The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-06-05
STORY OF WEALTH
ne Doctor Who Became a @IIlO,,,..
a Little African Island

:, Little African Island
The story OF the aceumul.,.
~ wealth in some OF the almost uns'
-" corners OF the earth through ,n
cent efforts OF sharp. far.sirh,,s
! Is almost as marvellous, says ina
= York Sun, as the growth Of ~.
Cornelius Vanderbilt's fortune N
. ty-seyen years ago a young ~,
. clan named Matthew Augusta p s
: landed on the little island Of :, M
rs. not far from the African ~
In tho Gulf OF Guinea. Before B..
the medical school I'm Portugal n.
decided that the ranks OF his may
sion we're over-crowded at homs
+, he picked ont this little island a.
place without a physician whe,s
might build up a good practice anna
the natives. SO he landed tbor
1870, with money enough to I'm,
mule and TO keep him In fooa
abont three months. He had loo n
I
wife and baby at home, for he wa,.X
TO be sure of success before taklnS
family so far away. He began trsy,
ling on his mule through the walls
and among the mountains, healing n
sick, and soon he had u lucrative p,'
ucS. ''r
He was the first to recognize the .,
tonishing fertility Of the soil Of M
island. He had the persplcaClty !,
see that in point of light, OF hunIdh,
and heat, it had a great adyanta,l
over any other island along the co,v
of West Africa for the cultivation n
the cocoa tree, This is the low M
whose seeds constitute the cocoa bean,
of commerce from which chocol,l
and cocoa are made, and, though
was cultivated extensively In the Wss
Indies, Mexico and Peru long befoa
Columbus discovered the Westsn
world, ii had never occurred to AMI
one that the conditions for GROWN,
this most lucrative crop were mora
perfect in the island of st. Thonv
West Africa, than in most region,
where the tree is grown. This lad
was the discovery of the struggling
young physician and II made him
rich man. He kept his valuaSs
knowledge to himself until his ope7.
tions became so extensive that all M
world could see what he was doing
Day and night for years he was Of %
his mule visiting the sick, and after he
had moved his family to the island
every cent that he could save went
into the purchase of land. Land was
cheap, and in few years he was The
owner of various tracts that aggre.
gated a large area. AS fast as be
bought land he hired natives to set
out the young plants that he raised 10
nursery grounds till they were about
fifteen inches high. He took part ID
this work himself, and his wife also
assisted him in setting out plants,
People looked on and wondered, and
It never seemed to occur to them that
Dr.. Bibeiro had found in the island Of
St. Thomas just the conditions Of
'ich, well-watered soil, humid atmos.
ohere, freedom from cold winds, and
from violent storms, that
ire essential for the successful cult.
yation of the cocoa tree. They did
lot begin to wake up until he com
nenced to market his product, and
hen they saw that he had another
orm Of gold mine and began to go in
o cocoa raising themselves.
1t was four years after his plant
we're set out before the trees began to
ear at all, and it was eight years be.
ore they attained full productive
igor, and all these years the doctor
nd his family were living almost in
poverty, turning all the money be
ould earn into more acres, more
lants, and the care of them. He
Ould not borrow money on any Sc.
lrity he could offer for nobody shar
/ his enthusiasm nor had much faith
| his experiments. His work, there
IRE, was limited by the capital he
,uld raise as he went along, but when
e began to send the finest Of cocoa
cans to market development was
ore rapid. In 1883 Dr.. Blbeiro
ghteen years after he had landed %
/ obscure island which many Portl'
lese had never heard of, though i
,longed to their country, was ALREADY
garded at home as a very rich man
Id he had been made so by the pro-
lets of his plantations. Though still
young man, he decided in that yeaI
retire from business and return 10
,rtugal with his family; so he sold
his property to the Banco Ultra
arino for $1,4O0,000 and returned
me worth considerably over two
Illions. After nine more years Of
ltivation and development the plan
tons he disposed of are now valued
$2,40O,0O0.