The Red Cloud chief., 1895-10-11
THE AFRICAN BUBBLE
GIVES SIGNS OF vERCINC
ON A COLLAPSE.
Declines In Stock Temporarily Checked.
hut Disaster Likely to Come Any Day
Huge Proportions Of the Craxe in
Both England and Franco.

rican and other mining shares have
suffered a considerable decline there
has been a sufficient rally to apparent.
Iy show a bull control of the scheme,
but IN ultimate smash Is considered
inevitable.
All financiers agree that there has
not been in many years such reckless
even MISREPRESENTATION as in many
OF the South African ventures. The
amount Of it may be realized from the
fact that during the last month alone,
when the market was already seem.
ingly glutted, companies connected
with South Africa and Australia for
mining and other purposes were reg
istered at Somerset house with q CAPT.
tai amounting altogether to more than
lis million dollars. These were *
elusive OF the new Barnato bank, out
OF which the former stowaway and
circus employee, already q multi-mill-
ionaire, is said to have made 5 million
dollars within twenty-four hours after
putting his scheme on the market.
a serious note of warning of the
coming collapse is given in q thought.
fui article in the Nineteenth Century
from the pen OF an obvious expert,
showing that the market for these
shares is largely artificial, that its con.
troll Is in arbitrary, often unscrupu.
lous, hands, and that the most favora.
BILE output for next year will not pay
adequate interest upon the capital in
vested. lie gives some startling in.
stances OF the magnitude of the specu.
iation. The aggregate quotation Of
Witwatersaud shares. for instance, has
risen from $3.50, DOC, 900 n year ago to
$3.50. O00, 900 now. Shares in certain
mines which actually have not paid O
farthing dividend have risen within q
few months 5000 per cent or more
above their face value are common.
More than q year ago Q man familiar
with South African affairs said that
most OF the shares offered were as
high as they ought to be, but the ad.
vance since would have surpassed the
widest imaginations then.
The craze began in October, 1894,
when speculation turned in the direc.
ton OF South African mines. For some
years before that the public had been
given little chance to speculate, for
good securities had risen SO high there
was no use in buying them in the hope
OF another rise America and Aus.
stalia were In bad shape and the spec.
ulators finally turned to South Africa.
There was enough real work and profit
In the mines to warrant 1t at Hrst, and
some OF the big financial houses of
Paris soon became interested. Then
company after company was formed
and fiosted. Financial houses bought
the shares in many instances and then
when the boom began, split up their
holdings and sold certificates of own.
crship, even as low as oue-tenth of a
share, to the small purchasers. Eng.
land first took the fever, then it was
caught by France, and afterward by
Belgium and Germany. Since then Il
has been almost universally upward,
Some of the stocks in which the deals
have been heaviest are sound fnau.
cially, but a remarkable feature is
that the greatest advances in the value
Of stock are found in those companies
which pay no dividends.
"Berney" Barnato, the central fig.
ure In this wild speculative craze, is q
Portuguese by birth, but looks and
acts like a typical modern English
man. His present wealth is estimated
at 500, 900, 900. His latest deal was
the establishment Of the Barnato
Bank. Mining and Estate company,
limited, with a capital stock of s., 7sO,.
600. The first stock was sold Septem-
Der 2, and IS shares were forced up by
crazed spectators to S25 in q day.
1t was in the promoting Of these
companies that the Barnatos first APP
peared. Now the brothers are inter-
ested in an almost endless list of con-
Germs One of their latest is q scheme
for the formation OF trusts, which are
to take contracts and claims, said by
the promoters to be Of great value, but
OF which the public knows absolutely
nothing. The Barnatos went to South
Africa us stowaways and circus per-