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FIRE IN THE EARTH
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and 500 carats; 35 were between 300 and 400 carats; and 276 were between 200 and 300 carats.
The
majority of them didn't even have names. This is less a reflection upon
the enterprise of their owners than it is upon their lack of subtle
publicity methods. Most of the owners were less interested in publicity
than in the business of cutting the stones; they knew very well that
the market for faceted diamonds of large size is limited. So they cut
them up without bothering to give them a name. The Baum-gold diamond,
for instance, wasn't named until after it had been cut into many small
stones—and only then in order to identify it on the company's books.
Yet it weighed 605 carats!
In
view of the success of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., it is
interesting to find that disaster—the worst in South Africa's mining
history—marked the first year of its organization. On July 11, 1888, a
great fire swept the De Beers mine, causing the deaths of 178 natives
and 24 white men. It is believed that a native miner had left a lighted
candle in the engine-room on the 500-foot level and then proceeded to
go to sleep. He never woke up.
There
was no way to signal the men in the mine. The first intimation was
dense smoke pouring out of the shaft. Heroic workers tried to descend
to warn and help the men below, but after going down 100 feet they were
driven back by the smoke and collapsed on the surface. From below
desperate men pleaded for a fast skip. One was sent down and boarded by
choking workers. A signal was given to hoist the skip at top speed. But
when it was about 300 feet from the surface the wire winding rope
parted, the broken end came whizzing up through the shaft, but the skip
with its load of men fell crashing to the bottom. By this time the
shaft itself was on fire. Fortunately for some of the men an
(60)
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