The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, October 12, 1922, Page 6, Image 6
Diamond Mine
Jn Arkansas
Dearborn Independent.
Comparatively few persons know
that diamonds of pure water
are mined in Arkansas. When the
American Legion annual convention
was held in Kansas City and the newly
elected commander, Hanford MacNider
was presented with an "Arkansas
diamond'' by former Governor
Charles H. Bough, of Arkansas, many
delegates imagined it was a joke and
one newspaper ridiculed the ' idea
that real diamonds were found in Arkansas.
But the diamond that was
given to Commander MacNider
equals in color, brilliancy and hardness
any diamond that comes from
the great mines of South Africa. And
it was mined in Pike County,Arkan
sas. .
It is related tbat the children of
early Dutch settlers in South Africa
played with diamonds as they might
have done with valuless pretty*
bright stones before the first diamond
was identified as such in 1896. The
discovery that the "pretty stones"
really were diamonds was made by
accident. In like manner, the first
diamond found in Arkansas 15 years
ago was picked up and kept merely as
a "pretty stone."
John W. Huddlestone, a farmer,
jnade the find. He picked up a stone
in his field one day but had no idea
of its worth. He had formed a habit
of collecting odd crystals and various
specimens of minerals with which the
neighborhood abounds. But the stone
that he found on this particular occasion
was so different from any he
ever had seen end gave such sharp
' glints of light that he decided to +ake
it to Mufreesboro the n^xt lime he
wrent to see if someone there could
identify it. Several days later, rid
\T 11 frooehnrn on a mule.
he noticed another stone alongside
the road which appeared much like
the one he bad in his pocket. He dismounted
and picked it up. With the
toe of his boot, he kicked at a small
pile of pebbles and uncovered another
one. He took the three to a
bank in Mufreesboro. None of the
officials knew what the stones were
although one of the men did admire
the larger one enough that he offered
\ Huddlestone 50 cents for it. Huddlestone
declined to part with it, saying
he would rather break it up and see
if he could not identify it. Standing
,in the little group of men in the bank
that day was Judge J. C. Pinna, circuit
judge in the district of which
Pike County is a part.
"Why don't you send them to a
jeweler and see what he says about
them?" suggested Julge P4nnex.
So Huddlestone proceeded at once
to wrap up the stones and send them
to Charles S. Stifft in Little Rock.
The-three stones were immediately
recognized as diamonds by Mr.
Stifft. But to get other opinions, he
fowarded the specimen to a firm cf
diamond importers of New York, had
'them inspected by Dr. George F. j
Kunz, recognized as one of the authorities
in America on precious
stones, vice-president ana diamond
expert for Tiffany's and als? gem
expert for the United States Geological
Survey. The stones were pro
nounced diamonds and the experts
declared that they appeared to he as ,
hard and as brilliant as the average
African diamond in the rough.
Dr. Kr.nz was not especially moved
by the news of the discovery. He i
point, d out that diamonds had been
found in several states in America,
by single stones, and these were accounted
f6r as "s'tray stones," the
theory being that they had been left
after the shifting of glaciers thousand;
of ye*rs ago. ?He so informed
the i -i'Vo Rc ;k jeweler, discouraging
any ex.-.i .a/ant hopes until a thorough
invesi nation might be made.
On learning however, that the stones
had he y* found in grounds apparently
of 1 auie origin or nature, Dr.
M*t. a special trip to the
Ark '."as field and was greatly impre.
d with the fact that it appeared
' to have diamonds "in place" in their
rs*'vt; >>eridotite.
t was i* nlained that diamonds
T'? * rind. n two locales, those of
voi< -iv:ic. or'gin being found only in
a blue earth called peridotite. Carbon
at int ise heat, it is supposed, is
subject; 1 to tremendous pressure
and sudd'.-nly cooled by the influx
^ of water, probably in volcanic upheaval.
The other locale of diamonds
in quantity are certain river
beds but it never has been definitely
determined just how they got there.
The search for information that
t might throw light on the Arkansas
field brought out the fact that many
years before State Geologist Branner,
in an official report, had called attention
to 4he presence in Pike County
of peridotite similar to that found
in the South African diamond fields.
