RICH YET POOR

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21470, 11 May 1935, Page 10

RICH YET POOR

—♦ — Kimberley Suffers From Depression DEVELOPMENT OF TOWN REVIEWED ■ . I (Contributed) Undoubtedly one of tlie most depressing experiences of the Imperial Press delegation during their recent tour of the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia was the visit to the once world-famed Kimberley, the town which went down in history for the prolonged siege it sustained in the Anglo-Boer War, though more particularly did it become and long remain world-renowned for its remarkable and endless outcrop of diamonds. It is only a small city, but around it is woven one of the most intriguing and romantic stories in the discovery of some of the world's most precious stones. To find the origin of this great industry whose growth involved so many major changes m the political, industrial and social development of South Africa, one has to go back to 1806 when a little child picked up a pretty shining pebble to piav with and thus set in motion the train of events reaching a climax in the discovery and development of the Kimberley diamond mines. A Lucky Find A Mr Sclialk van. Niekerk admired the pretty stone and Mrs Jacobs, the child's mother, made him a present of it. A trader named O'Reilly later visited the van Niekerk's house, suspected it was a diamond anu liact it tested. The pretty pepoie proved to be ' a diamond ot 21 i carats and it was * sold lor £SOO, tne fortunate motner of the child receiving a full half of van Niekerii's profit in the transaction. The stone nad been picked up on a river-bed a few miles distant. Other diamonds were found and two years later Mr van Niekerk, after due en- 1 cjuiry, came in touch with a native : witen-dccior, the possessor of a muehdiseussed charm. This proved to be ; a diamond—the famous Star of South Alrica—l'cr which van Niekerk re- ! eeivcd £11,200, van Niekerk himself • navmg given lire witch-doctor cattle to Die vaiue of about £250. 1 These and otner discoveries soon became known and hundreds of young men quickly trekKed to Kimberley m ihe quest of adventure and fortune. Within a year, the press delegates were told, the lure ot diamonds was attracting people from all parts of the world, ana quite a number went irom New Zealand and Australia. Thus the great industry started, and in the succeeding years many millions of pounds wortn were won from the mines. One discovery was eclipsed by another even more sensational, and with the rapid introduction of improved methods of mining the industry quickly assumed immense proportions. "The Biff Hole" Excavations began on what became the largest man-made hole in the world, and diamonds of the highest' grade were found in great quantities in what is known as the "big hole" of Kimberley. The delegates spent an interesting hour walking round and examining the "hole," and endeavoured 10 judge its dimensions by throwing stones, not one of which landed halfway across the miniature lake which has formed at the bottom. This brief reference to Kimberley and its intriguing history would not, be complete without mention of the part its leading spirits played in the development of Southern Africa. Those who transformed Johannesburg from the bare veldt into the scene of the greatest goldmining enterprise in the world and the largest city in the Union, were chiefly men from the diamond field. Kimberley was the inspiration and the source from which much of the necessary capital was obtained, and it has thus been rightly termed Ihe godfather of the Rand. It was the wealth which Kimberley gave Cecil Rhodes that made possible the realisation of his great ambition to win South Africa for the Empire. Furthermore, without his great wealth and his remarkable vision there would possibly be no Rhodesia, that delightful and enterprising young colony .which will always regard Rhodes as its national hero. Pulsator Started Yet to-day Kimberley is almost a dead city. .The world-wide slump has certainly left its mark on this onceprosperous community, and in its comatose condition it awaits eagerly the lifting of the dark clouds of an economic depression in which the world cannot afford to buy diamonds. It was along these lines that Sir Ernest Oppenheimer addressed the Imperial Press c.elegation when they were the guests of the great Dc Beers Consolidated Mines at luncheon at the Kimberley Club. Though the bottom has dropped out of Kimberley there was a spark of hope in the decision of De Beers to mark the visit of the press delegation by smarting up one of the pulsators which had. with the rest of the mining plant, been idle for some years. This pleasant task fell to Lady Violet Astor, the wife of the leader of the delegation, and amidst great jubilation the idle machinery was set in motion. How long this will continue depends entirely upon the demand for diamonds, but the population of Kimberley greeted De Beers' gesture with enthusiasm, and great hopes were expressed for a prolonged, continuation

of their operations. Kimberley claims to be the sunniest town in the whole world, and, for its size, the richest in mineral wealth. In the 70 years since the small child found the * lucky "pebble" no" less than £260,000,000 worth of diamonds has been mined. Leaving Kimberley, the delegation proceeded by rail through the Bechuanaland corridor—the "Suez Canal" to the interior and Rhodesia—where they arrived two days later to receive a most cordial welcome from tbe hospitable people o£ Bulawayo.