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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1908)
ii w ESDBYD kmbe mm FT FRANK G. CARPENTER. TftS muivcr of all the great diamond rrrlnea lying about Klmberley is an 'American. His hum Is Alpheus Will lama,' and he Is the son of Mr. Gardner F. William, who took charge of the mine at the time the De Been Company wa organized, and who managed them un til three year ago. luring Gardner Wil liams' control the mines became the chief source of the diamond supc'.y of the world. He had charge of them for about 30 yea'rs. and In that time they produced almost C0O.O00 worth of diamonds and paid out' SU8.W.0OO In dividends. Since his son has ' been handling them they have beea yielding- In the neighborhood of S3.000.000 a year, and the prospect Is that they will produce millions annually for many years to come. Manager of the Ie Beers Company. It Is a big thing to be the manager of a company like this. It means the control of an army of wage workers greater than that which Xenophen led on his inarch to the sea, and equal to the standing army of the Vnited States before our war with Spain.- During the past two years Mr. Williams has hal on his payroll In the neighborhood of 26.000 men. This number has been re duced since the American panic: but still It runs up close to 15.0u0 and It will be increased as the times improve. All of the men have to bo fed. and the sup plies which they consume cost millions. The Ave great diamond pipes, which are now being mined here, are operated with the most expensive machinery- They have vast works connected with them, and the weathering fields, with their miles of cable cars, cover 11.000 acres, or over 17 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 farm and every square yard of that area 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 tho millions from leaking away. In the year 1906 the wages paid amounted to over $10,000. 000 and the food necessaries of the na tive laborers almost SI. 600.000 more. Huppllee for the men who have to be fed In walled compounds would tax the capacity of our largest department Mores. They used last year almost B.OOO.oOO loaves of bread and some thing like J.000.000 pounds of fresh meat. They drank 1.000.000 bottles of milk, smoked 2.000.000 cigarettes and were supplied with 61.000 new shirts and BS.Oi'O pairs of trousers. The Hem for mining supplies are even larger. It took 700,000 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 tim bers for the mines, which came from Kan Francisco, amounted to more than 18.000.000 feet board measure, and the Iron and steel bars, brass castings and bolts and nuts ran high Into hundreds of thousands of pounds. In addition to the mines, the com pany has a number of other institu tions In and" about Klmberley. It has 300.000 acres of land, a great farm for raising Its horses and mules, an elec tric railroad, a hotel, and hospitals and clubs. It practically controls the town of Klmberley, which has a popu lation of 80.000. so that altogether the mine manager has little time to spare. A Talk About Diamonds. It mas In the offices of the Ie Beers Company that I had a talk with tke man who controls all the institutions. Mr. Alpheus Williams is not yet over 35 yean of age. lie was born in the United States, and educated at Cornell and the University of California before he came -out here some years ago to be his father's assistant. When the lat ter retired In 1905 he was elocted In his place and since then has been In charge of all the De Beers Company's properties here. During my talk with him the subject of the diamond demand came up. and he replied that It had been excellent until oor great panic occurred. t"p to that time the world ii-as taking the whole of the Klmberley output, and the company had but com paratively 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 dia monds produced here. Then the panic came, and our demand dropped. For tunately the De Beers Company had an enormous amount of blue ground on Its floors.' and It has been able to re duce Its 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, snd they will be operated on a very conservati ve basis until the times Improve. The American Market. In talking with Mr. Williams about Ihe American market, I asked him what kind of stones were purchased by us. He replied: "The very best. The finest and pur est of our "diamonds go to the United States, and within past years that country has been by far our best cus tomer. For some time It took two thirds, of all the diamonds 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 en gagement rings. In fact we are about the only people among whom every voting man thinks he must give a dia mond 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 a regular business of selling them on long time, at so much down and so much per month, until paid. Diamonds are also used largely as wedding pres ents and as birthday gifts." American Diamond Cutters. in what shape do the diamonds go to the United States. Mr. Williams?" I asked. "The most" of them are first cut in Eu rope . was the reply. "We have a duty of 10 r-r cent on cut diamonds which is levied to protect the American diamond-cutting industry, but the fact that more than two-thirds of the importa tions are In the shape of cut atones riow that the tariff Is not high enough for that- purpose. In lsn the United State Imported about S34.000.0UO worth of d'amonds. ar.d of these only S10. o ..) worth were In the - rough, while $:'-l.onr worth were cut stone. Rough diamonds are free of duty." "But are the American diamond cut ters equal to those of Europe? Can the stonea be as beautifully shaped and pol ished at home as abroad T" "Yea Our diamond cutters are mainly from Holland and Belgium, and the most of them learned their trade before they emigrated- As it Is now, we have over such workmen In and about New York. Mch Is the center of the in dustry. This la a small number com- The United States Takes Three ithe Fhseious Stones o Fourths of A ff If Jt.. II ft m i 5 9 vev?, . Ms? A 1 S. cC Vf ' v f vlftH f,,V fVIv t , r -VvK pared with the thousands employed In Antwerp and Amsterdam." Sawing and Polishing Diamonds. "The business of diamond cutting has materially changed of late years," con tinued Mr. 