OMINECA HERALD NEW HAZELTON, B. C., WEDNESDAY. MAY 10, 1933 No. 47 By ‘Che Vagabdnd Reporter Every second nium you Ineet in Na- i maqnaland, it seen, eluims | to have B opointed the way to Alexander Bay. FOr course,” he says, “it was my work which put Dr. Merensky on the track af the diunonds.” The truth is that seven years ago all this coust was smitten with diamond. fever. Dozens of tyros sifted gravel! and worked “belie” washing inachines | in the regions where pioneers like Prot. Cornell worked alone. Here and there; * dinmonds were found. With ene dis- covery the diamond fever that held the coast grew. Then Thy, Inns Merensky mil Dr. B. Breuning, Ovo noted Ger- nun geologists, joined the seekers of a now Kimberley. Tha expert knowledge of — the - two German scientists, and a large slice of luck, resulted in the acevering of a Uoleonda of wealth such as the world has upver sven lefvore, For 25 years nen of courage and: en- Qurance Tuive sought dimnonds on South-West Afrien’s const-—ever since me 1908 when the Germans found gems in the sand of the Namib desert. The rusty votary washing machines shade of the trees at Sendlings Drift, ° GO wiles frum the mouth of the river.! IZaves, once a companion of Cornell, | returned to the desert after a spell of | work as a proot-reader ina Cape Town newspaper office, Babinowitz — the nim they call “King Solomon of the {he mountains before finding the Bneh' uherg fields. “Chaiapagne Charlie” All the fortune hunters were en- eneouraged by the stone “Champagne Charlie? Steenkamp was known to have owneed. An aged Hottentet who worked on Chimpagne Charlie’s farm nud handed a glittering stone the size of a hazel nut, its sharp edges sharp- ened ly centuries of wind and water monds that weve later to be found in such quantities. Two North Noloth mon—Bill Cars- tens and his sen Jacques—found the first encouraging traces of diamonds. ' ‘hey found severnl suit stones when, following up the theory they had held vravel a few miles south of the old copper port, A few prospectors followed them an the coust, but suddenly news filtered throngh of the discovery of the great wihavial fields at Lichtonburg, Ino the Tovnisvanrl like flies to n newly opencd honeypot, One experlenced prospector “Sonny* Kennedy, stayed on. Te had a com- junvion mumed Misdall and they seet off ~ for Alexander Buy with their sieves wud washing machines. On the way! Kenneds’s trained eve spotted likely | Jooking gravel at the Cliffs, where the, desert deseends sharply te the sean. Te and his friend struck no luck at AJexander Bay, and ‘a3 an after thon wht they went back to the Cliffs Ant there, after a few days work their thrilled eyes saw fourteen small diumonds winking up at them from the dull gravel of the washing machines, Later he wondered tf he had not been nustnken about Alexander Bay, Ac- companied by General Jienaar, he peeg- ved out the nsual 600 yard circle, which any respectable white man who pays nu half crown license ench’ month may do in Sonth African 4 Cliffs were more definite. weed by Cornell stilt stand under the: Rtichtersvel@” —wandered for miles in! io the trpien! smoothness of the din-! hefore the war, they started washing | Most of them drifted aff ‘the Autrigned him too keeuly. orld’s Richest Diamond Fields in South Africa by a Poor Farmer el te diamonds, but the flnds at the So Kennedy decided to scour the Cliffs thoroughly before turning to Alexunder Bay, So it came that he was beaten in the final race for the erent treasure. Found By Lueck Luck played its part ns-it always jdoes in great mining discoveries, in re- ‘vealing nature's great diamond hoard, la poor farmer named Coetzee, rematk- ‘ing as he did so to the people with him “Hore ix a place where diumonils should be found,” scattered 2 handful of sand throngh his fingers and blink- ed in astonishment at a diamond. Bit by bit I have pieced together the story—a hard task for each man tells a different tale in) Namaqualand. Hilt a dozen shrewd Namaquiland men who knew nothing at all about diamonds decided ta take a pot shot at wealth, In November 1926 theey plek ed upon poor farmer named Coetzee at Jtietfontefn and drove te Alexander Bay. They pitched camp about two miles from the bay and -wundered around, They noticed a bare terrace of shingle about 50 nbove the level of the seea. Coctzee wus sitting akong ‘Side the driver of the car. “Here's a lickely’ spot,” he suid. He jumped out, dabbled his fingers in the sand, jaund fount the first of the thousands of ‘dinmonds which weere {fu amaze the work. , The syndlieate were wildly excited. ‘Not one of them Knew anything abot diamonds, and they were forced to or- der an antomatic sieve to teest the gra- jvel. An ordinary prospector might have proved in a day or two that here ‘was unbounded wealth. The machine was a long time coming jOn Boxing Day Israel Gordon matored back to Springbok to investigate the delay, And there le met Dr. Meren- ‘sky and Dr, Beuing, who bad tried ear- cume one day with a mysterious air lier to reach their camp but had to tum bick for luck of petrol. Mereusky Arvives, Dr. Mereusky, discoverer of the plai- ium reef at Masndagshock, which had ‘set the Transvaal gambling feverishly in short-lived) campanies some Fears hefore, wis in Earepe when the first rmnoers of new dinimond finds in Nie magualand heegan to fliiter through td the mining miagnntes, Backed by ao nwnber of financlers he suileed back to South Afriea. “Why not join me? he asked Dr. Breuning who wiuted te be haek in Germany by Christnnas and had practienily made up his mind te ga back to lis lecture roan at —niversity. But this viddle of the Afviean sunds mystery of the diamoud deposits, He threw in his lot with Dr. Merensky. 