into
the hands of De Beers. After Sir Alfred Beit's visit, De Beers
patiently and relentlessly bought up Premier shares, and by 1922 it had
won control of the mine. At the end of 1944, though the war was not yet
over, the diamond trade was showing signs of recovery, and it was
decided that the Premier should be outfitted with underground gear and
set in motion as the latest thing in diamond mines. It was a lengthy,
expensive process. Five years were spent on it; for ten months of this
the engineers merely pumped out water—nine hundred million gallons of
water. Then, while four shafts were being sunk and development was
under way, a model separation plant was set up and tried out. Not until
1950 did the mine go into production with a full scale plant.
Sir
Thomas Cullman's hopeful daring in going so far afield was impressed on
me at the beginning of my visit to the Premier. I had been long enough
in the Union of South Africa, though that wasn't very long, to have
learned the simple rule that Kimberley is for diamonds, Johannesburg
for gold, and it seemed unnatural that I should be going to look at
diamonds straight from Johannesburg. It didn't make the adjustment any
easier to remind myself that the head offices of the Anglo American are
themselves in Johannesburg. The travel bureaus, however, are not
confused on this point. They are quite content that the Premier should
be so easy of access, and a visit to this genuine diamond mine is one
of their routine recommendations for a one-day trip; it is something
that tourists can easily do even when they haven't the time for safaris
to the game reserve or plane trips over the Victoria Falls. It was not
strange that my visit should coincide with the presence of a large party
