The Sunday Oregonian., October 18, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 8, Image 52

- g- : ' ' "" THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 18, 1908. -
lIJ lakoetS't stond lilt ; II .. : : i
IrV THE WOISLD'-THE-
CUT AT AMSTERDAM.
.5-5; -XT55 -.J0""- ' A f '
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
VOU have ail heard of the Cullinan
diamond, the mlshty stone which
was recently presented by the
government of the Transvaal to King
Edward VII and which is now being cut
in Amsterdam. It is by several times
tlie largest diamond ever found, and its
value is over 11,000,000. I am writing
these notes on the edge of the mine
from which it was taken. From where
I stand I can look rlsht down into it,
or ratner over it, for it covers SO acres,
the area of a (rood-sized farm. It is
known as the Premier Diamond mine,
and it is by far the largest diamond
mine in the world. On that hill at
the left I can see the great gear, with
its crushing, washing and pulsating
machines. They are fed by the cara
van of cars which are now flying up t
It over that inclined roadway.
The mine itself is black with work
men. There are 9000 natives at work
digging out the ore and loading it on
caFs. Here men are blasting, there
tiiey are laying railroads, and farther
over digging tunnels down into the
blue ground. There at one end of the
mine are the offices where the mana
gers direct the work. They consist of
an iron-roofed building worth under
J 2000. and seem strange headquarters
for a business which employs thou
sands of men and has an output of
millions a year. Farther back are the
compounds in which the native work
ers are kept under guard, and Just
back of me is the railroad station with
its hotel and -few stores, forming the
town of Cullinan.
World's Biggest Diamond Mine.
I have already described the mighty
diamond pipes of Klmberley, from
which until lately 95 per cent of the
world's diamonds came. I have told
you how each of them was made by a
volcano which bored its way up out
of the bowels of the earth, through
the hardest of rock, and left there a
deposit of blue ground sprinkled with
diamonds. Some of the Klmberley
pipes have been tested half a mile
downward, and they find tliat the dia
monds are as thick at the bottom as
they were at the top. This mine here
Is -of the same formation, save that
the pipe is so large that all the De
Beers mines could be put Inside It and
leave room for several big diamond
mines in addition. The Premier pipe
is now well outlined. It is a half mile
long and a quarter of a mile wide.
"Within it there Is nothing but this blue
ground sprinkled with diamonds.
Kvery yard of It contains precious
stones. In 190 more than 900,000 car
ats were taken from It, and during the
first six months of 1907 the output was
more than a million carats.
It is now only four years since the
mine began to be worked, and since
then it has been producing diamonds at
the rate of 1 1-4 carats per minute for
every minute of every day and
night, year In and year out. A carat-and-a-quarter
diamond makes a mighty
pretty engagement rtng. Cut and set,
it would be worth at least $100. This
mine has been turning- out such a ring
very minute. That gives you some
idea of Its value. The total output in
The Ethics of a Schoolboy
Hazing I Now Condemned But Other Old Traditions'
THE average Etonian or Harrovian be
comes speedily saturated with the
ronvictlon that he is part and parcel of
n ancient institution and subject to its
almost inviolate conventions. Being In
tensely conservative, he detests reform
and adores tradition. He Is at once the
most dependent and the most independent
of creatures, slavishly subject as member
of a corporation to a code admittedly
archaic and yet contemptuous of every
thing and everybody without his own
particular circle.
What Is this code?
It varies. writes Horace Annesley
Vachell in Touth's Companion, at differ
ent schools and at different seasons. The
tone, for Instance, of a famous boarding
house may be above or below normal;
but the variation Is small, surprisingly
small, comparing one decade with an
other and one house with another.
To me Harrow is almost the only
place in the world which has not changed.
Listening to Harrow boys of the present
generation, my own son among the num
ber. I can hear an echo floating down
the years. What they say and think I
have said and thought again and again,
using similar words to express similar
Ideas.
Then as now there was the same glori
fication of games, the same absurd dis
proportion between the interests, not
necessarily conflicting, of work and play;
the same recognation and acute criticism
of authority; the same Indifference to
conventions other than their own. the
Fame intellectual indolence and physical
activity.