'Togeth- er they scoured Namaqualand. They drove from one claim to another. They ‘spoke with that prospector and with this prospector. They took options,;° ‘Finully they mun inte Isynel Gordon and decided to visit Alexander Bry. Sold for 17,500 Ibs. Thely expert eves were satisfied that here was something more than a big gamble “What do you want for all :your claims?” asked Dr, Marensky,. The syndicate consulted. “We'll sell out for 20,000 pounds.” they replied. Merensky turned the offer down. Dventually he pursnaded the syndicate to give him a six months option on the claims for 500 pounds, haif the profits on all the diamonds fonnd during the Conthived on Page 3 The gravel point: | New Hazelton Will Celebrate Victoria Day New OTnagelton will bold its unmual celebration on Victoria Day, May 24. That will be two weeks from today. The program will follow. pretty much the same lines as other years with a few changes to increase interest and vive the people the best possible re- turn for their money. The New Hazelton Citizeens Asso- ciation, Executive Committee met on Monday evening and prepared no pro- gram which it is hoped will be enrri- ed out as arranged. There will be a base ball game be- tween the Snappy Nines of Smithers and New Hazelton for a eash prize of $20.00. The Snappy Niue are amxious te come down here on that day ond tev out their team before the lengne season opens. They are going to try to take awey that cash prize and thus vive the New Hazelton champions a thing or two te think about. The how: from Smithers hope to bring a goo. crowd of fans with them. Then the New Hazelton soft ball girls are inviting the soft ball girls of Smithers to come dow for a game und a cash prize. This should also he nu zo0d game to wateh. The local girls figiire they are quite a lot better than they were last yeear. They are not so shy of the spectators nor of their over all outfits. In the evening their will be a fund dance in the New Hazelton hall and it is expected to have a Smithers orches tra here to supply the music, This dance has long been Jooked upon as one of the main social features of the year, The committee in charge will leave no thing undone’ to make it a great suc Ce@Ss, The roads at that tlme shonld be in excellent condition and the flowers and trees should be in bloum, It will he » fine outing for the Smithers and Bulkley Valley people. The New Haz elton people are preparing for a big crowd. There will be a refreshment stand on thé grounds, and it is hoped to have the new hotel open by that day the rooms will at least be available. DAWSON NOT GUILTY OF BURX- ING HIS PARENT'S HOME After taking evidence for two days wid listening to the arguments of the lawyers the jury in the B.C. Dawson Jurson ense togk only a few minntes ta was not snfficleent evidence amd their verdict was not guilty. This ense was in eonnection with the fire that destroyed the home of the accused’s parents on Christmas Day last. There is nother charge of arson aginst the sume person for the destrmetion of his store and contents a yeat or so age, Phis case is being heard this week. decide that the Next Snnany being Mother's Day a spocinl serviee will be held in the New Hazelton ¢hureh in the morning at 11 oelock und in the evening in Hazelton ut 7. 80 o'clock, The servieos will be approprlate to the ovcasion, Afr. and Mys.W. I. Gow entertained tio tables at Telephone Bridge last Saturday evening. The proceeds. were in ald-of W. A, to the HW. WH. There was a very good. crowd at tended the ‘dance given by the soft ball givlg nud the base ball boys in the New Hazelton hall last Friday evening The music: was good and the refreshments were plentiful. The young people were out for a good time and thoy report haytuz had one. This yeenr Will be ‘no exceptions Outlook Bright British Columbia Pulling Throu Vietoria—With hundreds of men go ing back to work in British Columbia lumber camps, appreciable gains in base metal prices, and definitely firm- er trends in silver and wheat, business prospects in the province look brighter this week than they have done for years. Movement among the leading nations of the world for a stabalixza- tlon of enrrency and co-operation to bring about an economic peace all give encouragement, sharply reflected on stock exchanges throughout the world. The coming World's Economic Confer- ence, in conjunction with the disnarma- ment conference, and a new world will to-agree, notion among nation, for the benefit of all peoples are decidedly Inillish factors in the commen stock of elvilization itself. Premier Endorsed Tt was natural with such signs and portens brewing that polities should have dropped into the background for the moment, In the last ten duys pol ities has been active in a quiet way, in preparation of bigger things to come, The executive of the Saanich District Conservative Association in a meeting this week endorsed the stand taken by Premier