New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-07

chance. So he was taken from Oriel, his course
half-hnished. and packed off to the Cape, with
his brother to take care Of him ana 10 make
money enough. in the mines or on the cattle
plains to pay the way of both, for they were
poor mans sons. The air Of Natal put new
life into him, and when, soon after his arrival.
the rush TO the blue earth Of Kimberley began,
he was strong enough 10 join II. AS an In
dividua, miner he swung the pick and fingered
the crumbling blue" for diamonds. He found
them too and won health and wealth together.
In n surprisingly short time he had amassed
snug little fortune secured stock in undeveloped
enterprises Of vast potentiality and transformed
himself into a brawny robust athlete Then.
10 the amazemcnt Of his envious comrades, he
cut" the diamond fields and went home TO fin
sh his course at oxford.
But 1t was only to finish HIS course. His de-
gree securod-"cum aude." too for he was
good student-he FASTENED back to Kimberley.
The various concerns I'm which he was stock
holder were paying handsomely and the fever
- speculation was rife. He made his head
quarters not at the mines but at the Diamond
Exchange and bought and sold and bought again
the shares Of the mines. scale that be-
wildercd and disnayed all competitors. and with
a GOODNESS Of nerve and sanity Of Judgment that
gave him almost unvarying success. Presently
he secured majority of the stccl OF the great
De Beers mine. with $10OO0O0 capital: reorgan-
lied It's workings 50 ms 70 double It's profits;
using il as a basis. worked upon the other prop
critics until he controlled them. TOO: and finally.
some eight years back united them all. every
mine in the whole Kimberley region IN the great
be Beers Consolidated. with a capital Of close
TO $4,000 00O and a yearly revenue that would
gorge many a royal eXchequer.
An oxford graduate. a mult-mlionaire and
the possessor Of superb physical health, and
still far on the sunny side of forty years, what
more had he 10 ask? The answer was unnis-
taxable He had as yet made only his prepara-
lions The real work OF his life yet be
done for which wealth, health and learning were
but tools It is an old story but worth again
repeating: chiefly because 1t differs from many
good stories in being true Soon after his o.
turn from England with his Orel sheepskin, he
was standing one day In the Office of a friend,
a Kimberley diamond merchant. \ large map
of Africa hung on the wall He sazed at It at
tentiveIy then laid his hand upon It. upon the
great central region from the Cape 10 Zambcsi
and even beyond to Cake Tansanyika. THAT,
all that" he said for England. That Is my
dream THAT is your dream. is ito said his
friend. We'll, I'll give you ten years to wake
in.
Truly. the project seemed chlmercal. The
Beers were far more likely to get the land: or
the Portuguese. who already claimed il; or the
Germans who were laying hands on the Zanz-
bar coast. Memories Of ROrke's Drift and Ma
tuba Hill made further British conquests seem
impracticable But this was a dreamer who
would undertake with his own hands 10 make
his dream come true. lie went at the task with
complete faith. and I'm exactly the same way in
which on the basis Of a single mine. he built up !
the great De Beers consolidation He began |
with Cape Colony hitherto n mass Of Earring |
warning factions; showed English and Dutch |
and all the rest that their interests were identi-
cal: made the whole colony united one man. |
and himself the unchalle1sed leader. Then he |
moved beyond the orange River. and beyond the |
Kalahari Desert. and took up ali the land. To |
do this readily he formed a second John Com |
many on a prodlgious scale. The British South |
African Company was perhaps, In its compo-
sltion. the most noteworthy Of ell those char