History of South Africa podcast · Desmond Latham

Episode 241 - Yankee Babies, Monstrous Cobwebs, the Devil’s Cauldron and Rhodes’ Steam Engine

September 21, 2025·20 min·2 clips

An American miner described Kimberley's pit as a 'monstrous cobweb' of ropes where thousands of pygmy-sized men scratched like burrowing gnomes.

This episode explores the technological and economic challenges facing South Africa's diamond miners in the mid-1870s, as they transition from surface digging to industrial mining. It follows figures like Cecil Rhodes and American inventor Jerome Babe through geological discoveries, steam engine adoption, and the chaotic social world of Kimberley during a global depression.

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