The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-06-20
A Clown and the Humorist.


an eI5cwing adversely. an adversely which
was emb;,tered by the contrasting recol-
lec;ions n Mark TwA;n's mind OF prosper
Gus days Here is a great humor.st. end
ing his life almost il the provsrb:al London
ga-ret-
And this week Barney Ba-nato. a clown.
fun-maker OF the loves, grade, with SIS
o0.oo stil remaining grew desperate AT re-
verses AID plunged 10 death OF an ocean
steamer.
II Is a queer world. at best One fun
maker gaining fame under q pen name.
drifts from the mining ou;pos,s TO the CEN
ter Of ctviEzation-Lordon. 10 ole: the other
the clown whose name as the Others
pen name, ou:live5 hts real name. drifIed
from that center OF civilization 10 the min
ing outposis TO die the death OF . man too
rich 10 be happy.
In drawing the moral o: Barney Barnato's
life. q writer II the New York Evening
Post says his career Is one OF those which
reads Ike fairy story or a tale OF :he
Arabian Nights The rise. sp.endor. and
downfall OF the hero show the ease with
which wealth n our day is rapidly acQuir-
ed, brings n SIS wake sudden fame and
position. and 10 as suddenly followed b.
total ruin and collapse These morals lie
on the surface. But we fancy that as time
goes on pos,er.ty VIII look back with more
curiosity upon the community and times
which produced Barnato. and gave him b.
opportunity. than they VII upon the ad-
ventu-er himself.
One OF the points on which they win be
most eager for Information VIII be how ne
laid the foundation OF his fortunes. Al
most all
by speculation. have their beginning AT
some point m industry and painful accumu-
lation- Then a great opportunity comes.
was no exception. There were many years
when he was poor. too poor even 10 buy a
single diamond During this time he had
many callings. At the end Of !; We hear Of
him with a fortune OF 10000 What had
happened 70 transform a saloonkeeper IN
ten years into a m:lfona;re7 The only ex-
PLANTATION given Ia that he had acted as go
between FOR the Kafi,r diamond thieves ana
reaped rich harvest as dealer IN stolen
goods. This was the last stage In the
transformation. when We first hear of
him he is little mounteoank OF ten in the
jew quarter OF LONDON; then We catch a
glimpse OF him as a Sidewalk peddler; as a
p-AAui IiluSl nave tEa0 Chltltulil-
ties; az the proprietor OF a hall OF "euter-
ta-nment' in the diamond fields he begins
TO accumulate; but il IS as a diamond bro
ker" that he makes his first hah-miIlion
that changes him from a shady adventurer
to great financier.
All this IS curious. but II is not half as
curious as what followed. No sooner had
Barney secured his first fortune than he
Is treated as il its origin made no scr; OF
difference to any human being. Although
he is known 10 be an adventurer and believ-
ed TO be a scamp. his word Is taken IL
London 10 be as good as that of the arch
bishop of Canterbury. and he floats mines
on the capital stock exchange without a
question. the capital OF which Is estimated
IN hundreds of millions and the fluctuations
in which over night mean fortune or ruin
TO hundreds. He became a diamond king.
and hts saying and daings are telegrspned
all over the world. as those OF no Roth
schild ever Were
Barney never cared much for respectabs
ETY.. but he dearly Iked the notice Of respec-
table people. for that was the ore thing
ne had never had In his early days Now
he got II in abundance. Not only al the
bankers and "fnanciers" but many OF the
jewellers in the great London houses came
to see him and honor him. and but fer his
OWN somewhat natural incapacity for tax
ing himself seriously, he might gradually
have outgrown even his name. and become
Sir Barnet Barnato. or sunk Il altogether
In title. He seems to have thought OF
paving the way for a creditabie old age by
giving out history OF his rfe." IA which
he claimed a good family connection. ana
accounted for tho earlier years OF his NE
as having been passed in the caro- OF "pri-
vate tutors" But the joke was too good
TO keep TO himself. and ne spoat the effect
Of his biography by laughing over II with
his friends.
The china OF this part of his career came
when he was entertained at the Mansion
House by the Lord Mayor. and heard him
self and his operations huded 70 the skies
AT this moment he was one OF the most
men IN the world, and. as always
happens In such cases. myths began 70 be
invented about him, while. as everything
hat was told 70 his credit was believed. II
made little difference whether the stories
we're founded On facts or were mere fables
Thus. he was Cecil Rhodes rght-hand
nan, and he was Dom Peurs respected
friend AS his shares rose and multiplied.
MS name became connected in peoples
minds with the South African empire: at
he height Of his power he had practically
the operation suggested IN
)ne OF Gilbert and Sullivan's operes-he
had converted the bubble which the pubic
had made Of his reputation into a limited
liability company. end given the public the
shares. Through u all Barney kughed-
aughei a. the bubble. laughed az himself
aughed At his dupes laughed at his own
account OF himself Through Il ali he vas
generous 70 a fault. He thought nothing
n giving away 10000. there was plenty
more where IL came from
II IS. We believs. literal fac: that no one
,as ever known accurately anything what
.ver about the value o. Barney's shares
hough We probably shan now Ia the
;Taze that sprang Up shout them 70 one
AIRED for accurate Information. and The
larne % Bsrn5to was all that was needed
o fost any company that he chose 20
nance In other words. the public took a.
ecur1ty The name a. a chsraci.riess advsa-
urer. and did not even ask him % issue a
prospectus. because his name was enough
When he respectable people who vouchs1
or him 20 the pubic were asked questions
" any unusually SUSPICIOUS investo-s. they
My had 10 give assurances thai somebody
al b~sn 20 Africa ard seen the mines"
which were fsbuio1sIy rich
The same haze surrounds the ~offause az
Il s->a' bubble that isat 4 rainbow hue.
rhils u lasted II seems 70 - Esnerary
omitted tIat THE Bsrna,o schemes have
one through period - '-shrinkage" which
as shrUrk mos % TIE value OFT q them,
~ the rnlnes are stl fssu,ously rsch. AID
:arney. down 20 ,he very lag q ~ death. /
7as ne same Barney TEoss name vas /
iroos enough 70 aost company sfs - 7
900 capital AMI without a prospectus n 4
&c Hnzzcial center O. ras world IL J.
ore 20 place she-- there - Ez.d % - I
Q dlsrao1cz ard 10 SOCK companies. au4 4
- ca~ro. In. .hirk .hsr sTAe~sze- - q. 4