Evening journal., 1897-06-15

London. June ia special dis |
patch from Funchal. island OF Ma
delra. OFF the west coast of Marocco- |
says that on the arrival there Of the |
British steamship Scot which left Ia
bic bay. Cape Town on June for |
southampton It was announced that |
Barney Barnato. the South Africa dia-
mond king who was among the pas
sengers, had committed suicide by |
leapng overheard. His body was re-
covered.
The late Barney Barnatc was in
many respects the most remarkable |
speculator of the century. OF all the
Englishmen who have taken part IN
the development of South Africa TWO
only have secured a worldwide repu-
tation These have been Cecil Rhodes
and Barnett Isaacs, more often ana
less respectfully styled Barney Bar
nato was an assumed name, SORT oi
stage name. for he began his life IN
South Africa by exhibiting trick
donkey about % years ago. He was
then about 20 years Of age.
Barnato was an English Jew and
illustrated in an extraordinary way the
financial genius Of his race. Up to the
point where his fortunes began TO de-
cline he made money by leaps ana
bounds, and in 1895, when his good
fortune was at its zenith, 1t was estl-
mated that he controlled interests
worth in the neighborhood of ElOO'-
600. 600.
Called the Richest Man In the World.
1t was the fashion to call him the
richest man In the world At that time
he was virtually the king on. the London
money market In the autumn OF lSso'
when the boom in "Kafiirs." the shares
of the comparatively new gold mines OF
| the Transvaal, South Africa, was at It's
height. every man, woman and chlld
! i'm London with money 10 invest invest-
ed it in 'Kahirs." The craze was the
last of those financial fevers which pc
riodically attack conservative England
the South sea bubble being the hrst.
For months 1t was the controlling pas
sion in London and IT was scarcely less
J rampant in Paris and Berlin. The
shares went to unheard Of figures, and
fortunes were made in day.
The center of this tremendous finan-
/ cial outburst was Barney Barnato, and
he was conservatively estimated at that
time as worth between Si0O,000,0OO and
$50. 100000 Among his assets was
bank originally capitalized at SlA5OO'-
600. In very few months its capital
stock rose In value to S45,000,000-
Barnato was born in London. But lit
tie is known as to his early life. except
that he received his instruction from
a private tutor instead of attending the
public schools. He was a younger son.
and at the age Of 20 went TO South
Africa, then a much more savage terri
tory than It is now and but scantily
populated by Englishmen OF persons Of
English descent, to seek his fortune.
The Kimberley diamond mines were
just beginning to be productive With
his few pounds of capital he began
dealing in diamonds in a small way. He
was clever and pushing Everything he
touched he made successful In five
years he had earned enough in the re-
tail sale Of diamonds TO purchase shares
in the mines from which his merchan-
disc had come Before another FIVE
years had elapsed his holdings at KIM
berley had become very large. and when
the Transvaal goldhelds We're discover
ed he had profits to invest in them.
He Was Money Power.
IN 1856 Barney Barnato was a definite
power in South Africa and began TO be
spoken of as the rival Of Cecil Rhodes.
Unlike in temperament and even more
unlike in personal ambition, the two
men started In TO be hot opponents. But
in 1888 they reached the conclusion ST.
multaneously that their respective in
terests could be best promoted by COM
bining forces, and the De Beers con-
solidated mines were the result, one OF
the most valuable pieces of property OF
the kind in the world.
Barnato repeatedly and persstently
denied the story that he began life IN
South Africa by exhibiting a trick
donkey but there are many Afrikan-
e ders entirely familiar with his career
in that part Of the world who have as
persistently and repeatedly asserted
this to be the fact. There is no truth
however. in the story that he was ever
a clown or a juggler in a wandering
show He used TO say the only founda-
[ tion for this report was the fact that
= when he first went to South Africa hs
, | frequently took part in private the
atricals for the benefit of hospitals and
! / similar charities He had considera,
i hle ability in this direction, and hi.
7 favorite roles in later years wor,
. Othello and Matthias in THE Bells
/, Although Barnato represented Kim
! berley twice in the Cape legislature. hl
had little time to give to politics and
4 little interest in that field Of activity
Cecil Rhodes uses wealth only as Z
means to political control. Barnato as
pired only to such control of men az
comes from being fabulously rich. Hi
. record in the Cape legislature wa
! quite devoid Of incident When TN
1 tremendous increase in his mining in
terests called for the establishment o
: a London branch, this took the form o
Tra - al laf Taf d
I spent most Of his time in London, liv
: ing a first in Earl Spenoer's town resi-
r dence. but moving finally into a mag
\ nificent mansion overlooking Hyd
park.
While in Africa he married and ha'
three children. two sons and a daugh
ter, who survive him.
Two. KILLED by superintendent's Car.
= Portland. or. June 15.-Whne Super
: fnteudent o. Rrien Of the Oregon Rail