Bisbee daily review., 1921-08-26

that he thought he knew of some par ties that would like to buy the place, taking care not to mention that they might want it for other reasons than the crops it would grow. The deal was made and the farm soon became a great diamond mine.
 At first the diamonds were mined by small operators, the works taking the form of great open pit. There was no central organization, the count less aerial cables of each individual operator forming curious network from the pit. This method was inef- ficient and dangerous and 1t soon be- came difficult to carry on mining op- erations at all.
 At this time Cecil Rhodes became interested in the project, and his name has been associated ever zzice with the diamond mInes of South -.I- rica. Rhodes was tubercular, and he left England to seek his health in South Africa, where he served at first as bookkeeIer. He saw the possi- bilities of efficient mining opera;iozs in the diamond fields; got hold of Barney BarnaIto, and with two others consolidated the De Beers diamond mines. Under his organization a shaft was sunk, and mining opera tions started by caving methods. It is believed that the caving method of mining, used so extensively in the copper mines of this country, was originated in the diamond mines. Weber told of the difficulties of preventing thefts of diamonds by the mine worKers, and the elaborate sys- tenn that has been developed to pre- vent them. The newcomer at the mines is examined carefully. His lteeth are counted to see if he has any missing so that he could not carry away a diamond in a false tooth. If he has any missing fingers or toes @ note is made of it to prevent the pos sibility of concealing a diamond in a false member. Upon arriving atithe mines he is forced to live in ''com- pound" for 90 days and is not allowed to leave of his own volition.
 Weber told of some .of the curious schemes that have been put into prac- tice to steal diamonds. In one case the detectives noticed that certain man made a practice of going out shooting with shotgun at nights. He chose moonlight nights for his s;r1-s- hunting expeditions. While their fa- ther went hunting his children in- dulged in the innocent pastime of playing with toy balloons in the cool evening breezes. It was found that when the breeze was in faSorasie T NF 1Nn1 rarn allowed to get loose, and the hunter shot them, down on the far side of the compound. The balloons were weight ed down with diamonds.
 On another occasion the company Kimberley was dealing in illicit dia- detectives were sure that a man at monds, but they could never get any evidence against him. From time to time certain men at the mines came under suspicion as being associated with him and they were fired, but the illicit traffic continued. Finally, it was noticed that he had peculiar facial expression, that one eye was strangely immovable. He had been carrying away diamonds concealed in false eye. ss =
 N ~Ine De Beers company, WeDer Sald, controls the price of diamonds in the world by its control of the output. The company produces only certain amount, sufficient to supply the de- mand at good price. It is one of the most profitable corporations in the world, and the speaker pointed to the strangeness of a firm dealing in non-essential such as diamonds reap ing huge profits while producers of essential commodities are barely able to struggle along.