New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-27
THE KAFFIR CIRCUS.
SPECULATION IN SOUTH AFRICAN sToCks
WITH COMMENTS ON RING MAS
rERs. FLYING TRAPEzE ACTS
AND SIDE SHOWS.

London October IL.
The livellest town show IA London during the
| last six months has been the kaffir circus IL IL
we'll named for one OF the principal performers
has been a daring Spectator who went our u
South Africa a few years ago as circus cio""'
and IA now reputed to be a multi-miiioha"'' d
patron OF music and the arts and designer Vi
| palaces in Piccadilly. 1t Is not snow uhuef
| tent with lemonade and peanuts as accessories
| II is a daily performance in marble hall not
far from the Bank OF England.
The Black Friday scenes in New-fork did not
| witness. but I have seen in Buenos Ayres III
flush times the cadaverous Argentine gauchos'
bred on the pampas. attired like French dahu''a
and dsportlng themselves In mad reVei Vi
! speculation on the Stock Exchange, and they
were sober and cautious operators In cohpari-
son with the London Kaffirs Day after day the
| Exchange has been filled with dense throng OF
brokers and jobbers dealing in South African
mining stocks shouting themselves hoarse.
| tumbing over one another In frenzy OF excite
| ment and alternately making fortunes and hing-
ing them away. There has been a side show in
Paris equally entertaining. but London has been
| the real headquarters OF the Kaffir BOOM
| 1t has been the best-advertsed show OF recent
| times Every newspaper In London ana farls
has brstled with prospectuses OF African mining
| ventures one Of the chief functions OF the post
| men has been the distribution OF circulars,
| PAMPHLETS expert opinions and haring pufs OF
South African projects. The mining column has
been read at the breakfast table In advance OF
| the luminous leader or the most statesman IKE
| Blowitz Interview "Kafirs' have sfno'hered
noIltics in the clubs There has been South
| African under every vine and fg-tree. ana not
nrreouentlv zone little woody one In the
| ar nd
rooms tales as marvellous as the Arabian Nights
have been told Of adventures who could only
count their shllings a few months ago. but who
| could afford to drop half a million IN sihsie
week without losing a nights sleep.
A REvEL OF SPECULATION.
Stranger than any club stories of the smoking
room are the revelations Of the statisticians Inc
| Economist" published on Saturday table SHOW
ing the decline Of dozen representative African
stocks during ten days 1t aggregated sllS'lo6'-
| 900 on nominal capital OF s93,93,5OO. This was
the shrInkage In dozen lines Of stocks out Of the
| many hundreds OF companies which nave peen Of
ganized Yet panic there none. either In
London or Paris. for the Kafiir boom had merely
| had "a little setback" The bubble had not been
| pricked Cautious operators inconvenience by
| ..carrving over shares, had effected "a clear
|. ance" and this had been followed by "considera-
| BILE realizations" from Continental centres The
| KatTir boom remains before. the most popular
| lottery OF London. The prices are below the in
nated quotations OF September, but far and above
| the figures of January.
| Speculation In mining shares has more than
| kept pace with discovery and production. All
| classes Of investors have been drawn into the
maddenng whrl. During the last eighteen
months speculation in South African stocks has
steadily increased in volume There have been
occasional sharp reactions when the open bull ac-
counts have become unwieldy and unmanage-
able az to compel brokers in self-defence To re-
quire partial liquidation by their customers; out
after a brief pause the spectators have resumed
| operations with increased vigor. More than once
| the machinery OF the Stock Exchange has broken
down from sheer inability to handle the immense
volume of business. The whole mining market
within a fortnight has had sharp setback both
in Paris and in London; but even with this
shrnkage prices Of all stocks are still enormously
inflated.
The Rand mines which are among the best
properties may serve as an illustration. On jan
nary . 1894 the shares Of sixty-seven companies,
of A nominal par value OF f15 772 729, were selling
In the market for fl9 1872 615 On December 81.
1894 the same shares had market value OF
f55351 537 That was tremendous advance for
single year: but greater imitation was to follow.
The same shares on October H. 1895. were selling
at flo7.l7s.OO0 and that. too, after the recent
shrnkage Of all mining shares. That Is lumi-
nous example Of the extent and magnitude Of
what is popularity known az the "Kaffir Circus"
RIGGING THE BOURsEs.
II has been impracticahle for the ordinary in
vestor 10 discriminate properly between the meri-
torious and the worthless mining property. for
such information as has been available has been
either mcagre or untrustworhy During the last
eighteen months reckless and unprincipled COM
pany promoters have been able 20 fost upon the
market valueless shares the strength Of South
African names and the reputation OF the great
properties Adventures have made full use of
their opportunities. The Stock Exchange Itself
by It's methods has facilitated imposture by per-
hitting quotations for shares many weeks before
the actual date of issue. Such quotations. APP
pearing day after day in TIE Stock Exchange
ports have surrounded unknown undertakings
with an atmosphere of genuineness and impor
lance I'm the minds Of the speculative as we'll as
the investing buyer. There have been not few
instances Of this kind Of swndng.
The progress OF this speculative mania was
greatly accelerated when the Paris Bourse was
opened to South African shares and the French
people began to take q nand In the game In
deed. the rapid advance in prices during the last
year has been chiefly due to purchases and specu-
laton beyond the Channel French buying has
been even more indscriminate than purchases of
mining stocks among the sO-called conservative
investors in England. The mining column Of the
Paris journal. after being eagerly scanned by the
head OF the family. has rapidly passed under the
eyes OF the servants. among whom the latest
Bourse quotations discussed with absorbing
interest. Everybody has been taking flyers in
the Kaffr Circus. and most OF them have been
making leaps in the dark.