Then aa now It was the right thing to
money has been over $25,000,000, and
within the past year or so It has been
paying several millions a year in div
idends. Th Premier ts. the De Beers.
This Premier mine is comparatively
new. The great pipes at Klmberley,
which belong to the De Beers Company,
have been worked for more than a gen
eration, and until this mine was discov
ered it was believed that they would
always form the chief source -tit the
world's supply of precious stones.
For the past 30 years almost all of our
diamonds have come from them: and
they still have values worth hundreds
of millions of dollars in sight. They
have produced more precious stones
than all the other mines of the world
put together: and almost all the dia
monds now worn by man cam from
Klmberley or thereabouts. The prod
uct has sold for something like $600,
000.000. The Premier mine was discovered In
1902. As I have said. It has already pro
duced over $25,000,000; and Its slse Is so
enormous that It is bound to seriously
affect the diamond market of the future.
So far the mine has scarcely been touch
ed. It is being worked almost on the
surface; and It Is estimated that at the
present rate It will take 20 years to get
out the blue ground down to a depth of
SSO feet. When It is remembered that the
Klmberly pipe has been mined to a depth
of more than 2500 feet, and that the De
Beers Is now more than 3000 feet deep,
and that neither shows any diminution of
the output of diamonds to the carload of
blue earth mined, the enormous possibil
ities of this mighty 80-acre diamond pipe
can be appreciated.
I understand that the De Beers Com
pany rather sneered at the Premier mine,
until lately, and that they claimed its
diamonds did not compare with those of
Klmberly in their brilliancy. Neverthe
less within the past few months the two
scrape through school work along the
lines of least resistance. We slouched up
to school; we ran to the playing fields.
Pages could be written concerning onr
code of honor. To cheat at games is an
unpardonable offense; to use "cribs' la
permissible.
Lying is reckoned nearly as bad as
stealing: but many boys certainly not all
will He nnblushlngly to a master: or, if
lying be deemed bad form, prevarication
Is esteemed an opportunity for the tri
umphant display of ingenuity and mother
wit.
Today both at Eton and Harrow, bully
ing hazing, as It is called In America
Is condemned utterly as bad form.
In my day tossing In blankets, roasting
and such barbarous practices were al
ready obsolete.
Occasionally a new boy was shut up
In his bed. The beds, let down at night,
were shut into long cupboards during
the day.
I remember a big boy trying the handle
of my door, I knowing that he was about
to shut' me up a process which meant
standing on one's head so long as one's
tormentor chose. Palsied with fright. I
had wit enough to slip out of and under
the bed.
The big boy seized the end of the bed
and Jerked it home into the cupboard.
At the same moment I encircled his bare
ankles with fingers icy from fright. He
gave a blood-curdling yell and fled.
The old beds, hacked and hewn by
generations of Harrovians, still remain,
but the boys rest in them In horizontal,
not vertical position.
A new boy may suffer mortification
from being Ignored, for unless he comes
from a large preparatory school he is
bound to feel "out of it" for some weeks.
But he need fear no ill treatment, un
less he conspicuously courts it either by
offensive personal habits or undue bump
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companies have entered into a working
agreement by which the diamond output
Is so restricted as to not flood the world
with precious stones and thereby bring
down the prices.
A Chat With Diamond King.
During my stay here I have met Mr.
T. M. Cullinan, the man who discovered
this mighty diamond pipe and from whom
the Cullinan diamond is named. Five
years ago he had only a few thousand
dollars, but he is now worth ten or IB
millions, and he might be called the
world's diamond king. He Is the chair
man of the company which owns the
mine, and he still spends much of his time
at the works. Mr. CiOMnan looks more
like a miner than a millionaire. He is a
well built man of 65 years of age, and
Is the picture of health. He has a dark
complexion, and dark hair and eyes. His
forehead Is broad, his nose straight, and
his lower Jaw heavy, showing determina
tion and grit. I understand that he start
ed life poor and that some of his first
money was made as a bricklayer.
