The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-09-04
MEANING OF DIAMONDS IN DOLLARS

Of diamond cutters, the De Beers Com
pany. which controls 90 per cent OF the
South African product. digs up every year
a cube OF earth 40 feet each way. That
means a block larger than any cathedral
in the world. and some Of It comes from
almost half mile beneath the earth's
surface.
An army OF Zulus and Kahirs is con-
tinually engaged in dynamiting loose the
diamond dirt and sending It 70 the sur
face. where it is first mashed washed
and then put through automatic separa-
tors.
These latter have done more to simplify
the operations Of diamond mining than
any other invention. Until a few years
ago It was necessary that all the dit
should be sorted. or picked over. by hand
This not only entalled terrific labor, but
considerable loss.
Now the washed diamond dirt, from
which 80 per cent OF the original earth
has been extracted, is run through pull
sating machines. which consist Of cast
iron plates covered with grease. One OF
the employees. Fred Kristen. had reasoned
that. as grease never stuck 70 anything
except the diamonds nothing but the dia-
monds would stick TO grease. II worked.
The first layer OF grease-covered plates
catches all but small percentage OF the
stones, and the lower ones gather up
what are left There is practically no
loss
Rnina Do the Work.
chimes II is exposed on the company's
compounds for several months 10 a year.
The rains do their work, and second eou-
sins to our road rollers do the rest.
When the blue" has been well broken
up. It is conveyed in automatic trucks TO
the washing .mach!nss. who're about half
OF the earth has been 80 well pulveriLed
that It will pass through a mesh Of the
sixteenth Of an inch.
Then comes the mechanical sorting.
which disposes OF the 1900 truck loads
per day, which were formerly sorted by
hand. Imagine the difference,
Now all that is necessary IS 20 scrape
the grease on the machines and melt ii
away from the diamonds. When II coOls
of It can be used again. so there is prac-
tically no waste.
The labor that Is required to get this
blue dirt" ready for the automatic sep
arators Is something beyond Imagination.
II the women who display themselves
with the flashing stones could realize the
toll II took 70 produce them. the feminine
vanity might almost turn 20 veneration.
In compounds that are more strictly
kept than prisons there are thousands Of
aboriginal Africans who voluntarily in
dentue themselves as slaves for about
N-25 a day. They go down into the
depths and blast; they perform all the
heavy work that goes with every form
Of mining. with the additional burden OF
being herded together Ike cattle.
The stockades in which they are kept
are models Of sanitation. It Is true. They
have 20 be. or there would very shortly
be a shortage OF labor. They are lighted
by electricity and are kept as clean as
the buildings on a model dairy farm.
-Four acres are set apart by the De
Beers Company for each compound. which
holds 1900 men. bringing the walls are
iron cabins, divided into rooms 3 by 50 feet.
twenty to twenty-five men. They also are
lighted by electricity. and the chief furni-
ture is wooden hunks.
In each stockade there Is a hospital and
dispensary and a church. where mission
aries conduct services on Sunday and
give secular instruction throughout the
week
The chief amusement Is swimming. and
in the center OF each stpckade there Is a
pool, where hundreds are usually 20 be
found disporting themselves.
Once In these stockades the African
stays there until his term OF servitude is
UP. Three or four months is the mini
mum. Some OF the men have been there
for as long as ten years, prsferring the
drudgery Of the mines TO the dangers OF
the jungles.
Men Never IntermtngIe.
There are seventeen Of these stockades,
and each is a community unto itself
The men never intermingle They do not
even get out TO 90 TO work. From each
compound to that part OF the mines
which It feeds are underground passages.
Through these the laborers defile as they
enter and leave the mines.
Even the sky is cut of from them
Overhead is a fine wire netting so that
diamonds may not be secreted and thrown
to confederates outside.
II is just as hard 70 get In as Il Is 20
get out For a period Of about twenty
years the mine managers have been
planning and scheming TO reduce the pos
sibilities OF theft. and they have got
them down 70 a minimum.
Before a laborer is accepted he must
pass a strict medical examination. Any
weakness is a disqualification. Then he
must cleanse himself thoroughly. When