tion
in the industry; he died only three years ago. At the home of his widow
in Koffeyfontein, I saw an old group photograph of some of his mine
boys. A more tatterdemalion crew could scarcely be imagined.
"Yes,"
said Mrs. Whitworth, "those were some of the earliest lot we had to
deal with. They look the most terrible rascals, don't they? Poor dears,
I'm afraid that's just about what they were."
The
Premier Mine near Pretoria, which didn't even exist when Whitworth
first came to the Fields, affords the most dramatic contrast that can
be offered to his portrayal of early Koffeyfontein. It has been
developed carefully and expensively, with all the foresight De Beers
could afford. The Premier is a company pet. For this reason some of
Kimberley's residents patriotically resent it, since the working of the
original Kimber-ley mines, the great pits that were once little
hummocks on the open veld, has been slowed down. They are not being
neglected merely because of the competition from fields which, like
the Premier, have been discovered since their day of glory; there is
another reason. These Kimberley mines have had their day, and within
the foreseeable future they might even be worked out. This is an
ominous fact for Kimberley, patriotism apart, unless the De Beers
people continue nursing the town's chief resource, the diamond industry
there, but there is no doubt they will. De Beers is a huge company, and
along with the vast powers it acquired with its original trust deed it
took on vast responsibilities as well. Kimberley is one of these.
Fortunately for her (I suppose towns, like ships, are feminine) the
company's policy is opposed to that of many lesser organiza-