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 common ly use." At this point Mr. Williams handed me a copper disc 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 tho fin- BUNOAI Lead carpenter layout est steel, until Mr. Williams said that the wheel m-as dipped In diamond dust and the dust did the cutting. "It is on this same principle that all diamonds are ground and polished," said Mr. 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 a dinner plate, which are so moved by machinery that they go around at the rate of 1MJ0 revolutions a minute. These wheels are covered with a mixture of dia mond dust and water, and the precious stones fastened into cement are pressed upon the wheel and ground off into the facets, which so Increase their brilliancy. The splitting of diamonds is done by other diamonds, which might be called diamond knives. The latter are fixed in cement, and axe used to split the diamonds at the flaws which the stones frequently 'have. There are something like 10,000 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 Europe, and the center of the Industry is Amster dam. It Is said that more than S8.000.000 Is paid out In wages to the diamond work ers of that city every year and that there are something like 60 factories In which the cutting and polishing are done." The Diamond Output "ot Failing. I asked Mr. Williams whether we would ever have a 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 it is now, we have something like ten mil lion loads above the 500-foot level, and in the Dutoltspan, SI million loads above the 750-foot level, while the amount in the Bulfonteln mine above the 690-foot level, to which we have sunk the shaft is about 7.800.000 loads. All toid. we have somewhere between 60,000.000 and 70.000.000 loads of blue ground on our floors and in sight. The total amount washed and crushed last rear was over 6. 500. 000 loads, and that produced diamonds which realized about S-S.000.000. At the same rate of washing the blue on the floors and in sight would last for over 11 years, and would produce considerably over $30.0, 000.000 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 tones in the various pipes have not In creased as we have gone down, but they hold their own. At the Klmberley mine we are now working a half-mile below the grass roots, and the blue ground theTe is about as rich in dia monds as It was all the way down. In the De Beers we are down 2000 feet, and in the Klmberley and the De Beers they have been working almost con stantly for 86 years, and it is believed that the mines have still a long life before them. The Wesselton, Bulfon teln and Dutoltspan have altogether an area about 4 '.4 times as large as the Klmberley and De Beers combined, and, although an enormous amount of dia monds have been taken from them, there are still 60,000,000 loads of blue ground above the 600, 600 and 750-foot levels. There is ,no reason to think that the diamonds may not gd ae far down In these pipes as in the De Beers and the Klmberley; 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 bereT" "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. T., 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 ; mm V 1 - V Vfz 8l r i 1 i.te Jfc. it a sort of springy sand are found in stone." "Are the pipes regular in shape?" "No: they vary as they go downward. The Klmberley mine at the top is shaped like a pear. At a depth of a few hundred feet It becomes somewhat like a gourd and it changes as It goes on. In some places the rocky walls bujge out and in others they contract, so that we cannot tell Just how they will run. al though their direction is comparatively straight." "There is one thing that should be said in respect to the diamonds of this part of the world," continued Mr. Williams. "The mining of them is a low-grade proposition, and it pays well only be cause it is scientifically and economically handled and that on a large scale. In deed it Is wonderful how much work it Has Outlived "Rivals for 240 CJears Famons Hudson's Bay Company That Started TVith a Capital of $42,000. HE history of the famous Hudson's I Bay Company dates from 1670. when a license to trade in furs in Hud son (now Hudson) Bay was granted to a company which Included several men of high rank. The Duke of Tork, the Duke of Albemarle and the Earl of Shaftesbury were among them. The capital was 8423. not a great amount with which to fight the rival companies and the intrepid individual agents, chiefly French, whose competi tion was hard on the new enterprise. But the conquest of Canada helped it a good deal. English traders learned the ways of the Indians and their system of the exchange of goods. Toward 1684 some merchant of Montreal combined to explore the fur country and founded that powerful Northwest Company, which soon be came the center of the fur trade. In 179S this new company shipped furs to the value of no less than 120.000. and the existence of the .Hudson's Bay Company was again threatened. In "Conjuror's House" Stewart Ed ward White has given us glimpses of the picturesquely highhanded methods of "the company" which nowadays has but one meaning, the Hudson's Bay