The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-20

full If Barnato's wealth exceeds that Of
Colonel North. although it has been
placed at a. point far above the riches
of the nitrate king.
Colonel North does not take kindly
to the immense prominence Of the KAT
fir king. It was a sad blow to him
when the retiring lord mayor gave a
banquet in honor of Barnato. North
is very jealous of his popularity. and
Barnato he regards as an interloper.
But BaIuato is not worried about the
colonel. He is going his own way Sc
renely, and even talks of burying him.
self for six months or SO to escape
public attention and newspaper noto-
riety.
What worries the nitrate king particu>
larly is the fact that Barnato is at work
on play, and the few who have seen
1t say that the plot is really good. Bar
nato. with customary frankness, &C
knowledgeS that 1t has considerable mer-
1t, and he is prepared to spend many
thousands OF his Kaffir hoard to make
1t a success.
Not to be outdone by the new move OF
his rival, Colonel North will also make
a radical departure and If he makes
success of 1t he will have undylnS fame
1t is nothing less than the establishment
or new Monte Carlo on scale which
Will make the famous gambling resort
owned by the, Prince of Monaco seem
It is said that Colonel North has pur<
chased from the King of Belgians part
OF the sea front at Ostend for the equiv
aient OF $1,5o0,000, and will build there a
magnificent as the Monte Carlo estab-
ltshment. There will be no governmental
interference with the gambling, and the
place will be managed under a system
more liberal than that operated by the
Monte Carlo authorities. The objection
able features which of late years have
brought the Monte Carlo place INTO dis
repute and have driven the wealthy
away with, and Colonel North, it is said,
Incidentally, expects to augment his Own
fortune considerably.
Rumor has it that many Of the nobil-
ity who figure in the turf world are ST.
lent partners of Colonel North in the
Ostend scheme, and besides contributing
towards the expenses which will amount
to mora than 100000, they will be in
valuable TO an establishment of the kind
projected in the way Of introducing pat
ronS.
When Colonel North builds his casino
and Barney Barnato stages his play Eu-
rope will have more than little to talk
about
There is one advantage which Colonel
North has over Barnato, and that is he
enjoys to a certain extent the friendship
Of the Prince OF Wales. AS one Of the
moneyed powers of the-English turf. Col
onel North of late years has been thrown
considerably across the path of the
prince. But while Wales acknowledges
the existence Of North when they meet
ait the race events, it is not often that
the nitrate king figures in the. social set
of the prince By the judicial expendi-
ture of fabulous sums, however, these
social barriers are slowly being pushed
aside by the colonel and each succeeding
season marks a further advance in his
society aspirations.
Barnato is not altogether bereft So
cially. His partner in all the kaffir
schemes is Sir Edgar Vincent, husband
OF Lady Helen Vincent, famous as the
social power of Sir Edgar and Lady
Helen is immense, and if Barney signi'
fled any strong desire to shine socially,
they might be able to push him through
hind him, but he also has Cecil Rhodes.
prime minister Of Cape Colony at his
command.
These two men have both heaped up
tremendous fortunes through the shTeWd.
ness Of Barnato. There are several others
who are similarly indebted to him and
who are pledged to stand behind him f.
financially in any Kaffir dear he. under
nato circle as 1t is called. is estimated
at $5000, 600, 900, or more than treble the
combined wealth Of the Rothschilds.
While much has been written recently
very little has been said about his odd
personality. He is having a EGO, 900 pal
ace built in Piccadilly. and for the pres.
emit is living in Earl Spencer's town
house. He is a little man, scarcely more
than five feet in height. but likes to have
full-length photographs of himself
printed, and he always assumes a pose
which would indicate that he was a very
big man.
One of his luxuries is said to be cham
payne bath every morning, but his best
friends say that Barney would never
waste SO much good wine; he thinks too
Il
and not moro than 40 years old. He
smokes 8 shilling cigars and is lavish with
them and his wines when old-tinne friends
money. One of Barna to's sayings is: "Pll
buy any man a drink, but III lend no
man a iver."
There have been many stories as to how
Barnato got his start in the African dia-
mond mines, but the following is said to
be the correct one:
Shortly after the mines Of Kimberly
were discovered. there were ABOUT 1900
diggers working the surface of the mine.
About 100 feet down the ground suddenly
changed from yellow sand to solid blue
ground hard as granite. All the miners
worked out. Only one digger went down
about 200 feet, but he was stopped by the
rainy season which set in. He left about
200 tons Of solid blue earth lying on the
floor and left the country.
After four months Barney walked over
the mine and found a thirty-carat blue
white diamond lying right on top of the
soil which came out Of the 200-foot shaft.
With the action Of water and air the
ground got pulverized and a small for.
tune was looking on Barney. He sold the
stone and pegged all the mine out in his
name; there were several THOUSAND
claims, worth at least 100000 at that
time. Lot after lot he sold out to differ
emit companies for cash and interest, and
this streak of luck he was pos
SCISSOR of about e, 000G00.
THE OIP.vyVARn TInE