El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-29
Today's Diamond Fields
AMERICANS, ARE LARGEST PURCHASERS
OF ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED GEMS.

fabulous price for a simple shining
! stone. but 1t was later sold for SILL
600, and after being cut went into the
collection of a famous Englishman al
a cost of nearly $4,000. After this
there was a wild rush to South Africa
No trade, no country, was long left
unrepresented in the immense throng
which, filled with the spirit OF adven-
ture no less than with the spirit of spec
ula1ion, chose to risk their all in an
endeavor to travel the "get-rich quick
road to wealth.
Rhodes Among First.
Among those who went out were a
London Jew named Isaacs and an En-
glish university man named Rhodes.
! These two men were destined finally
! 10 place themselves at the head of the
whole industry, and practically to build
an empire in this region. After a long
| period of high finance in which the
| cold calculation of Rhodes was pitted
against the shrewd Judgment Of Isaacs
/ Rhodes succeeded in organizing the
1 deBeers company and then hopelessIy
! ''bulled" the market on diamond stock.
I the while as hOpelessly bearing" it
! on the diamonds themselves This
! forced Isaacs, better known to the fl
naBcial world as Barney Barnato, to-
come to an agreement with Rhodes and
together they formed the great deBeers
Consolidated mines, which control more
than 80 per cent of the worlds output
of diamonds.
Detail Work I'm Mining of Gems.
After this consolidation the systemat-
&c mining of the blue ground which
bears the diamonds was begun Mil
lions Of cubic feet of this earth is
taken out every year. It Is loaded into
trucks containing about 20 cubic feet
n arfc
the surface by electric haulage meth
DDS and out to the great fields of
level ground where it Is spread out
to a depth of about a foot 1t Is then
pulverized by great rollers and har-
rows drawn by traction engines
These diamond floors resemble vast
prairie fields ready for seeding. After
the dirt Is exposed from four months
10 one year II is loaded into hand cars
and hauled to the pulverizers to be
ground up. Enough of the blue earth
goes through these pulverizers every
year to make pile OF refuse 500 feet
high and nearly 400 feet square. vet
out of this only enough valuable ma
terial is found to fill a box two feet
nine inches IN each dtTnensio
After pulverizing the dirt a washing
process is used leaving only stones of
various descriptions. For years II
was the custom TO have men trained 10
assert the diamonds from the other
stones But this process was slow,
costly, and not efficient. An engineer |
happened TO notice that axle grease I
would adhere 10 the diamonds and not !
TO worthless stones So he decided \
that If axle grease would adhere to the I
diamond, the diamond would adhere 4
to axle grease He therefore conceived
the idea Of passing all stones over a /
machine having an inclined plane COW
cred with grease, and found that his I
was correct-onIy the dia-
monds adhered to it, while an the other
stones passed over It has been shown !
that the -'greaser" machine is more ef-
ilclent than the human hand and far
more rapid in its operation.
Miners Are Coraled.
The workers in the mine come from
eveTyT here Those from Africa hail !
from every tribe from the Cane 10 the
equator India, China, Europe, South
and the islands OF the sea.
every land and every race including :
even the American Indian is TO be founsI
IN this modern Babel Half starved /
natives come begging for work and usu-
ally get 1t upon signing a contract 70
Jay Tor at least three months and 10
I'VE In the corrals known as compounds.
Ihese compounds are great seoues
.ered stockades out of which the native
aooleI may NOT go until after the ex-
'lration of their contract, and since
many Of them have been teupted IA
swallow stones before leaving tbsv
must remain at least week after thew
lnally quit work None of them is al
owed 10 take boots or shoes or Other
materials out of the compound. since
hey nave been known to conceal dia
nonds In the heels of their boots In
me case Zulu actually cut a cash
ihder ms shin and buried diamonds
mere thinking TO escape with them
sut sangrene set in and he not only
ost his diamonds but one of his Ieex I
s we'll. T
POLISHED In Europe and America {
Nearly all of the cutting and nolisb- =
ls OF diamonds is done in Eurona and~t
'nerica In cutting them scratches
re made with another diamond and
ne one TO be cut is imbedded in ce- T
'eng made of brick dust and resin. n
ven directed blow enables the cutter 10 7
cave IL perfectly. The grinding and L
ohshing is done by rapidly revoIv- I
Is wheels covered with diamond dust Il
ne diamond is placed in sort or r
older or fusible solder and the vart- 5
US Facets are ground and polished ci
TN mathematical accuracy y
Iomorrow-Bread and Bread Max o
lg.