The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-04-22
BARON DE HrRsCH.

cumulations If either his fnthcr or grand
father hal, If he had not augmented
his inheritance SO greatly he would never
have been classed by tho leaders of Eu
| ropean society among the Objectionable
newly rich and have had the doors OF
many OF the great clubs closed to him
Two or three million dollars are not suffi
Client to excite the enviOus enmity of men
a hundred millions aud more in the
hands Of one man makes him seem a
| very unworthy creature To those who can
| not rival him
Property Went Begging.
The grandfather Of the philanthropist
at the close of the French revolution was
All ordinary but prosperous shopkcepsr in
Wuizburg, the old French city of Ba.
varia. Previous to the revolution Wurz-
burg aud IA considerable portion of Franc
onia was ruled by bishops who had the
rank of princes Napoleon changed all
this, and many of the estates accumu.
lated by monks and nuns were seize and
sold Among these was the Rottendorf
property near Wuszburg. This was Of
fered for safe, but no purchaser appeared,
| as many thought the title would not
prove good and others had religious scru.
piles.
SO it went begging until Joseph Hrsch
bought II for song 1t proved extreme.
ly valuable, as the purch aser acquired,
besides the real estate and houses, almost
priceless works of art and jewels. These
he sold. and so began the Hrsch fortune
His son, joel Jacob, the father of the
philanthropist, became "a banker and also
an extensive dealer IN cattle. He became
very rich, as fortunes were reckoned in
the first half of tho Nineteenth century
He vas made IA baron by the king of Ba-
varia on account of his wealth and the OK.
tensive estates he owned as the heir OF the
original jacob.
Friendly with the King.
He was ON friendly terms with the
king and IL is related of the old mon
arch that he once put these questions TO
the baron:
How comes it that you are so richp
Your acquaintance with la haute finance
is perfect. How could you have made so
large u fortune dealing in cattleY'
Easily enough, your majesty" was tho
ready answer, IL dealt not only in cattle
but with cattle"
When the first baron died, his son. who
was born in 1888, became member of
the well-known European banking firm
of Bischoffsheim a. Goldsmidt, and also
married Miss Bischorsheim, the daughter
and heress of the head of the house.
Baron de Hirsch was much bolder than
his conservative associates In this house,
and his operations In railways soon made
them fear that he would wreck them. He
therefore was compelled in his very larg-
oh ha 10.
a princely fortune, to go alone. To build
lines of railroad from central Europe into
the farther east seemed too hazardous an
undertaking for the money kings of vi.
emma, frankfort. Paris and London.
Great Natural Difficulties.
Thei efore, when Baron do Hirsch pro-
tected n line from Buda Pesth in Hun
gary to Varna on the Black sea, he was
compelled to do without the assistance of
those upon whom he would most natural |
ly rely. Besides this financial difficulty. |
which was very great and would have |
less brave and confident |
spirit, there were great natural Difficult |
ties to overcome, and the jealousies of the |
various states through which the line was |
to run were embassaSsmcnts But aftei |
years Of inccssant toll all obstacles were |
overcome and the system of roads fin |
ished. The building of these roads EN-.
ryched De Hirsch beyond the dreams OF |
avarice. They also have done more than |
any other agency 70 develop the resources |
Of the Austrian empire.
Some fifteen years ago Baron dc Hirsch |
had completed this great work, and found |
himself at the age OF - with more money |
than he knew what To do with. He had |
no children to inherit his wealth, and he
and his wife were of one mind as to what
should be done. A man who has spent
twenty five of the best years of his life
In conducting most exciting business ven.
lures cannot be idle ana so the baron
chose 10 keep busy In doing what good he
could find To- do
Generous Offrr Refused.
In his railway operations he had seen
the cast how badly of tho
people were for schools He therefore es-
tabishcd educational and Industrial
schools in Egypt aud in European and
A static Turkey These no has since looked
after and maintained. To the schools In
Gallacia he gave s2.0Oo,0J0 Years ago hs
saw the tendency 90 oppress the Jews In
Russia, and he made an offer Of Sln,0Oj,
~, 10 the Russian government for schools,
with the one proviso that no distinction
should be made as TO race OF religion
This generous and munifccnt offer was