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Show vmmmwmmmmm 1 "digging diamonds. H METHODS OF WORK IN THE CREAT K . KIMBERLEY MINES. ffi TThnt One Beet In a Journey from the Bj Cap Through the Transvaal l Whipping- Kamr, 1 .V I Mr. J. Charles Davis, a theatrical m managon rocently dcscribod to n Chill Chi-ll cago Inter-Ocean reporter a trip to the groat diamond fields of Africa. IIo H said: R "I took a small coasting steamer II unci went up to Port Natal, whence I H went to Quccnstown by rail. There I H jolnod n party of traders and prospect-K prospect-K ors, and with llvo wagons, each drawn B by sixteen head of oxen, wo journoyed jR at tho rate of from twenty to twenty-j twenty-j llvo miles a day for thirty days, until jg we roaclicd Klmborloy. Wo llvod woll 1 on the road. Two of us had horses U for uso In llttlo excursions, and wo ffl kept tho party supplied with gamo. "Wo traveled generally at night, as M tho days were hot and tho cattle would not feed at night. I should say wo V had a small herd of cattlo to take tho H pluco of nuy that might break down H on tho trip. Our wagons woro liko tho former "pralrlo schoonors" of H America, except that thoy were larger, j In one of them wo lived, and In this m our small luggago and arms wcro W stored. Each wugon had a Dutch H driver nnd a Kafllr forolooker. m "Beaching Klmborloy I found a rog- ffi ular milling town, the houses being built of wood, canvas or corrugated iron. All tho building material had to m bo transported across tho country In B wagon trains. It was nightfall whon M I had eaten my dinner and smoked W the lirst cigar I had had for a month. JR Then I started out to sco the big Kim-IS Kim-IS bcrley mine, whoro thoy woro working K by electric llglit. This was uino years W ago and in thu heart of Africa, remem-w remem-w ber. A wiro ropo stopped tlio wav at tho end of tho main street down which m I had walked. In front of mo was a lark cxpauso, dotted hero and thero m with olcctrlo lamps, nnd fn and out of B tho shadows flitted tho forms of naked H negroes. It was very weird and a lit tie uncanny. Tho dark placo was tho n pit, ten or twolvo acres iu diameter W aud about 300 feet deep, with sloping W sides loading Into tho great bowl. m There was no sound except tho rattlo H of chains as tho cables brought up tho fj. heavy iron buckets from the placos whoro tho mon wcro working to tho n hoisting houses on tho edgti of tho pit. )" "Tho mine was worked by companies, com-panies, somo formed as joint stock concerns, others as co-operative combinations com-binations of miners. All tho claims wcro carefully staked out and preserved pre-served according to thoir surfaco di- m. monslons. If a cavo-in occurred from m ouo claim to another, the offending claim had to make good tho damages. "When tho Katllrs hail loaded their H tuckets they placed on each a ticket 1 indicating what was tho character of B tho earth it contained. That which j was worthloss was carted away; tho B diamond-bearing soil was put into a 3 hopper and workod through screens, B over which water ran, tho lirst screen m taking away tho largo, worthless SI stones, and tho others gradually sepal sep-al arating tho pieces likely to contain j diamonds. Tho cntiro process was superintended by will to men. Somo of them could neither read nor wrilo; but ovcry gang of blacks had n whito man over them whose chief business it was to watch that no Kaffir stooped down to pick up anything. It bo did, he was given au emetic. Tho punishment punish-ment for stealing a diamond, or a picco of tho blue- clay that usually con- tains the finest diamonds, is twenty J years iu prison, with work on tho " breakwaters at tho Cape. It moans '; death as surely as, and a llttlo moro ') painfully thau being shot. It isn't ,; often that tho blacks recoivo this pun- ishment. Thoy nro moro afraid of a ,i whipping, nnd thoygct it on their bare '! backs with a picco of rhinoceros hido y that draws tho blood at every lick. I ,! saw one man whipped an ebony I statuo; tho blood trickled from his I shoulders to his feot. Tho prison ' physician who wns In chargo of tho affair, stoppod tho punishment at thirty i lashns. Ho said auy moro at that par- j ticular time might kill tho Kafllr. 1 Thcso negroes wero a curious sight; 1 thoy used to go nbout dressed in a I scarlet jacket nnd a breech-clout. A I particularly swell fellow might cover 1 his erect locks with an old hat. I M never saw one with a shirt on or with ' trousers. A red coat was raiment ' enough apparently. M "I have told you how thoy got tho M diamond-bearing soil into the hoppers. M As tho irravel fell through tho screens m it went' into boxes that wero locked. 9 Sunday wns wash-up days. Tho boxes M wero brought into tho office, whero M directors of tho company were seated H about a table covered with zinc. Au . expert, called tho sorter, took a three- 9 cornered blado nnd sproad tho gravel V out on tho tablo beforo him. In tho M preseuco of tho directors he throw 9 away the worthless stones. I thought fl ho was casting aside tho finest and rlcbost diamonds; but thoy wero only crystals that had no valuo. Hut a few H diamonds wero found In tho first jH boxes, where the larger screens were. B In those that had smaller meshes wero St found more. Tho result of the Weok's M work was, pcrhaus, a quart of the rough stones, many of them being H black diamonds ot llttlo value. - "All of Ihoue that had been saved H were theu taken beforo another expert. lie carefully spread thqm all out on a HE li perfectly whito sheet of paper nno! be-gau be-gau to sort them according to size and quality. As fast as tho paper becamo soiled ho toro off a sheet. lie put the stonoi into little plies, which ho afterward after-ward tied up ami sealed, marking each according to Its character and value. All of this was dono In the presence of tho directors. When thu packages woro sealed they woro either sold on the Held or sent to London, whero there is tho greatest diamond markot In tho world. "There nro about tho mines at Kim-bcrley Kim-bcrley a class of mon and women known as I. D. Il.'s, which means Wo-gitlmato Wo-gitlmato diamond buyers. They llvo off this traffic, chleily through tho medium of the Kaftlrs. They aro closely watched by detectives of ovory nationality, whoso slirowdnoss makes it diQlcult for the I. D. Il.'s to proso-cuto proso-cuto their trado successfully." |