FORTUNES FOR SPEED

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 2, 24 March 1927, Page 2

FORTUNES FOR SPEED

TRANSVAAL DIAMOND RACE PEGS AND RUNNING’SHOES Fortunes come to the speedy on the Transvaal. A new diamond field offers rich prizes for the man who can outstrip others in the race for claims. Diamond mining: in South Africa appears to be done with one ear on the starting-pistol. Descriptions of a recent diamond-rush reads more like the report of a big athletic event. Seventeen thousand competitors lined up at the starting-point, many of them trained athletes in running costumes. At the crack ol the pistol they galloped madly into the distance, till the landscape began to resemble the scene of a gainl •cuss-country race. The prize for this even', open to allcomers, w* s a piece of bluish coloured clay, a few yards in area, in which a nest of diamonds was more than likely to be hidden. This is South Africa’s way of throwing open a mining-area to the public. it is a sort of organised rush, conducted according to sporting rules, far more exciting than the old methods of the Australian goldfields, or the roaring camps of Bret Harte. All that miners in those days required was a pistol and a set of whiskers. To-day the diamond-miner in Sou:h Africa needs to be a long-distance runner. They go into training for u mining-rush in the Transvaal. Professional sprinters are in keen demand. The system, after all. is only fair. According to South African mining law, when a Government grant is thought to contain diamonds, the Crown announces its intention of throwing the reserve open to the public. The exact boundary of the area is determined, and marked by flags or posts. The date and time of the reading of the proclamation opening the reserve is advertised, and by dawn on the morning of the official day an immense crowd of prospective leaseholders assembles anxiously on the boundary-line. Amidst scenes of overwrought emotion, the mining warden approaches with the official proclamation. He stands on the boundary-iline and reads the Government notice. Immediately he has finished a signal is given, either by a pistol shot or by lowering a flag, and the huge crowd dashes frantically off into the promised land, to scramble for leaseholding sites. First come, first served is the rule. Whoever gets his pegs down first is entitled to a prior claim for leasing the territory he has marked out. Consequently, it resolves itself into a question of getting to the desired spot firsts But under a stringent clause of the law no artificial means of speed is allowed. Motor-ears, horses, bicycles, or motor-bikes are forbidden. The competitors have to get to their goal by foot. This explains the demand for long-distance run-, ners, who represent investors who probably wouldn’t be able to run 100 yards personally without collapsing. This also explains why many of th€i miners turn up In running attire. For a few minutes there is a wild scramble to claim favourable territory, and the slowest runners nave to be content with what the fleeter athletes leave. The competitors usually carry their pegs with them as they run—little posts of wood with long spikes attached for sticking in the ground. According to the cabled account, the most recent diamond-rush was spoilt by a false start. Apparently a large number of the 17,000 competitors, straining at the tape, tried to beat the pistol, and got away before the official proclamation had been finished, A further cable described how the rush had to* be re-run. The field got away without a hitch, and every inch of land that was any good was pegged out. Huge sums, continues the cable, were offered to professional runners —one of South Africa’s best refused £ 1000 to peg out four claims, but others accepted. It was reported that four Australian professionals were imported specially for the rush, but how they fared in that welter of rushing feet the cable did not say. MOUNDS FOR PEGS.

A thoughtful provision in the law allows miners, in the absence of suitable timber, to st .ke out their claims by making mounds of earth or stone at the corners. This is apparently intended for regions where there are no trees for miles around. There is a legend that one claim was actually staked out, in an emergency, with ordinary safety-matches! The statute governing the proceedings lays down that no other means of transport but foot shall be allowed in the area thrown open, for the space of one hour after the proclamation l.as been read. Also, no lease-holder shall be allowed to employ a native to represent him, and there can be no claim-pegging between sunset and sunrise. If Nurmi went to the Transvaal he would probably make his fortune. The last big African rush was on an alluvial diamond-field in 1925. A huge procession of motor-cars, carts, bicycles and horses carried the crowd to the starting-post. More than a thousand runners lined up as the proclamation was read. The signal was given by hauling down a flag from the top of a mast. Mounted police galloped off with the tide of runners, to see that there were no disputes over claims or other illegalities. As an instance of the generosity ot the average miner, it is interesting to discover that at this particular rush a returned soldier named Bill Marshall, who had lost a leg in the campaign in German South-west Africa, was a wistful spectator. He had examined the area himself, and had picked out a likely-looking spot, but ho was faced with the hopeless task of reaching it before other people with claim-pegs could forestall him. He had given the thing up as futile, and was watching the preliminary preparations rather gloomily, when the chairman of the Diggers’ Association noticed him. SPORTING ATHLETE. lie gussed what waa wrong, and thereupon asked Len Richardson, the South African long distance champion runner, if he would peg a claim for the crippled soldier. Richardson, who is himself an ex-service man, agreed at once, and hastily got into running costume. As soon as the signal was given he rrced to the front, and led the field tc the coveted territory by 150 yards. He secured for Marshall one of the best claims on the field, on the famous Bamboo Spruit portion. All fi e miners were delighted at the result, and the incident must have been a god-send to Marshall, for a number of diamonds that were found on the field subsequently sold at from £ 300 tc £7OO each.