But while diamonds "in place" always
are found in volcanic peridotite,
it does no^ follow that all peridotite
contains diamonds. The contrary is
the rele, more volcanic "pipes" con
taning non-diamond peridotite than
otherwise. In any event, the Branner
report did not create any interest
and no one ever thought of prospecting
for diamonds there, although
many prospected for asphaltum, silver
and other minerals in that region
.Meanwhile, * additional finds of
diamonds were being reported and
the experts were convinced that
Pike County contained a real diamond
"pipe." There was no way of
determining if the stones existed in
paying quantities except by developing
the field, and mining, under the
conditions, was an expensive undertaking.
With the prospects seemingly
very good, however, a small company
with $25,000 capital was organized
under the name "The Arkansas Diamond
.Mining Company." In it were
Mr.Stifft, the Little Rock jeweler;
Sam W. Rayburn, then president of
a bank in Little Rock but now general
manager of Lord and Taylor in
New York; A. D. Cohn, department
store owner in Little Rock, and J. C.
Pinnix, the circuit judge of Pike
County.
The little company gave Farmer
Huddlestone ?35,000 for his farm,
much more than its ordinary worth,
after informing Huddlestone of plans
which entailed the prospective sinking
of a considerable sum of money
with the chance of no returns.
Huddlestone ^relinquished ownership
with the understanding that he
could remain upon the property and
that he would be given employment
with the firm. t
Progress in development of the
property was very slow. It wa* almost
impossible to convince even a
limiited number of Arkansans that
real diamonds were to be found in
the state and that there were even
renjote possibilities in the Pike
County field. Work was undertaken
in a crude way, however, being confined
to "surface scratching" and use
of the crudest sort of washing machines.
And diamonds continued to
be found.
English capital became interested
in the "find" a short time after-the
company was a going concern.. The
firm of Lewis and Marks, of London,
owners and financiers of the RobertsVictor
Mine in South Africa, also of
the Veerspoed Mine which afterward
was sold to the DeBeers syndicate,
sent representatives to America to
investigate and make a report dealing
with the new field. Harry D.
Lewis, son of the head of the firm,
and B. Oppenheimer, their diamond
expert, who afterward was created
a baronet by the British Government,
were selected for the mission.
The two men visited Arkansas and
were so impressed with conditions as
they found them that they expressed
a wish to take half the capital stock
of the company, which at that time
had increased its capital to $1,000,000.
The prospects gave the company
renewed hope and the capitalization
was further increased to $1,250,000.
It was arranged that representatives
should go to England for a'
conference with the English syndicate
and Messrs. Stifft, Rayburn and
Cohn were soon afterward in London.
It was impossible to close a deal,
however. The London concern insisted
upon a controlling interest in the
company which the Arkansans declined
to give and the three officials
returned empty-handed.
Lacking the capital for the pur
chase of adequate machinery and rapid
development work, the project
I went along with little change for
several years. Two years ago, eastern
capital beca'me interested, and a
holding company for the "Arkansas
Diamond Corporation" was formed.
It became possible then to buy machinery.
The making of this, linked
with the difficulties of getting materials
to the new field, then almost in
the wilds of Arkansas, held up operations
were begun under modern
methods.
Much of the work now being done
in the Arkansas field, aside from the
mere recovery of the gems, is of a
/est nature. As yet it" is not known
hew many carats per load nor what
the exact cost of getting stones will
be. It is not possible to ascertain until
later the average cost per carat
nnr the average size, color and value
of them. It has been determined however,
that the held in Pike County
embraces 62acres. Com3ared with the
Piemier field of 80 acres i:i Africa,
the Arkansas "pipe" i^ the second
latest in the world.
In the matter of quality, the Arkansas
diamonds are said to average,
in the higher grades, even better
than the output of most of the South
African mines. The first lot sold
brought an average of $129 per carat,
a much better price than those not
familiar with the handling of diamonds
might understand. The
low yrade stones used for manufacturing
and mechanical purposes
range as low as $4 a carat at the
mine and from that low figure diamonds
range upward in worth according
to color, and hardness, anc
perfection. There is, however a large
margin between the mine value anc
the retail value, of between the rougl:
j diamond and the cut gem, but it it
- * \
O. . 1 * vv '
Whiskey/or
W ife, Says Pa
*i
Greenville, Oct. 7.?The Rev: W.
