MOTORS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
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A Sphere of Service in which Lorries Work Under Gruelling Conditions.
NTOT so very long ago all the .1.111 water-carrying and general transport on the diggings was done by means of the ox-drawn wagon, but the motor has superseded it. There is a strange assortment of motors, too. Amongst some of the latest products of well-known makers are to be seen the neat delivery vans of local tradesmen and the noisy contraptions used for taking water to the various claims.
Water-carrying on the diggings is not the profitable business it was a few years ago. Too many people are taking up this work, but the hope of making some little profit and the chances of new fields being opened up keep the men in the business. Success in this line depends principally upon getting the water quickly, but now there are so many transport riders, as these men are called on the diggings, that long waits have to be made at the tanks.
Lorries on Water Transport.
The tranaport rider buys water at the rate of dd. a barrel and sells it to diggers at 2s. fid. per barrel. The average lorry used in this district cannot take more than nine fair-sized barrels at a time, and the capacity of some is only six barrels. The barrels are disposed of easily and the proceeds, although large, have to cover the outlay on petrol and oil as well as deprecialion. Depreciation is a big item on the diamond fields, where the lorry has to negotiate spruits and take boulders as part of the day's work.
There are roads on the diamond fields, although they would not be so termed in more civilized parts of the world, but even these tracks are better than the veldt, over which the water carriers race in the rush to be first at the tanks. The trick of taking short cuts has been reduced to a fine art here, and the transport rider, cheerfully indifferent to the obstacles in his path and to the rights of other traffic, makes straight across country for his object.
Increasing Use of Motors.
At the present time the proportion of animal-drawn wagons to motors used on the diggings is in the ratio of about 1 to 12, and the demand for motors is increasing. Complaints, however, are received from some users. because it is still difficult to get an order for a new lorry executed quickly.
A large number of touring cars is used in the diamond fields. The agents for most companies are always in touch with the latest developments on the fields, and directly a prospector makes a lucky strike he is offered one of the latest types of car, with limousine body. Generally, a sale is made, and sometimes the first trip to be taken by the new motorist is to the claims of his friends, over boulderstrewn veldt, down steep spruits and through old workings.
The .car, is filled up with diggers fresh from work, and away they go to Lichtenburg or some similar town and return late at night often rather the worse for wear. On such occasions the car is sometimes landed in a chain hole, and there it remains until hauled out by the local mechanics. A number of. these cars lie at the roadside or about the fields, for the digger with money is a reckless creature, and cars with limousine bodies cannot be expected to last very long in such a region, even when handled carefully.
The Prospector's Motor Caravan.
Almost every type and make of car is to be seen in use on the diggings. Motor caravans are also represented in this variegated assembly. These self-contained caravans, complete with beds, places for provisions and water tanks, etc., are driven about the fields, and at sundown are fixed up for the night at the nearest convenient spots. They form a more attractive habitation than the average shanty.