers ! assistant When the latter retired in 1905 | he was elected in his place. and since then f he has been in charge of all the De Beers companys properties here. During my talk with him the subject of the diamond demand came up, and he replied that it
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-11
By Frank G. Carpenter

-SSNNyzxzzu---~ ,~-,zra11zs-
The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-01-30
Late Personals.

Manuel Barreda, the merchant,
went to Mercedes on business today.
Capt. F. NJ. Colling of Tarpon
Beach came up last night from the
coast, returning this morning.
]. B. Hall and Charles Volz,
who are engaged in growing celery
near Olmito, were in the city
today, and paid THE HERALD office
an appreciated visit.
According to latest reports, the
Tarpon Beach launch, Gaviota. IS
still at the mouth of the river,
unable to cross the bar. Capt.
Laroche went down today to try
and get her across aud bring her
around to the pass, but it is not
known whether he has succeeded
yet.
The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-01-30
The Farmer His Own Scotsman.

As far as possible every farmer
should select his seed in his own
neighborhood or his own farm.
He should select seed with view
of obtaining a size and type OF
plant that suits the soil and seasons
of his locality. 1t is highly pro-
bable that all the desirable quail
ties cannot be combined in any one
type of cotton, for example. We
should like earliness, hardness,
prolifeness, high per cent of lint,
large bolls, and long staple. 1t is
probable that some of these quail
ties are antagonistic to each other,
and consequently all of them can
never be fully attained IN one
varity. But large bolls. earliness,
and at least fair proli6cness, can
be obtained in short staple cotton.
This has been proved many times.
The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-01-30
Deafness Cannot be Cured

by local applications, as they cannot
reach the diseased portion of the ear.
There is only one way to cure deafness
and that is by constitutional remedies.
Deafness is caused by an infarned con.
dition of the mucous lining of the Eus
tachisn Tube. When this tube is inham
ed you have runbling sound or imper-
feet hearing, and when it is entirely clos
ed, Deafness is the result, and unless the
Inflammation can be taken out and this
tube restored to its normal condition,
hearing will be destroyed forever; nine
cases out of ten are caused by Catarrh,
which is nothing but an inharned condi-
ton of the mucous surfaces.
We will give One Hundred Dollars for
any case of Deafness Caused by catarrh
that cannot be cured by Halls Catarrb
Onre. Send for circulars free.
F. J.CHENEY & Co.. Toledo, o.
Sold by Druggists 75c.
The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-01-30
FOR 4 BROWNSVILLE EX-
HIBIT.

A move is on foot to establish a
permanent exhibit of Brownsville
products, which shall be displayed
in suitable rooms in charge of a
competent person, who will explain
all about the various specimens and
also give any information desired
regarding the country and its re-
sources to homeseekers or other
visitors. 1t is hoped that a combi-
nation of the various clubs organic
ed here lately may be effected, and
a united move towards the proper
advertising and promotion of the
development OF the country be
made, which shall be entirely dis
Einct from any individual interests.
This is a wise move, and it is sin
cerely hoped that it may succeed
"A subscription list for the purpose
s3f maintaining the exhibit is be-
Jug circulated and so far seems to
DE gaining a very encouraging sup
port. Further particulars of the
move will be published as soon as
obtained.