The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-19
There's Plenty
Of Money.

1t has often been said that a man
like the late Jay Gould would find
some way to make money even in the
middle Of the Sahara desert Here and
there, in Out-of-the-way places that
many of us never heard of, men are
today making fortunes simply because
they have the money making instinct
and can see opportunities to acquire
property where the ordinary man
would think it hard scrabbling to keep
the wolf from the door. The illustra-
tions of this fact that are given below
are proof that the right sort Of man
can make money anywhere, because
he is keen enough to see the particular
opportunities which his environment
affords.
The story of the accumulation OF
wealth in some of the almost unknown
corners Of the earth through the re-
cent effort of sharp, far-sighted men is
almost as marvellous as the growth Of
the late Cornelius Vanderbilt's fortune.
TWenty-seven years ago a young ply
sician named Matthew Auguste Bibeiro
landed on the little island of ST. Thorn
as, not far from the African coast, in
the gulf of Guinea Before he left the
medical school in Portugal he had de-
cided that the ranks of his profession
were over crowded at home, and he
picked out his little island as a place
without physician where he might
build up a good practice among the
natives. SO he landed there in 1870,
with money enough to buy a mule and
to keep him in food for about three
months. He had left his wife and baby
at home, for he wanted to be sure of
success before taking his family so far
away. He began travelling on his mule
through the valleys and among the
mountains, healing the sick, and soon
he had lucrative practice.
He was the first to recognize the as
tOnishing fertility of the soil of this ISL
and. He had the perspicacity to see
that in point of light, of humidity and
heat, it had a great advantage over
any other island along the coast of
West Africa for the cultivation of the
cocoa beans Of commerce from which
chocolate and cocoa are made, and, al
though 1t was cultivated extensively
in the West Indies Mexico and Peru
long before Columbus discovered the
Western world, it had never occurred
to any one that the conditions for
growing this most lucrative crop were
more perfect in the island Of ST Thorn
as, West Africa, than in most regions
where the tree is grown. This fact was
the discovery of the struggling young
physician and it made him rich man.
He kept his valuable knowledge to him
self until his operations became so ex-
| tensiVe that all the world could see
what he was doing Day and night for
years he was off on his mule, visiting
the sick, and after he had removed his
| family to the island, every cent that he
could save went into the purchase Of
land. Land was cheap, and in a few
years he was the owner of various
tracts that aggregated a large area.
AS fast as he bought land he hired
natives to set out the young plants
that he raised in nursery grounds till
| they were about fifteen inches high
He took part in this work himself,
and his wife also assisted him in set
tig out plants. People looked on and
wondered, and it never seemed to oc-
cur to them that DR.. Bibeiro had found
in the island of st. Thomas just the
conditions of rich, Well-watered soil,
humid atmosphere freedom from cold
winds, and protection from violent
storms, that are essential for the sue
ceSSful culture of the cocoa tree They
Vid not begin to wake up until he began
to market his product and then they
saw that he had another form of gold
mine and began to go into cocoa rails
ing for themselves.
1t was four years after his plants were set
out before the trees began to bear at all, and
1t was eight years before they attained full
productive vigor, and all these years the
doctor and his family were living almost in
poverty, turning all the money he could earn
into more acres, more plants and the care
of them. He could not borrow money on any
security he could offer for nobody shared his
n
pertinent. His work, therefore, limited
by the capital he could raise as he went along
but when he began to send the finest Of
cocoa beans to market development was more
rapid. In 1888 DR.. Bibeiro eighteen years
after he had landed on obscure island
which many Portuguese had never heard of
though it belonged to their country was al
ready regarded at home as a very rich man,
and he had been made so by the products of
his plantations. Though sui a young man.
he decided in that year to retire from business
and return to Portugal with his family; so
he sold all his property to the Banco Ultra
marino for 81, AGO, coo and returned home worth
considerably over two millions. After nine
more years of cultivation and Development
the plantations he disposed Of are now valued
at 81, 400, 600.
This young man found what an island was
good for, and there was fortune in the dis
coyery. 1t was easy enough for others to
follow in the path he had made; and it is
really due to DR.. Bibeiro that this African
island today has the aspect Of one great
plantation, on which labor is richly remuner-
ated. Sixty thousand persons live on this lit
tie island, even LOCO Chinese have heard of it
and gone there to live, and it is the home of
5000 whites. The plant that has given the
island its greatest prosperity should not be
confounded with the cocoanut palm, which is
another thing entirely.
Thirty-hve years ago q poor German lad
named Carlos Schmidt emigrated 20 South
America and settled not far from Santos in
Brazil. 1t was not long before 1t occurred to
him that coffee was IN large demand all over
the civilized world and that very good
article was being raised Ii Brazil He de-
cided to give his Life TO coffee raising. Land