The San Francisco call., 1895-07-20
Stirring Times In All the
Great European Finan-
ciaI CenterS.
EXCITEMENT ON CHANGE
Some Of the Multi-Millionalres
Who Owe Their Fortunes to
Lucky Strikes.
copyrighted, 1895, by s. S. Mcclure, limited.l ]

NEW YORK, July Is, 1s95.-For now
almost year London and for that matter
all England have been slowly growing
more and more excited over the gold mines
of South Africa. Within a year mining
shares that were issued at pound per
share and often sold for only portion of
that, have sold up as high as f33 per share,
and there are plenty of people in England
who believe that these same shares will go
to f10O. France, too, has caught the ex-
element and is pouring its money into
South African investments and 1t is not
impossible that mining shares OF the South
African properties will be listed on the
New York Stock Exchange within the
wear. Proposals to that effect have already
been made.
1t is rather strange that this country,
which has-so keen an interest in booms OF
of every sort, should have thus far paid so
little attention to the rise OF South Africa.
The latter incident comprises the most re-
markable commercial romance of the CEN
tury. In exactly ten years state then
wild, unpopulated, unexplored almost,
from producing no gold at all has risen to
the first gold-producing country in the
world The single little district known as
the WitwaterSrand in the Transvaal or
South African Republic Will yield this
year upward of S40,000,000 worth of
gold, or more than the product of all
Australia or OF the entire United
States This little district is, so far as
its productive area is concerned, not
over fifteen miles wide and about sixty
miles long, and ten years ago 1t was laid
out in stock farms that were selling for a
few pounds per acre. To-day the mines
located upon this narrow strip have
market value of between $150.000,000 and
$500, 100000. And just as happened in the
days of the California gold fever, men who
few years ago hardly possessed a dollar
are to-day worth uncounted millions.
There are dozen or more financial princes
now dazzling London with their extrava-
CANT expenditures who shipped to South
Africa a few years ago as colonists and
many of whom were practically bankrupt.
4 Man Who Has Made His Fifty Million
Dollars.
Perhaps the most remarkable product of
the gold fields is B. 1. Barnato, known from
Capetown to London as Barney" Barnato
and the jolliest fellow in the world. Bar
nato is still young man. He comes of a
good English family, turned out to be
wild youngster, who shipped off to Cape
Colony, knocked about there as best he
could, was it is said, at one time men,
Der of circus company as juggler, found
himself stranded with half crown in his
pocket, went into the diamond business at
Kimberly, made money hand over fist no.
body knows just how, was soon ranked as
one of the diamond magnates, and when
the Kimberly diamond mines were consol-
idated turned UP at the top of the heap,
worth millions. Later Barnato followed
the movement to Witwatersrand, became
q leading promoter of gold mining enter
prises there, and year ago was quoted at
935. 000, 900.
Within the last year it is currently given
out in London that he has made perhaps
100000 600 in the sale of mining shares
and in promoting mining enterprises.
Probably he himself does not know Just
how rich he is. And should his fortune go
on increasing at the rate it has sprung up,
in another ten years this ex-circus juggIer
will be the richest man in the world.
Barnato is now member of the Cape
Colony Parliament, and the other day
when he was about to sail for South Africa,
dinner was given him in London, that
was presided over by the Lord Mayor and
attended by many of the most notable
financial men of England. He scatters his
money like a plunger, and is always fol-
lowed by hungry horde eager to divert
portion of the Pactolian stream.
He is exceedingly fond of the theater
and of gay people generally, and no end of
curious stories are told of his princely gifts
and odd performances. If, for example,
he wishes to give a theater party, he
thinks very little of chartering the whole
theater, or at least such portion of it as
he may desire for the exclusive use of his
guests. Barnato is~no miser and works
hard to enjoy his money. He has a brother
who became. associated with him in the
diamond business at Kimberly, and later
in the gold mines, and who, while he is
not as rich as Barney" and does not
make any such tremendous splurge, lives
in London in princely style and is worth
several million pounds.
Il bonanza Statesman {n South africa.
Oddly enough it was through the dia-
mond mines and the gold mines that
Cecil Rhodes came to be the Premier of
Cape Colony and practically dictator of
South Africa. His political power has
been gained very much in the same way
that Senator Leland Stanford first
made great deal of money in California
and later came to be Governor and then
Senator. Rhodes was young man in Ill
health and likely to die when he went out
to South Africa and followed his brother
into the diamond mines. There he not
only recovered his health, but showed re-
markable business talent, and soon be-
came b1G uedQ O1 IIG I1ONGluGuJ 10 COLI
solidate the Kimberly mines which were
then held by some 1900 different small
holders, into one vast concern.
The De Beers Consolidated mines,
limited, valued to-day at $70,000000 or
1000, 900, is practically his handiwork.
Later Rhodes became interested with other
diamond magnates in the Transyaal gold
mines and is now quoted at something like
95,00O,000. His friend and associate, Al
fred Belt. of the firm of Wehrner, Belt &
Co., is worth perhaps f12000,00o and ]. B.
Robinson OF the famous Robinson mine
upward of 100000. Henry Nourse is
quoted at 92,500, 900, F. A. English at
$4,000, 900 and Piet Maraes at 92,000,000
South Africa has thus far produced per-
haps twice as many millionalres as did
California, and the remarkable feature of
the whole matter is that, if the engineers
are right in their calculations as to the ex-
tent of the Witwatersrand deposits, the
amount of gold the latter contain is almost
unlimited. Free predictions are offered
that in five years the production Of gold
in the Transvaal alone will have gone far
toward $1o0,0O0,000 year, or about two
thirds as much as all the gold now mined
in the world. In this case, gold would be-
come almost as cheap in commodity as
silver. Indeed, so definite is the prospect
that the question has already engaged the
attention of financiers and economists, and
NJ. Leroy -Beaulieu, the French statistician,