As he got a lrtUe ahead he became a
contractor; and as such had a series of
tips and downs which left him at the age
of 50 worth perhaps $60,000. I asked htm
now he made his great strike. He re
piled: "Diamonds have been long known to
exist in this region. They were discov
ered here years ago, "and one alluvial
claim had been pegged out and floated
at a capitalization of 150,000 only a short
distance from where the Premier is.
About four years ago I was looking up
this -alley. prospecting for diamonds. I
found several leads with good Indications
and they all seemed to go toward this
point.
The property then belonged to a
Dutchman who had something like 1500
in England
Are Preserved.
tiousness. If the newcomer is the right
Fort he becomes speedily possessed of
that familiar spirit the genus- loci.
The limitations of the public school boy
are remarkable. He is curiously Incap
able of enthusiasms, or even Interest In
life, outside his own circle. He is almost
invariably lukewarm concerning art,
science or any culture except that of the
body. He can never be made to under
stand that in refusing to profit by the
first-class Intellectual opportunity lying
beneath his nose he is not only fooUsh
but even dishonest, inasmuch as he is
not "giving his governor" as he would
express It "a fair run for his money."
He has little sympathy with poverty
or Infirmity, although he subscribes
handsomely for him to his school mis
sion in the East End. He is from an
American point -of view slightly tainted
with snobbishness; not that he meanly
loves mean things for he does not but
because he is saturated with a sense of
his class superiority.
He does not talk about It. but he is
permeated with the conviction that he Is
an epitome of what a gentleman's son
ought to be. He is also serenely confident
that the world cannot wag on prosperous
ly without him; that a place, a comfort
able billet, awaits him which none other
can nil.
Time, however, will make mincemeat
of this conviction, for already the board
school boy, the "outsider," Is competing
on equal terms with the young aristo
crat, and the easy sinecures for illiterate
cadets of noble families have almost
ceased to be. Personally speaking. I
believe that the public school boy when
he wakes up will hold his own. but he is
still napping sublimely unconscious of
the troublesome future which lies ahead
of him.
Tears ago the Etonian was depicted in
a comic paper as saying, solemnly, "Any
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acres of land. He was using It for stock
raising and was renting out small patches
to the natives about. He knew of the
possibilities of diamonds being found in
the land, and he made his price accord
ingly. He refused to sell except as a
whole and that for a lump sum of 52,
000, or about $200,000 In American money.
I had prospected enough to know that
the ground contained diamonds, and I
had no doubt but that the mine could be
floated to pay a good profit on the above
price. I therefore put in my own money
and induced others to join me. We theft
bought the farm and the result is the
Premier."
"Had you any Idea of the enormous
possibilities of the property?" I asked.
"No. My wildest dream did not reach
the conceptions of this biggest diamond
mine of the world and of the discovery
of the largest diamond ever known. I
thought there might be a diamond pipe
somewhere upon the farm, and I was
pretty sure that the land contained
enough alluvial diamonds to give us our
money back, even If no pipe were dis
covered."
"What was your original capital?"
"It was Just the same that It is today,
namely, 80,000. Of this we paid 52.
000 to Prlnsloo, the Dutchman who owned
the land, and used the balance as a
working capital."
"And what became of the Dutchman?"
"He is still living In a little mud hut
fellow who leaves Eton knowing any
thing is entitled to call himself a self
educated man." As a matter of fact a
sound education Is offered to English
public school boys, but only those who
are wise enough to profit by It.
Living on Ten Cents' Per Week.
Harper's Weekly.
"D'y'u find smoking hurts y"u?" neks
Blddle.
"It probably doesn't do me any good.
I said; "but I'd have trouble quitting it."
"No' y'u wouldn't. Smoke this." He
took from his vest pocket the fellow to
the stogy in his mouth and tossed it
across the table to me. "Ever hear how
BUI Doollttle lived on 10 cents a week?"
I confessed that Bill's economies had
never been brought to my attention.
"Wal," said Biddle, "he took dinner
with a friend on Sunday, an' ate enough
to last 'lm till Wednesday. Then he
bought 10 cents' wuth o' tripe, an' he
hated tripe so like thunder that it lasted
"im the rest o' the week. These seegars
work a good deal like that tripe. You
take to smokin' 'em, an' y'u won't want
more 'n one er two a day."
