Diamonds And Dirt In South Africa Antique Print 1897

A black & white print, from a disbound book The Queen's Empire c1897 with another print on the reverse. 

Suitable for framing, the average page size is approx 11.5" x 9" or 29.5cm x 23cm, including text and border.

Actual picture size approx 8.75" x 6.25" or 22cm x 16cm

This is an antique print not a modern copy or reproduction and can show signs of age or previous use commensurate with the age of the print, please view the scans as they form part of the description.  

All prints will be sent bagged and in a boarded envelope for maximum protection.  

While every care is taken to ensure my scans or photos accurately represent the item offered for sale, due to differences in monitors and internet pages my pictures may not be an exact match in brightness or contrast to the actual item.

Text description beneath the picture (subject to any spelling errors due to the OCR program used)

DIAMONDS AND DIRT.
As everyone knows, South Africa has of late years become the greatest diamond-producing country in the world. The famous De Beers mines alone have produced the precious stones in quantities which may be measured in sacks and bushels rather than in the minute standards peculiar to the jeweller's craft. But, despite the large output, the skill of those who control the market, or the insatiable appetite of the feminine half of civilised humanity for the brilliant gems, has kept up the value of the diamonds, and they remain what they have always been, the most precious objects, weight for weight, in the world. Hence, infinite care has to be taken to prevent their abstraction by the native miners; and it is to white men only, and to those who are selected for their character as well as their skill, that the task of separating the diamonds from the " dirt "is entrusted.