Greenville, Oct. 7?The Rev. W.
P. Step, Baptist preacher from whom
officers confiscated a quart of moonshine
whiskey as he was returning
from a country church where he
had preached a powerful sermon, told
Sheriff Rector today that he was
carrying the whiskey home to his
sick wife. Although Sheriff Rector
stated that he did not think prosecution
would be instituted against
the preacher in the State courts,
the federal--autocrines nave announced
no intention of abandoning the
charges. ,
A preliminary hearing probably
will be given the Rev. Mr. Step next
week. He arranged surety bonds
today before United States Commissioner
Williams on charges of transporting
and having whiskey in his
possession. Two petitions to United
States Judge H. H. Watkins, of the
Western district of South Carolina,
were drawn up yesterday by the people
of Tigerville signed by more than
40 of the best citizens of that community.
The petition requested that
the case be fully explained to the
Federal judge before Mr. Step be
prosecuted.
Sheriff Rector stated today that
in his opinion the case against the
Rev. Mr. Step would not come to
trial, even if there is an indictment.
"I have known this man for a number
of years," said the sheriff, "and
I know him to be an upright, law
abiding citizen, and a devout minister
of the Gospel. He told me that
his wife was ill, and as they live a
long way from a physician his wife
asked him to get her a little whiskey
to mix with some herbs and make
^
some medicine. Some good friend
gave him the quart of whiskey, he
said." Sheriff Rector declared State
Constable J. H. Howard overstepped
" * * *? ~ n r?
his authority wnen ue stuppcu auu
searched the minister without a warrant.
Miss Beatrice Grimshaw, English
authoress, lived 15 years among the
South sea canibals.
The new plague the Mexican lean
beatle, is estimated to consume more
beans than Boston.
easily accounted for.
A diamond in the rough may lose
two-thirds in cutting. A six-carat
stone in the rough may not produce
more than a two-carat cut diamond.,,
The cost of cutting and polishing is
one big additional charge in getting
the final marketable gem.
South African diamonds in the
rough are. subjected to a tax that
ranges from 36 to 60 per cent. The
rough stones are sent to London
where the great diamond syndicate
handles them. There is a charge for
sorting and selling. The stones are
divided into "parcels" in London
and sold to the cutters only a selected
few of whom are allowed to buy.
The syndicate needs no salesmen.
The cutters in Amsterdam, Antwerp
and New York are notified by teleornr?r?Vi
nr rahlp that narcels of dia
feiapa VI ? __ _
monds await them. The buyer goe9
to the seller?not the seller to the
buyer. The buyer cannot haggle over
\
prices. Nor can he pick and choose.
He cannot reject some of the stone?
in a parcel and have them replaced
with others. He must take the parcel
alloted to him or go without. It may
be, and usually so happens, that all
diamonds in a given package or par.cel
are not suitable to the buyer'?
trade. He must take them nevertheless,
and sell what he does not want
to other cutters, not on the syndicate's
list of buyers.
The buyers of the parcels almost
invariably are cutters who make a
business of converting the -rough
stones into cut and polished gems.
The stones which are. brought into
America bear a duty of 10 per cent,
if in the rough, or 20 per cent if cut
and polished. From the cutter,
they go to the broker and the jobber,
then to the manufacturing jeweler
.and from him to the wholesaler
or the retailer and then to the individual.
From the time the diamond
leaves the mine in Africa until it gets
to the buyer, whether by way of
London and Antwerp or Amsterdam
or New York, every process and
' every change in hands entails added
, costs and profits so that the mine
value of the stones is but a small
portion of the eventual price paid for
; them.
The Arkansas mine now has a ca!
pacity of from 300 to 500 loads a
day, this to be increased gradually to
> 5.000 loads a day, if present work is
J satisfactory. The results in handling
the peridotite already disintegrated
- have proven very satisfactory but in
I a measure they are aside from what
' is expected in the hard peridotite.
I Up" to the time the new machinery
l was installed, the Arkansas field
5 [ had yielded 2,000 good diamonds.
'C '
Sicily raises about 8,000,000 boxes
of lemons annually.
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