DIAMOND DIGGING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 29 November 1927, Page 8

DIAMOND DIGGING

THE GRASFONTEIN RUSH LIFE ON THE FIELDS. A Hastings resident has received a letter from a friend who is at the diamond fields at Grasfontein, South Africa. It will be remembered that, the cables recently reported the gr® a t rush which took place there. Ihe correspondent says:— ■•Just think of a comparatively small area of land occupied by 65,000 white people and say at least 120,000 blacks. Not all the white people are digging—some are running faro joints, others crown and anchor boards, or anything else in the nature of gambling, also dance halls, slygrog shops, etc. Young fellows go about in Tom Mix hats, red handkerchiefs round their necks and loaded revolvers in their belts. These guns come out on the slightest provocation too. Most of the people live in tents, others own shacks or shelters made out of hessian. There is no attempt at sanitation. If an epidemic breaks out Lord help them all. “It is quite useless anyone attempting to get diamonds unless he has a few hundred pounds to cover exjienses until he gets down to paying ground. The diamonds are down fairly deep so that there is a lot of work to be done clearing away the top gravoi which is not worth washing. When 1 say that this ground is not worth washing I mean thh cost of doing so is too heavy, water being from 2/6 to 5/- per barrel, according to how plentiful supplies are. This gravel would probably contain small sand diamonds, but it might cost £5 to wash for about 10/- worth of diamonds. Payable diamonds are found after you get down about 20 feet—if. of course, yon are in the right spot. Now a claim is only 15 yards square, so there is not very much room in which to dig, dump spoil, wash and live. It is as yet unknown how deep the diamondiferous gravel goes as no one has touched bottom. Some men are down 60 feet —one man tested down to 85 feet and found diamonds in the cone of his ariel. The law says that you must not go deeper than 50 feet in alluvial digging, but at present the authorities are winking at what is going on at Grasfontein. Beyond 50 feet it becomes mining like Kimberley, and the work has to he carried ent under certain regulations on account of the risk of falls etc.” FARMER