Company. But according to a writer in Fur News, its early rival was no bet ter. "It shrank from no act. however in iquitous." says the account. "Its agents Imposed on their own employes and speculated on the misery of the In dians, consequently realizing Immense profits in spite of the competition of new Russian and American compan ies." The American Fur Company, for In stance, was founded in 1809 with a cap ital of Sl.300,000 and operated west of the Rocky Mountains. The competition of all. these rivals put the Hudson's Bay Company into greater danger than it ever had been. But in liii a treaty was made amal gamating the Hudson's Bay and North west companies under the 'title the Hudson's Bay Fur Company. At pres ent It has only one rival of import ance, the American St. Louis Fur Com pany. The Hudson's Bay Company has posts scattered over a domain covering 3, 700,000 square miles. Its principal es tablishments are on James Bay and toward the frontiers of upper Canada, on lakes Athabasca. Winnipeg, Methye and near the Columbia, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan and Asslnlbolne Rivers. Fort York, commanding the course of the River Nelson, is the headquarters of the company and contains its prin cipal depot. In 1842 it took a lease of all the Russian establishments In North Amer ica at an annual rent of 40,000, so that it is now working on its own ac count the vast tracts of country be tween the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean. The following is a list of the quanti ties of skins and furs dispatched to Europe by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1833-34, which will give an exact idea of the extent of its trade: 1.074 82.0114 694.0i'2 Beavers Skins and young beavers Muflkrata . Bsdirers l.oos Bears 7,4ol Ermines 4' Foxes , .1 Lynxes - "''ji Sables &4.41W Polecats 2''-10 Otter. Raccoons ' " San . Wolves 8S1? Wolverines ,1.51 Such figures ought to bring in a large profit to the Hudson's Bay Com pany, but unfortunately they have not been maintained, and for the last 20 years have been decreasing. Until 1839 the company, was in a flourishing condition. In that year the number of furs exported was 2,SD0.001, but since then the trade has gradually declined, and this number Is now re duced by one-half at least. The following table, taken from the "Voyage of Captain Robert Lade," shows on what terms exchanges were formerly made with the Indians. Beaver skins were then the currency employed in buying and selling. The Indians paid: Beaver TTor sums. One gun .10 takes to get out the diamonds. In the Dutoltspan we have to handle four tons of earth to every carat, and It Is about as bad in Klmberley. Now. when you remember that a diamond weighing a carat is not as big as a pea, and that It has to he 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 be out in the open for one year to soften it. After that It must be washed and crushed and handled again and again to find tho stones. All this means an enormous amount of labor.' as well as expensive machinery, which must be carefully operated." "Yes. but !t pays." said I. "It does pay. The value of the De Beers mine per load is about 24 shil lings, or S6. It costs us S2 to get out the diamonds, 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 op erating the mines and getting out the diamonds. A load weighs in the neigh borhood of three-quarters of a ton. The values of the blue ground and the cost of production vary In different mines, but altogether they pay well." After the diamonds have been mined and cleaned they are sold to the di amond syndicate. I visited the offices of this organization in the De Beers Company building 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 packages. They go on mall cars to Cape Town and from there to Southampton on the big steamships of the Union Castle line. The trains which carry them over the 600 or 700 miles of track from here to the Cape of Good Hope are equipped with safes, which have been especially built for the pur pose. The steel floors of the safe are as I understand it, a 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 a 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 a 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 sawing with a steel saw from one hole to another when some thing made him think he was discov ered and he dropped out and ran. The alarm was a false one, and he might easily have got 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 it 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 or nitroglycerin would suffice to lay their contents bare to 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. . Half pound powder J Four pounds shot One axe " i Six knives f Ona pound (lass beads One laced coat s One coat not laced One laed female dress e One pound of tobacco J One box of powder J One comb and one looklng-glas & But a few years ago beaver skins became so scarce that the currency hsd to be changed. Bison furs are now the medium of trade. When an Indian presents himself at the fort the agents of the company give him as many pieces of wood as he brings skins, and he exchanges these pieces of wood for manufactured articles on the premises, and as the company fixes the price of the articles it buys and soils It cannot fail to realize, large profits. A "Peacherine." (A California fruit specialist has invented a fruit that is even liner than the peach. It Is called the peacherine.) When Betty bade me writs her verses lately (She knew that I was bashful In my 1 ioundPthehsaW If not ths most stately Metaphor for a fiancee was a Peach. But fashions change, and now. It seems, a FrultVbeen hit on; whencs I rather ween That In addressing these few lines to I d ?JST..r .h. I. a 2l?3XZM