The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-05-16
John B. Robinson Of South Africa
Is. No Doubt, the Richest
Man on Earth.
a Few Years Ago He Was So Poor
He Couldn't Buy His
Breakfast.
Now He Has An Annual Income
of $4,000, 900, Which Is
Increasing.

The wealth of a Monte Cristo is no.
longer dream of fiction, but an absolute
reality the dream of an "Aladdin's Won
derful Lamp has become a possibility, and
that i'll far-off South Africa, a country that
! but few years ago was the home of saw
age tribes and cannibals.
There is one man in Africa whose wealth
| exceeds that of any other known individ-
ual. John B. Robinson is this man. He
has the comfortable sum Of $3.50 ,00O, 600.
He could buy the whole output of gold from
all the mines of the world for this year, and
still have the neat little sum Of 150,000,-
900 left to keep The wolf from the door. An
idea of this mans vast wealth may be real
ized by this fact: If his millions were trans
ferred into twenty-dollar gold pieces they
would make continuous golden chain 271
miles long. In other words, they would
make golden road Of twenty-dollar gold
pieces reaching from Cincinnati to Cleve-
land.
His accumulation of wealth has been phe-
nomenal. In 1873 he did not possess
enough money to pay for a meal for him
self and wife. He was absolutely penniless,
without either friends or prospects.
Mr.. Robinson had kept a grocery store
for several years in the Orannge Free state,
but business was so bad that he was run
ming daily into debt. His creditors were
clamoring for their money, but he had none
to give His store was closed and Robin
son found himself penniless and friendless
on an African prairie. He and his wife,
who had remained faithful to him through
all his adversely, saw starvation and death
staring them In the face.
Mr.. Robinson decided to tramp to kim
berley, distance Of over 800 miles, hoping
to secure work at the new diamond dig
gings. This resolution was the means Of
making him the richest man on earth.
Trudging along one day with his wife he
picked up diamond in the rough weighing
sixty carats. Here was to him fortune
beyond his expectation. But yesterday he
had to ask the Boer farmers to give him
something to eat; today wealth had come
to him like thunderbolt from the sky.
This diamond he sold at Kimberley for
81 200. If he had been unfortunate in the
past fortune now lavished upon him her
greatest gift-riches. Whatever he touch
ed turned to gold. -, -.
At the Kimberley fields Mr.. Robinson
became an out and out diamond dealer.
He would buy diamonds from any one and
every one without asking any questions.
Those were the days when negroes stole
over S3,000,000 worth of diamonds from
the fields annually. Happy days for the
African negro, who was delighted TO get
$40 for stone worth $4,000. It was these
times that made such men as Barney Ber-
nato and the great Croesus, Robinson.
Robinson's wealth increased. in volume.
From q penniless roamer in 1878 he found
himself in 1881 with $50O,O00 to his credit
at the bank.
The great gold boom at Barberton broke
out in 1885, and Robinson, with several
Others left the Kimberley fields for the
new gold district. Here his same phenom-
enal luck followed him. Stock and claim
buying was his principal business, always
selling at handsome profit. The old Bar
berton boom died out in 1886. The new
cry was johannesburg. Again the soldier
of fortune answered the golden call and
left Barberton mines for the new gold
fields OF the Rand. The same speculative
spirit was with him here. N
He bought large claim from an old Boer
farmer for $4,000. All his friends called
I. :, S1o1 fo, fhrnuyipr hic u,nnav qmav
on such a piaee of property. Even Robin
son himself began to think he had made a
bad bargain Of it. For months, yes, for
two and half years. this claim remained
on his hands. Nobody would buy 1t from
him, even at half the price he had paid for
it. This mine, now known as the Robinson
mine. is the richest on the Johannesburg
field.
The next venture of Mr.. Robinson was
the buying of some fields at Jagersfontein,
near the capital Of the Orange Free State.
This ground he bought for next to nothing
from an old Boer farmer. Today his ia
gersfonte:n property bears every Indication
Of being richer in diamonds than the re-
rlowned mines at Kimberley. A London
syndicate offered him $10,O000O0 for the
property, but 1t was promptly refused. 81 81
In the early part of 1894 diamond
Weighing 97 carats, the largest stone ever
known, was found on Robinson's Jagers-
fontein property. The stone is gem, and
Is considered by experts to be one of the,
purest ever seen. The largest diamond Of
the world measures four and a half inches
in length, three inches in depth, and is
from two to three inches wide.
Il IA srajah Of India offered 1875 ,O00 rupees
($1, $50 00O) for the gem, but as yet the offer
has not been accepted. Z # ,f.s. ssa
Mr. Robinson IS an elderly man. His
father was Of Jewish extraction and his
mother English He now lives in pr.ncely
STYLE, but will not give or donate one penny
to charity. His views Of Life and people are
very cynical. u,
4 rs mans income for 1894 was $25, ,000, ,-
900 and Is increasing annually. He man
fares to get along on $$480. .O00 a week with.
out touching his principal u It is a dream
sof'h.s life to become the first bt btll.onaireg OF
athe world, that history may po:nt him out
Us one o9 the greatest men 81 finance thar
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