The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-17
CAREER OF BARNATU.
STORY or THE LATE "oIAMokp
KING" READS LIKE ROMANCE.

From Poverty He Rose 20 Wealth Within
Few Yssrs-sucssss Followed Success
Until He became One Of ths Richest
Men In the World.
The story Of Barney Barnato. who
closed his remarkable career 70 tragic
ally. roads like page from tho Ara
bian Nights" He was born In London
on July o, 1852. He wa educated nm
der private Tutors and was intended for
. commercial life, upon which he en-
tered at comparatively early age, but
his Adventurous spirit rebelled against
the monotony Of such q career, 10, In
1878, ut the age Of 81, he abandoned
bis desk and pen and went ont 10 the
diamond fields Of South Africa. He ar
rived at Kimberley, then the haunt Of
the individual digger. ono glorious
August morning. with the sum Of ~
shillings In bis pocket and started ~ q
"kopje-walloper," which means dia-
Dond dealer whose Office and equip.
ments are represented BY q leather bag.
In three years bis earnings amounted 70
E6. 900.
In 1881 he owned four claims, which
he doated into q company for k26, 900 q
claim. making. with tho machinery, an
aggregate Of eIl6.00O. That was his
first attempt TO put himself In good
financial position, and he succeeded.
This was called the Barnato company.
In 1884 he bought the Stewart ground.
paying the highest price ever given In
Kimberley. Yet with that speculation
alone he made Gao. 900. After the COM
pany passed ont Of bis control, although
the claims stood at e26, 200 each. the
concern paid Q dividend Of per cent
within three months and did 20 at the
expiration Of each following quarter,
until the claims at the end Of nine
months represented . value Of R8S, 900
each. $500. ~. ,4
In the course Of time the ground be-
came covered with reef, and . heavy
mining debt was saddled upon the oor-
poration. Mr.. Barnato loaned the mon
ey to aid the company, although, a. he
naively admitted: Had put the prop
erty up at auction could have bought
u In at an enormous profit Standard
shares were at Eft; Kimberley Cen
trails, with their claims valued at R2, 900
each, were at e25. and am convinced
that could have bought In the Barna-
to block with great advantage to my
self. But what did ! do? I amalga-
mated with the Standard Mining COM
pany and brought the shares that origi-
nally cost ESQ, after four years work,
up to e160."
This will give you an idea Of how
wealth can be amassed in the diamond
fields. Mr.. Barnato's own words regard
ing his fortune in the same speech were
as follows: "The exports Of this colony
are 1000. 900. OF this Kimberley ex-
ports one-half. Now my opponents say
that am not fit and proper person to
represent you in parliament. but let me
tell you that / represent half the ex-
ports of this colony. The diamond in
dustry Of this colony is government
within q government, and il I am f1t
enough to sit on the board of the Con-
solidated Mines, as holding one-eighth
Of the mining interests in Griqualand
West, along with such men as the Hon.
@. j. Rhodes and the representatives Of
the historic house Of the Rothschilds,
surely am quite good enough to repre-
sent this constituency Of Kimberley and
Beaconsfield.
From this an estimate may be made
as to what his income must have been.
According to the testimony Of Miss
Alice Holtrook, Barnato's sister in law,
''his real name was Bernard Isaacs
Some Of his intimate friends always
called him Laacs. Barnato was only
his stage name. He was an English Jew
and one of the best fellows as comrade
you ever met. In Johannesburg they
looked up to him as king. Whenever
he went there the inhabitants gave him
a grand reception. He was met with a
band and procession, and they took
the horses out Of the carriage and
dragged it themselves.
Zone Of Barney's queer habits was to
lie for hours and look at nothing All
the time, I suppose. he kept up a won
derful thinking. He had great brain
lone thing that the public did not
know about Barney was his ability as
an actor. He was really a very good
one. have seen him play Machias In
The Bells. and play it very well. II It
wasn't for his luck, I'd think myself
that he was q better actor than a
banker."
Mrs. Barney Barnato would be a per.
son Of importance on her own account
even II her husband had been possessed
Of o few millions less. She is very
handsome and, in spite Of her wealth.
very unostentatious. She Is devoted to
her husband and TO her three children.
one Of whom is called Primrose, after
her fathers first mine, while another
has been called Ladas Rosebery, in hon.
or Of the ex-premier's first Derby VIC
tory. Chicago Times Herald.
Century Plant About to Bloom.
A century plant that has been IN the
White House conservatories at least 90
years is about to bloom for the first