The Way of the Wild Blush Boa
W. E. Keyes.
I know the way of the wild blah rose
That blooms In the coppice there
The wild blush rose whose beauty Iow
In the languid Summer air.
For oh. she loves to be wooed and won.
And ehe opes her heart to the ardent sun
And she tells her love while yet she may.
For love does last but a Summer's day.
I know the way of the nishtlntrale
In the dark green Ilex tree.
For each pure note from her pulsing throat
Breathes love's wild ecstasy.
She sings that her listening swatn may
know
The tender rapture that moves her so.
For soon, too soon, the leaf grows sere
And love will pass with the passing year.
But who can know the way of a maid
When her heart Is sweetly thrilled?
Ieep down In hor eyes the secret lies
And the song on her Hp Is stilled.
But locked In love's first dear embrace.
A new light ehlres In her upturned face;
There's a song in her breast that snail
never die.
For the love of a maid is for aye and aye.
not far from here," replied Mr. Cullinan.
"He made a good bargain In selling his
farm. He paid only 500 for it and he
got 52,000. He refused to give me an
option on the property at 150.000, al
lowing me three months to prospect to
see whether 1 would take it or not. He
afterward sold another farm, which cost
him less than this, for 120.000. so that
altogether he realized about $800,000 of
your money for his lands. Nevertheless,
notwithstanding his wealth, he still
sticks to his mud hut."
The Premier Mine.
I asked Mr. Cullinan to tell me some
thing about the Premier mine. He re
plied: "It is so big that we really cannot say
Just how .big it is. The pipe has an area
of about SO acres. It is shaped some
what like a pear, and the walls are al
most vertical. We have already sunk
diamond drills to a depth of 1000 feet
and ha found diamonds in the blue
all the way down. We do not know
how much farther the pipe extends, but
probably to a great depth."
"How about the quality of your dia
monds?" "It is good and It improves as we go
down. The diamonds of the Premier
mine are unusually large. The great
Cullinan weighs over 3000 carats and we
have discovered a number of 300 or 400
Farmed Thirty
7 -n-i
limn inuijuiyic) , -.
BUT one man in the United States
ever had 600 men and 600 horses
working on hla farm, using 150 gang
plows that turn from three to 18 furrows
at a time, 70 gang drills, 150 self-binding
harvesters and 12 steam threshing out
fit?, and shipping two trainloads of
wheat every day in the threshing season,
says a Fargo, N. D., special to the New
York Sun. That man died the other day
at Casselton, 20 miles west of Fargo. He
was Oliver Dalrymple and hla wonderful
farm, which for many years contained
30.000 acres and at the time of his death
17,000, was celebrated abroad as well as
in this country.
Dalrymple was the original bonanza
farmer and he demonstrated the value
in dollars and cents of the combination
of the science of agriculture and modern
business methods. Knowing how to get
the very best seed, how it should be
planted under various conditions, hqw
the crop should be cultivated and how
to market it to the best advantage, he
sat in his late years in his central office
and by telephone received reports daily
from each of the six divisions into which
his farm was cut up for administrative
purposes and gave directions to the di
vision superintendents and their fore
men. Even when he left the central office in
Casselton and went to his beautiful home
on Summit avenue, St. Paul, he kept in.
close touch with all parts of his wide
domain and more than once gave from
there such directions) to his superintend
ents on the farm as the small farmer
gives to his hired hand at the barn door
or beneath the windmill. To thoBe who
know how wise an agriculturist Oliver
Dalrymple was and how carefully he
watched the cultivation of his great
carats each. We found one the other day
which looked to me as though it had
been chipped off the Cullinan."
"Will you not soon flood the world
with diamonds if you keep on at this
rater
"I think not . Whenever times are
good the demand Increases and the peo
ple who buy such things are more nu
merous every year. The Japanese are
now coming into the market and within
recent years you Americans have been
buving more than ever before. There
Is a temporary slump at present on ac
count of the hard times, but that will
pass away and you will want more
than ever."
"Do you not think it would pay to
cheapen the prices?"