Tolmie, and seid it would fol- low him in whatever move he saw fit to make for the benefit of the province at the next clection. It was a cordial blauket endorsation of the Premier, andl it is expected to be followed by any other Associations when they re- view the sume issue, in yesponse to the -Peempier's -pluin-spoken: request, The Vietoria Conservative Association met, and while refraining from passing 2 formal resolution on matters of policy they expessed full confidence In the Premier in his efforts to promote the best type of Government for the future or Hh, C, —ees BRITISH COLUMBIA LED WAY Amuysis of provincial costs across Canada, now more possible with the vwompletion of other budgets, shows British Columbia in the lead for the last two years in the reduction of ex- penditures. The reduction amounts fa mare than 30 per eent. in two yenrs, being eighteen pe cent, this year alone The amount of the effective reduction in departmental expenditures is around $7.500.000, while no borrowing for new purposes will be undertaken. The B. G. reduction of 18 per cent this year cnnpare with Dominion ents of some four per cent, and in the ense of the province little new taxation was re quired, and none addittoni] on the aveTage tuxpayer, THE PORT OF MONTREAL GROWS The total carga handled through tha port. of Montreal in 1932, comprising imports, exports and domestic merchan disc, Increased by 830,964 tons over the year previous. The aggegate tonnage of 10,745,385 has been exceeded only twice in the history of the port, ac cording to the figuras presented. in the annual report of the Harbor-Board of Montreal, The most outstanding fea- ture of last year’s port business was nage which achieved a new recurd of 4,035,045 tons, an Increase of 467,508 tons over 1981 and the fourth succes- sive year thet the record set up in the previous year has been -.broken, Im- port tonnage has grown almost steadl- ly larger over the past decnde and for 1032 shows an increase of 184 per cent the continued expansion of import ton-[ when compared with. the 1,421,295 tons fmported ove ‘Montreal wharves in’ 1932 New Hazelton Won Opening Game Basebali The ball season for 19338 opened Glen Vowell on Saturday afternoon it the annual fieeld day in that villace. Last year New Hazelton won the cup: offered by the Indians for the cham Pionship in the base ball series, and this year New Hazelton went out with the cup to defend it. They very suc- eessfully accomplished that feat. The contending team was that fvem Old Hazelton. After ‘a not sticcessful senson last year the team has been te orminixed, reofficered and rceoached. The old tewn has a team of local boys who have had considerable experience on the ball field. Thev have dene a lot of practicing alrendy and muder (he witchful eve of a coaeh, There war i good deal of optimism. on the part of Tazelton fans before the game, ba eppirently something did not clisk, The boys must have forgutten what the eonch toll them beranse if wae abl fis ured cut lone cago just how fea che Glen Vowell and the Wispiue cuy+ were to be “iited, The New Hazelton boys have bev doing a little warming up for the lis? couple of weeks aud on Sunday a week ago had a workout with the Hagwil get Indian tenm They are playing the same boys as last year with the execp- tion of the second baseman. Thy also have a spore man or two, besides a number of younger players developing fast who cnn be depended upon in a pinch. There was a large crowd at Glen Vowell on Saturday, in fact just abot the biggest crowd that ever took in the sports there, Both New and Old Ha-- Iton teams had a goodly number: «! supporters on hand, and that ball samc was ensily the major attraction, so fn« as the whites were concerned. Perry York pitched for Hazelton and Capt. “Dinty” Moore was behind the bat. For New Hazelton Bert Spoor r wis on the mound and AL Hall war behind the bat. York pitched a gon ganie, quite up to his last year’s rece’ and throughout the nine innings tin team gate him pretty fair suppert, 1 was at the bat that Hazelton did ne to so well. Only one man got to thire base and only a couple of others » ¢ as far as second. The great majors were declared out on strikes Yor New Hazelton Bert Spoon: proved himself in good form. Te was very fast, and it seems wis yvors difficult to bit. The few strays thes got away from him were gatheral i: by the boys in the field. When the New Hazelton boys weet to bat the first two men up were hf by the pitcher, Omar Spooner, the firt “man, had his glasses broken gu) that haundicappd him for the’ rest of rhe game. : New Hazelton took an early lead aud while the game wos fast all the way the Hazelton boys were unable to ro h scare while New Hazelton put fie men across the home plate. The game was always exeiting ard there is good reason to expeet seme very fast nnd exelting games betweon these two teams before the season fs over, and especially, when the Huzel ton boys and theeir coach get working in harmony. 4 Heayes, and allments ¢ommon (1 hoses, is frequently caused by repeate: forging with food or water or hoth. Dusty hay or grain also predispose te this trouble. According to the latest figures avail able there are 278 establishments in Cannda dealing with fruit and veces table canning and the manufacture of vinogar,. cider, pickles and sauces.