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Ch. 14: The Workers in the Mines

Ch. 14: The Workers in the Mines Page of 396 Ch. 14: The Workers in the Mines Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
48 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
of the mechanics, engine-drivers, and others working about machinery are Scotch, English, and colonial, with a sprinkling of Americans and other nationalities. Those working on the floors and about the washing machines are largely of colonial birth — English and Dutch, — the balance being mostly home-born Englishmen.
The majority of the white workers above and below ground have their homes in Kimberley and the other neighboring min-
ing towns. Wages paid to European day laborers on the surface range from 10s. to 15s. a day; mechanics receive higher pay, which ranges from 16s. 8d. to £1 per day, and white miners are paid the same rate. Miners who prove their competence are given contracts for specified work, by which their earnings are usually materially increased. Since 1892 all underground work has been done by the men working eight-hour shifts. The length of the working day above ground varies with the class of work done. Engine-drivers and men employed in gen­eral service at the mines work from ten to twelve hours daily.
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