"No. I think the high prices are to a
large extent the cause of the demand.
Make diamonds as cheap as glass and
no one would wear them."
Finding the Cullinan.
During my stay here I have seen mod
els of the Cullinan diamond made of
crystal and have talked with Mr. Cul
linan about it and also with the miner
who discovered it. The diamond is Just
about as big as my fist. It is almost the
size of a glass tumbler and it weighs
over one and one-third pounds. It is
about four inches long, two and one
half Inches thick and about two inches
wide. If you can imagine a chunk of
glass of irregular shape weighing about
20 ounces you may have some idea of
the size and shape of this, the greatest
of all diamonds.
The stone was discovered by F. Wells,
the mine overseer of the Premier. He
was superintending the work as I walked
through the diggings today. I asked
him some questions as to his great find.
Said he:
"We discovered the Cullinan diamond
on the 25th day of January, 1904. 4 I had a
gang of natives working not far from
the center of the pipe. We had gone
down to a depth of about five feet from
the surface and had been taking out
good stuff all day. The sun was Just
setting and we were about to knock off,
when I saw something white and spark
ling lying on a slope of the blue. The
rays of the setting sun caught it and It
looked like Are. I took up a pick and
rushed to the spot. The earth was al
ready loose about the stone and in a
short time it was In my hand. It was
so big that I was dazed at my discovery.
I ran with it across the mine to the of
fice, burst Into the manager's room and
laid down the stone before Mr. McHardy
and Mr. Cullinan. They were as much
astonished as myself. We then weighed
It and the next day the word was sent
out that the biggest diamond : of the
world had been found."
A Costly Mail Package.
It is Interesting to know how this great
diamond got to London. Think of the
responsibility of carrying something as
big as your fist, so small that you could
put it In your coat pocket and weighing
little over a pound, worth $1,000,000 or so
from Pretoria, South Africa, to London.
It would be a brave man who would risk
it without a guard, and if a thief could
get hold of it it might be easily smug
gled and carried svay. Nevertheless the
diamond got to London and that without
guards of any kind, save those of his
Majesty's malls. It was put up as a
Thousand Acres in Wheat
tii. TjnMv. and His Colossal Methods in Agriculture.
. . -- -- -- . ,
farm, it is easy to understand his suc
cess as a bonanza farmer.
There were two Dalrymples of the
same sort, Oliver and W. F. They were
brothers and came West from Pennsyl
vania in"lS55. They were of Scotch par
entage and most canny farmers.
Oliver, who was 78 when he died, set
tled in Faribault, Minn., when he was
25 and practiced law and engaged in a
loan and land business. He became con
vinced that there was more money to be
made out of the soli than anything else,
and in 1864 took up agriculture in Wash
ington County, Minn., and seeded 2500
acres.
Nine years later he turned his attention
to Dakota, then a vast unpeopled plain.
The Northern Pacific Railroad was ex
tended to Bismarck in that year, 1S75. and
between Bismarck and Fargo there wasn't
a mile of railroad track or a dwelling.
Dalrymple. with the instinct of the true
pioneer, scented a rich future for the
Western prairies and induced his friend
E. B. Grandln to go and spy out the land.
Grandln looked over some sections of
Dakota carefully and sent back word for
Dalrymple to come on.
In 1S75 and 1876 Dalrymple bought from
the Northern Pacific Railroad and from
the United States Government 75,000 acres
of land in the Red River Valley. Part of
this land he acquired for himself, and of
the rest he was half owner, the other
proprietor, being Gen. G. W. Cass, then
president of the Northern Pacific road,
B P. Cheney, of Boston, and J- I
B. B. Grandln. of Pennsylvania
The lands were paid for in Indian scrip
and railroad stock at par. and in that way
cost from 40 cents to $3 an acre. The
same lands are worth on an average
$25 an acre now. but this rise of price
could only be guessed at In the day when
Dalrymple made his first big deal.
Few people then believed that the Red
5, A
"I t '
package, registered and sent by parcel
post. I asked Mr. Cullinan if he was not
afraid to risk so much in that way. He
replied:
"I don t know of anything that could
be safer. No one knew what was In tne
package, and it was carried with less
danger bv mail than had It been guarded
by soldiers."
