462 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dealers for conveying the stolen diamonds out of Kimberley. 

 They are considerably assisted by the fact that the boundaries of 

 the Transvaal and of the Free State approach within a few miles 

 of Kimberley, and once across the border they are comparatively 

 safe. Recently, so I was informed, a notorious diamond thief was 

 seen leaving Kimberley on horseback for the Transvaal. Con- 

 vinced of his iniquitous designs, he was seized by the police on 

 the border and thoroughly searched. Nothing was found on him, 

 and he was perforce allowed to proceed. No sooner was he well 

 across the border, than he, under the eyes of the detective, de- 

 liberately shot and cut open his horse, extracting from its intes- 

 tines a large parcel of diamonds, which, previous to the journey, 

 had been administered to the unfortunate animal in the form of 

 a ball. 



The De Beers directors manage their immense concern with 

 great liberality. A model village, called Kenilworth, within the 

 precincts of the mines, affords most comfortable and healthy ac- 

 commodation for several of the European employes. Gardens are 

 attached to cottages, and the planting of eucalyptus, cypress, pine, 

 and oak, as well as a variety of fruit trees, has been carried to a 

 considerable extent. A very excellent club-house has also been 

 built, which includes, besides the mess-room and kitchen, a read- 

 ing-room, where many of the monthly papers and magazines are 

 kept, together with six hundred volumes from the Kimberley 

 Public Library. There is also a billiard-room, with two good 

 tables given by two of the directors. A large recreation-ground 

 is in the course of construction. Within the compound where 

 the native laborers are confined is a store where they can procure 

 cheaply all the necessaries of life. Wood and water are supplied 

 free of charge, and a large swimming-bath is also provided, but I 

 did not learn if the natives made much use of it. All sick natives 

 are taken care of in a hospital connected with the compound, 

 where medical attendance, nurses, and food are supplied gratui- 

 tously by the company. I should not omit to mention that the 

 entire mine, above and under ground, is lighted by electricity. 

 There are ten circuits of electric lamps for De Beers and Kimber- 

 ley mines. They consist of fifty-two arc lamps of 1,000 candle- 

 power each, and G91 glow lamps of sixteen and sixty -four candle- 

 power each, or a total illuminating power of G3,G96 candles. There 

 are, moreover, thirty telephones connecting the different centers 

 of work together, and over eighty electric bells are used for sig- 

 naling in shafts and on haulages. Such is this marvelous mine, 

 the like of which I doubt whether the world can show. When 

 one considers the enormous capital invested, the elaborate and 

 costly plant, the number of human beings employed, and the 

 object of this unparalleled concentration of effort, curious reflec- 



