(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
The diamond mines of South Africa; some account of their rise and development
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Gardner Frederick Williams was an American mining engineer and author.
Background
Gardner Frederick Williams was born on March 14, 1842 at Saginaw, Michigan, where his father, Alpheus Fuller Williams, operated a sawmill. His mother was Ann Keyes (Simpson) Williams and his grandfather, Oliver Williams, was an early settler of Detroit, having migrated thither from Boston in 1815.
Education
Gardner received his preliminary schooling in Michigan and was being fitted for the state university when his father, in 1858, returned from California, where for some years he had been engaged in building flumes and operating placer gold mines, to take the family back with him. Gardner entered the College School at Oakland, California, and graduated from the College of California (precursor of the University) in 1865. After graduation he went to Germany, where he attended the Bergakadamie at Freiberg, Saxony, for three years.
Career
Returning to America he was appointed assayer of the mint in San Francisco in 1870, but resigned the next year to go to Pioche, Nevada, where he was mill superintendent for the Meadow Valley Company for three and a half years. From there he went to Silver Reef, Utah, and between 1875 and 1880, when he became a consultant for a New York exploration company, he was at various places in the West.
During the years 1880-83 he visited professionally many western mining regions, especially the hydraulic gold mines at Dutch Flat and Spring Valley, California. In connection with these mines he came into contact with Edmund de Crano, subsequently the partner of Hamilton Smith, and as a result went out to South Africa in 1884 to take charge of a gold mine. It was unsuccessful, however, and the following year he returned to California, but soon afterward was invited by Smith and De Crano to join the staff of their Exploration Company.
Various stories are told of his first meeting with Cecil Rhodes, but the only fact that can be definitely established is that Williams met Rhodes on a steamer early in 1887, and in May of that year was appointed manager of the famous De Beers Mining Company (afterward the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. ), a position that he held until 1905, when he returned to the United States.
He lived in Washington, D. C. , until 1914, then went to San Francisco to spend his remaining years with his youngest daughter.
In 1902 Williams published a 680-page monograph, The Diamond Mines of South Africa, telling the whole story of South African diamond mining. There is evidence that Cecil Rhodes chose him as manager for the mines because he was confident that Williams could improve the methods of working.
The first production of diamonds had come from a multitude of small square "locations" under many owners, and had resulted in unrestrained competition which threatened to wreck the diamond market. Rhodes and his financial associates undertook to control the market by consolidating control of the deposits, and in consequence it was necessary to devise methods for working the properties as a whole under the conditions created by the previous work. This problem Williams met successfully, and his achievement was an essential factor in making possible worldwide regulation of the price of diamonds.
Williams died in San Francisco in 1922, and is buried in a family plot in Oakland, California.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Personality
Characterized by kindliness and sagacity, determination and persistence, Williams was well fitted to cope with pioneer conditions.
Connections
On October 23, 1872, Williams married Fanny Martin Locke of Oakland, California, who was drowned in the shipwreck of the Spokane on June 29, 1911. They had three daughters and one son, Alpheus Fuller.