"I understand, however, that the stone
was insured for $2,000,000, although the
government received loss than SO cents
for carrying It, and the maximum
amount which could liave been recovered
from it in case of loss was less than $10.
At the same time a dummy parcel sup
posed to contain the diamond is said to
have been ostentatiously taken to Cape
Town and thence to Southampton, while
the real treasure lay as an ordinary
parcel in the mails.
A Royal Present.
Just how much the Cullinan diamond
is worth no one knows. Nothing like It
has ever been discovered and there is no
standard of comparison. It may be worth
$1,000,000 or it may be worth $2,000,000 or
more. According to the laws of the
Transvaal; 60 per cent of all the dia
monds go to the state, and the govern
ment here had their 60 per cent interest
in it. It purchased the balance of the
mine-owners, and then made a present
of the diamond to the King of England.
This was on the occasion of his Majesty's
birthday last November.
After the presentation the diamond wss
given over to the authorities at Scotland
Yard and it has since been taken to
Holland to be cut. It is now in the
hands of the great diamond-cutting
establishment of Asscher & Co.. who cm
ploy 500 or 600 men In their factories at.
Amsterdam, and who are noted for their
fine workmanship. It was this company
which cut the Excelsior stone, the larg
est diamond In the world before the dis
covery of the Culllnain, and It has han
dled the best of the uncut stones discov
ered in Africa during the past 15 years.
The Great Diamond Split.
I am told here that the great diamond
has already been split and that one of
the pieces, which will be cut and
polished, weighs 1000 carats. This will be
made into a pear-shaped brilliant and It
will be by far the largest diamond of the
world.
It will take more than a year to cut
and polish the stone, and it Is not yet
known Just how many diamonds will he
made from it. The diamond is kept at
night in a special safe in the Vaults of
the factory and ts guarded by the Dutch
police. The vaults have walls of cement
and Iron three-fourths of a yard thick
and the door is an eight-inch plate of
steel with nine concealed locks. The dia
mond is taken from the safe every morn
ing by the head of the firm. He is armed
with a revolver and accompanied by ten
members of his staff, who leave him
while he secretly unlocks the door. The
stone is then carried to the workroom,
which was especially built for the pur
pose and is given over to a specialist.
Henri Koe. who does the cutting and
polishing. He is locked in the room with
the diamond and is not allowed to go
out, even for his meals. The polishing
Is being done on a plate of 16 inches in
diameter, which 1s four inches wider
than that used for ordinary stones. The
plate runs at a rate of 2400 revolutions
per minute, and the polishing is per
formed by a paste of crushed diamonds
and oil.
River Valley land had any particular
agricultural value. Mr. Dalrymple had
said that in the Spring of 1876 a large
portion of'his farming property was under
water, and on a windy day the whitecaps
rolled over the broad expanse with suf
ficient force to swamp a small boat.
But the Dalrymples and the Grandlns
were convinced even then of the value
for agricultural purposes of the rich black
soil of the now famous valley, and Dal
rymple said that whether the surround
ing country should remain unsettled or
not it would command a price above $20
an acre before many years.
Without delay he set out to demon
strate his faith in the future of the
plains, and for five years he broke 6"O0
acres each year. Practically all of the
30,000 acres was put into wheat. Of this
farm Mr. Dalrymple owned three-fourtns
and he was the general manager.
The necessity of dividing the farm Into'
administrative and working sections was
apparent to Dalrymple from the outset.
He made each of his superintendents
directly responsible for the working of
2500 acres, and each superintendent, find
ing that the executive business required
all of his time, appointed foremen, who
made the rounds of the fields on horse
back. The 25 years which Oliver Dalrymple
spent as a resident of St. Paul didn't
change him from a farmer. He always
Insisted that he was such, and those who
called him a capitalist or a captain of
industry offended him. He was a man of
retiring disposition and modest manner,
and often declared that he was happiest
when he was at Casselton or riding
across his expansive fields and talking
with his men about the thing which had
occupied so large a part of Mb life and
brought him great riches the production
of wheat.