The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-06-15

gan to decline he made money by leaps
and bounds and in 1895, when his good
mated that he controlled interests
worth in the neighborhood of a hundred
million pounds. 1t was the fashion to
call him the richest man in the world.
At that time he was virtually king
of the London money market In the
autumn of 1895, when the boom in KAT
frs, the shares of the comparatively
new gold mines of the Transvaal. South
Africa, was at its height, every man,
woman and child in London with
money to invest, invested in 'Kaffirs.' -
The craze was the last of those finan-
cial fevers which periodically attack
England, the South Sea bubble be
ing the first. For months it was the
controlling passion in London. and it
was most rampant in Paris and Ber-
lin. The shares went to unheard of
figures and fortunes were made in
day
The center of this tremendous fnan-
cial outburt was Barney Barnato, and
he was conServative1y estimated at that
time to be worth between one hundred
and one hundred and fifty millions of
dollars. Among his assets was bank
originally capitalized at $12. 800 900. In
a very few months its capital stock rose
in value to 5000, 0Q0.
BarnGto was born in London. Lit
tie is known as to his early life, except
that he received his instruction from
private tutor instead of attending the
public schools. He was a younger son
ana al the age OF " went TO south Afr1-
ca, then much more savage territory
than it is now, and scantily populated
by Engishmen or persons of English
descent. The Kimberly diamond mines
were Just beginning to be productive.
| With his few pounds of capital he be-
gan dealing in diamonds in a small
way. He was clever and pushing
Everything he touched he made sue
cessful. In five years he had earned
enough in the retail sale of diamonds
to purchase shares in the mines from
which his merchandise had come. Be
fore another five years elapsed his
holdings were very large, and When the
TransvaaI gold fields were discovered
he had profits to invest in them.
In 1886 BarnatO was a definite money
power in South Africa and began to be
spoken of as the rival of Cecil Rhodes
Unlike in temperament, the two men
started in to be opponents, but in 1883
they reached the conclusion simultan-
eOuSly that their respective interests
could best be promoted by combining
forces, and the Debeers consolidated
mines We're the result, one of the most
valuable pieces of property of the kind
in the world. BarnatO repeatedly and
persfstently denied the story that he
began life in South Africa by exhibit
ing trick donkey, but there are many
Africans entirely familiar with his ca
reer and who have repeatedly asserted
this to be a fact. There is no truth
however, in the story that he was ever
clown or a juggler in a wandering
show He used to say that the only
foundation for this report was the fact
that when he first went to South Africa
he frequently took part in private the
atricalS, for the benefit of hospitals and
similar charities. He had considera-
Bile ability in this direction and his ia
vorite roles in later years were OthellO.
and Matthias in THE Bells''
Although Barnato represented Kim
berly twice in the Cape legislature, he
had little time to give to politics, and
little interest in that field of activity
Cecil Rhodes uses wealth only as a
means of political control; Barnato as
pired only to such control of men as
comes from being fabulously rich His
record in the Cape Legislature was
quite devoid of incident. When the
tremendous increase in his mining in
tereSts called for the establishment Of
a London branch, this took the form of
the BarnatO bank From that date he
spent most of his time in London, liv-
ing at first in Earl Spencer's town
residence, but moving finally into a
more magnificent mansion overlooking
Hyde park.
While in Africa he married and had
three children, two sons and a daugh-
ter He always had, or professed to
nave, boundless faith in the future of
the Transvaa1, and his personal popu-
laTity among all classes of Africanders
was great. In London, where he was
constantly besieged by f1atterers, beg
garS and projectors of all sorts of en-
terprises, he finally became quite in
accessible to all except his most inti-
mate friends
Barnato took a prominent part in the
complications Immediately following
the jameson raid, and at the very
height of the crisis had an important
interview with President Kruger in re-
gard to the grievances of the Uitland-
ers, which was believed at the time to
have modified the harsh feeling of the
Transvaal executive toward the raid
ers. He subsequently subscribed $780,
600 to the fund which paid off the fines.
About a month ago it was rumored
that his health was suffering from the
severe tensions of speculation, and in
the latter part of May it was reported
from Cape Town that he was suffer-
ing from nervous prostration, and had
been placed by his friends under re-
straint. This was subsequently denied
by his London representative, who said
that BarnatO was suffering from a
slight attack of Cape fere not likely to
nroNa sarin11a