The Irish standard., 1895-11-02
Barney Barnato Is One OF the
Nervy Richest noney Kings
In the World
At One Times a Street Arab, Ped
ding rlatches, Watches
and Trinkets
Rolling In Luxury And Living In
Oriental Splendor in London
And Elsewhere.

And Elsewhere.
His name in Barney-Barney Barnato
and he is one of the vey richest money
kings in the world. Barnato is the Kaffil'
bonanza king, and his fortune today is
estimated at $5OO,O00,00O That's the fig
use today; what it may be next week nc
one can tell, for Barnato is the central
figure in the most gigantic and reckless
speculation since the famous South Sea
bubble.
This speculation has plunged English
men and Frenchmen and Germans who
have a dollar to risk into a feverish and
unprecedented craze to buy and sell ''Kaf-
frs" On the London, Paris and German
exchanges "Kaffirs" is the, name of a con-
fusing multiplicity of South African min
Ing stocks, the lively ups and downs of
which have for the past few months been
making and unmaking fortunes. This
wild and insane craze has led to the un-
settling of financial values of all Amer
ican stocks and has caused Wall street
to hold its breath, as it were, pending thd
anticipated bursting Of the Kaffir boom.
Barney Barnato, the man who has real
ly launched this unprecedented specula-
tion, has himself made millions out Of it,
and when the crash comes, if come 1t
must, it is believed that he will still be
an enormously rich man. Most of his
fortune in said to be son paper, but he
holds the upper hand in all the big deals,
and he is not the sort Of man who has
let the <tdear public" in on the ground
floor without making them pay him a
profit.
OF his origin as little is known as of the
astonishing rise of the boom he has Gre
ated. It is believed that he was London
street arab. He is still young---not yet 40
slightly over five feet in height, fat,
squat and short-legged. His appearance
is altogether ugly. All sorts Of vague
stories are told of his early career. He
is said to have been a barber, a second
hand clothing dealer, a bagman, a bro
ker's clerk, a messenger, street faklr,
tumbler, circus performer, contortlonlst,
and prestidigitateur. He has dealt IN
South African diamonds, and about their
spuriousness nasty stores are recited by
his enemies who knew him in the mines.
He left. there when he was about is years:
old.
Three years ago, penniless and un-
known, he appeared in London. Not long
after there sprang up among spectators
and investors great interest in South Afri-
can mining stocks. Companies were
formed to develop these mines, and Euro
pean capitalists, big and l.tt1es-were In
yited to take stock 1t was easy to find
money backings for these enterprises.
Africa was a name to conjure by. The
Dark Continent was a mystery not un-
mixed with romance. Its resources were
unlimitable, its possibilities incalculable
New strikes of rich veins were reported.
With each strike sprang up a company to-
work it. Kaffir stocks were in every
mans mind The English newspapers
helped on the widespread public interest
by publishing long letters and dispatches
from the scene Of activity. Conservative
English journals inveighed against 1t, but
the people gave no heed
Barney Barnato got into the Kaffir
swim. He plunged deep. His natural
daring and cool effrontery stood him we'll
He won enormously. Then he branched
ont independently and drew about him
4; fon1
of the lucky gambler leading the way for
the unlucky. He organized companies to
float "Kaffirs There were Barnato
Companies 73ar1Dato groups Barnato
"shares," but there were never any Bar
nato losses. IIe made money even more
rapidly than the great bonanza kings of
California in the palmiest days of the
Argonauts.
Shrewdly he made conquest of Sir
Edgar Vincent. Sir Edgar and Barney
became financial bosom friends. Sir Ed
gar gave the plunger position, which he
never had, in spite of his fortune. Bar
nato had been blackballad at the London
clubs. The rich turf set cut him, i'll spite
of his heavy support of races and his
fine strings Of horses. Sir Edgar first Of
all made sure that Barnato and his South
African enterprises were safe. :, He
went to South Africa with Barney as
Barney's guest and was accompanied by
his wife, the beautiful Lady Helen Duns-
conlbe, sister OF the Duchess of Leinster.
What Sir Edgar saw in Africa. convinced
him. He took up Barnaro, gave him IL
nancial and social prestige, not IN Lon
don. but in Paris. and by cleve,. nanoeu-
vering secured for him the earssof the
great Partisan financiers and boosted
him forward in Partisan society. Sir Ed
gar now shares with him the title of
king of the Kaffirs5
Barnato's latest coup was the creation
of the "Barnatp Bank, Mining and Estate
Corporation, limited 3 It needed no
prospectus; the mob were only too eager
to tumble over each other getting an
the inside. Z BY the mere stroke Of &.
pen Barnato created an enormous capital
ont OF nothin
The nominal cal pital of is hank vas
f2;,5 ;,5DO, 900. The ares wsreS & i each and
aoIs the o the here aYss1;e
II Ri hun
4, 81 ,sl M o,
ill iIls