Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1886 — CONCERNING DIAMONDS. [ARTICLE]

CONCERNING DIAMONDS.

t'ecnliar Formations of the Mine* in South Africa. tf/memm’* Mngoiiiie.] And now the most interesting questions present themselves: How did the Suutli African d iamonds ever get there ? How mucltdeepor are we going down? Are diamonds going to be found in as large quantities as at present? There are various theories as to how these mines have been formed, but all agree in attributing them to volcanio action. They are all funnel-shaped, the sides of the funnel being composed of a dense igneous rock, known in miners’parlance as “reef.” It is of a Boapy nature, easily acted upon by the atmosphere, consequently most dangerous, as large pieces, in some instances weighing hundreds of tons, get detached. 1 There are no means of shoring it up, and without warning these slices will slide off into the working portion of the mines, burying the claims, and sometimes killing the employes. The hole of this funnel is filled with this “blue” ground, the reef sloping at various angles, but on an average of one in fifteen. The theory is, that fin time the Bides of the reef will meet at some great depth, supposed by some to« be 1,000 feet, by others more; and that then we shall arrive at the aperture forming the bottom of the funnel. Whether that hole will again expand into a further cavity, is, of course, matter for speculation. It should be remembered that the diamonds were not formed where they are now found. The hot liquid containing the diamonds was forced by some great cataclysm of nature through the solid earth, the bulgings in the sides of the mines being very soft and shaly, showing where the rock was not sufficiently hard to resist the enormous pressure. Now it has been observed that in Kimberley there must have been ten distinct upheavals; in Dutoitspan,'twenty-five; in Bultfontein, three or four; and in De Beers, three ; and this has been proved by tlie varying nature of the ground. If one upheaval only had taken place the center of the funnel would have contained one particular kind of soil. As tlie miners go deeper a great alternation is noticed in tlie character of the soil. They have actually found pieces of the top reef and top soil at a depth of 400 feet. This shows that in the succeeding upheavals vacuums were formed and the whole funnel became in a state of tumult, the upper layers of oxidized earth returning to their ancient depths to give place to the Othor carbonaceous matter which, by successive exposure to the atmosphere, became oxidized and assumed the yellow color seen so frequently in the heaps and embankments of rejected debris.

The Sailing; Packets of 1842. At the period of which I speak the sailing packets which ran between London and New York and between Liverpool and that port were ships of 500 to 600 tons burden. The state-rooms —as the little cabins ranged on either side of the saloon..were, termed—were below the sea level. They were incommodious, dark, and ill-ventilated; in fact, the only light they enjoyed was that furnished by small pieces of ground glass inserted in the deck overhead and from the fanlights in the doors opening to the saloon, and this was so poor that the occupants of the state-rooms could not even dress themselves without making use of a lamp. The sole ventilation of them was that afforded by the removal of the saloon skylight, which, of course, could only be done in line weather. The consequence was that the closeness of the atmosphere in the state-rooms was at all times most unpleasant, while the smell of the bilgewater was so offensive as to create nausea independent of that arising from the motion of the vessel. In the winter, on the other hand, the cold was frequently severe. There was, it is true, a stove in the saloon, but the heat from it scarcely made itself appreciably felt in the side cabins. In other matters there was the same absence of provision for the comfort of passengers. The fresh water required for-drinking and cooking purposes was carried in casks, and, when the ship had a full cargo, many of these were placed on deck, with the result that their contents were sometimes impregnated with salt water from the. waves shipped in heavy Mmaa. JJia.. wfttefcjffiM--most unpalatable, it being muddy and , filled with various impurities from the old worm-eaten barrels in which it was kept. Not only w r as the water bad, but the supply occasionally proved inadequate, and when the voyage was an unusually long one the necessity would arise of placing the passengers upon short allowance. There was cow on hoard, but there was no other milk to be had than what she supplied, ho way of preserving it having then been discovered. Canned fruit and vegetables were equally unknown. There was commonly a fair provision of mutton and pork, live sheep and pigs being carried, hut of other fresh meat and offish the stock was generally exhausted by the time the vessel had been a few* days at sea; refrigerators at that period not having been invented.— Chambers’ Journal. Restlessness That Ruins Homes. Thousands of farmers every, year leave pleasant-homes in the older settled States and make long and tedious pilgrimages to newer States and Territories, not driven to it by necessity, but by a chronic restlessness—ah idea that it is possihle somewhere else to get on a little faster in the world. In nine cases out of ten the man would ,bq better off where he is, but he is never satisfied until he has made at least one or two changes. Homes are destroyed in the most ruthless manner in pursuit of tlliSzfr phantom of bettering one’s self—homes which can never really be restored to ** the family, for home is something more than the roof which shelters ns. The associations of childhood, the friends of early days, the memories bf ihe'paSt, the ancestral graves unou the hillside —are these nothing? It will take more years than the most of ns can afford to build up a new home and get into it the feeling with which we regard our present one, be it ever so Imfahlo. If yon always live with those who are lame you will yourself learn to: limp.