BUILT ON DIAMONDS

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6944, 25 June 1929, Page 4

BUILT ON DIAMONDS

Kimberley and its Contrasts

Kimberley, the South African diamond city, is, iu many respects, unique on earth still. Some time ago there was an agitation lhere in favour of renovating the old cemetery, whore rest the remains of famous men. Wncn the work actually started, the very first day, was found in a crevice in a falling wall a dirty cloth containing enough diamonds to complete the work and then leave a nice cash balance.

“Built upon diamonds’’ is literally true of the city of Kimberley. Even new the municipality sells the right to wash for diamonds along an unmade ■street for more than it costs to grade, metal, kerb and channel the now thoroughfare. The city fathers are in the. unique position of being able to construct new streets at an actual profit on the work.

Whenever a building in Kimberley is destroyed by lire there is eager competition to pay lavishly for the privilege of washing the foundations upon which the building stood for diamonds. If the owner of the demolished building retains a share in tho diamondwashing operations, as is usually the case, his percentage frequently defrays the cost of a new building. This is done only by arrangement with the De Beers Diamond Mining Company—all the lots arc leased with a reservation regarding diamond rights in favour of the controlling company, De Beers. The walks in the public gardens are surfaced with fino blue gravel, debris from the mine diamond washing. That gravel contains millions of small garnets, or Cape rubies, and when promenading to tho strains of t.ho band on Sunday evenings anyone oan pick up a handful of the loose topping of the walks and therefrom sort out half a dozen small rubies.

Packets of rubies, some of them of a size for cutting and polishing, arc given away as souvenirs to most visitors who obtain tho necessary permit/ to view the mines.

Tho putting greens of the golf course are topped with the same debris—-the “greens’’ are “blue’’ in Kimberley. Tho golf course is infested with the peculiar rolling beetle of tropical Africa—big beetles which roll dirt with their hind logs—a la the leg and foot work of Japanese jugglers. But tho beetles are more finished artists than any human juggler. Half a. dozen exhibited at vaudeville' houses would make any show—and they would need no training either. ' '• V Probably tho best true golf story ever told has its foundation in the astonishment and language of a visitor, who, after searching for a long time for a mysteriously missing golf ball for a good drive, discovered one of those beetles busily rolling his ball away. Diamonds are frequently picked up on tho streets, and still more frequently on tennis courts and football grounds, where the' surface is periodically raked and rolled. The finder receives a percentage of the value of

the stone as found which, under strict penalties, is by law to be handed in at Dc Beers offices.

The only two patches of real grass in the city are the bowling green, which costs the bowling club a fortune for water, and a small plot in the grounds of the public libraryw Outdoor games are played on bare ground topped with diamondiferous blue. Ninety per cent of tho injuries to football players there are due to gravel rash from unexpected contact with the playing ground. It costs householders more to have dirty water removed than they pay for fresh water piped into their dwellings, as Kimberley, the richest town iu the world, has no drainage system. Every building in the town, from shack to huge store and millionaire’s residence, was, up to three years ago, roofed with corrugated iron. The hail beating upon theso roofs during ono of the terrific hailstorms which mark tho wet season, creates almost a.s much .noise as the barrage which preceded tho attack on Regina trench during the Somme offensive, according to one who heard both.

The curfew bell rings at nine each night, and no male native is allowed in town after that hour without a special, pass from his boss. Smuggling playing cards into the compound which house .the thousands of native mine labourers is almost as profitable as smuggling diamonds out of the compounds—-and both arc risky undertakings. Natives regard sardines as a 1 great luxury, and tho streets of Kimberley are strewn with discarded cans. The favourite method of eating the delicacy is to smash open the oan with a stone, extract the fish with the fingers, and then drink the oil.

Native convicts undergoing life sentences do much of the diamond sorting for two reasons—their phenomenally keen eyesight, and tho fact that as they will never regain their liberty they have no incentive to steal diamonds. At race meetings gambling tables are run openly, and all tha local community of Chinese attend the races to play the tables, and nover bother to watch tho horses. If anyone offers to sell you a diamond in Kimberley, the safest reply is to leave the person making the offer—ten to one he is a trap in tho omloy of the famous 1.D.8. department—illicit diamond buying department. Few Diamonds Worn in Kimberley. The leakage of stolen stones from the mines is estimated by the De Beers Company at £IO,OOO per month,, and that despite the almosrt unbelievable efforts of a secret detective department.

Pew diamonds are worn in Kimberley except “fancy’’ atones with a distinct tinge of brown, blue or pink, which are freaks. The old open mine, the site of the first discovery of diamonds is the largest artificial hole in the world. When, after heavy storms, the sides of that hole cave in, a cloud of dust is thrown up which darkens Kimberley f-or days at a stretch.

When a swarm of locusts visit the town everything else stops, and the stores declare a holiday and barricade

tli ear doors and windows to keep the visitors out. After tropical rains the streets become rushing torrents, and portable bridges are placed in positions at busy corners, or pedestrians would be in danger of being swept away and drowned, which has happened more than once. Cockerels crow all night, and mosquitoes are busy day and night. De Beers’ collection of selected diamonds includes pink, red, blue and brown—but not a black one.