Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-12-24
The Richest Negro in the Whole
Civilized World.
POWER ia GUATEMALA
Don Junn Knight Hn. an Income or
Half n Mii,ion Annually
of Els Rise fran IA slave Roy 80
Wealth and fowcr-vis,t, 10 ,nr
Umiied stntes-iIis pccuii.ritic..
(New York Press.)

(iNcW 1OTk 1FcSS.D
Whenever my glance falls upon
those tricks said the importer Of rare
woods, surveying pile of mahogany
logs carefully shielded in his yard,
which faces the East river, IT am re-
minded OF their shipper man who Is
sending more mahogany to market just
now than any other man in the world,
and whose history reads like Il romance
or page out OF the Arabian Nights.
His name is Don Juan Knight, of Qua
temala City, Guatemala, and he Is vir-
tunlly the financial ruler of the Central
American states. His wealth is estl-
mated popularity at anything from S..
900 to $4,000, 600. Every cent of this
money was earned by this man, and the
remarkable part of the whole thing is
that Don Juan Knight, which is Span
ism for plain John knight, is Il negro
and was born in slavery in Alabama.
There Is no one in oil Guatemala
who does not know the name OF knight,
and all the financial and commercial In
terests in Centeral America recognize
his power and court his friendchip. He
Is about five feet eleven weight perhaps
LIS pounds, and has so light complex
lon that he would be taken for a dark
Central American only for his hair
which is Inclined to kinlS. He speaks
Spanish and English fluently, is thor
ouGhly conversant with the news Of the
day. and continues to take great pride
in America. His characteristics are
energy and force, even to this late day
III life, and despite his enormous accu-
mutations. he has scores OF schemes for
increasing his riches many times over
before he retires permanently from the
money making business.
HALE MILLION INCOME.
Don Yuan's annual income cannot be
less than $500,000 at the present day
and of this he spends more than $780,
coo, for his is n large family, and the
negro loves to live in royal style Be
sides, he gives literally to various char
tiles. His tremendous Income is de-
rived from great coffee plantations, i'm
mehse tracts of mahogany forests, gold
mines, an expensive banana plantation,
ana investments in wharf. steamboat
and banking stocks. But not content
with this Knight is perpetually engi-
nccring some great financial project
which adds to his capital
His handsome residence near Guate-
mala City is one of the places which
visitors come from all parts of the
country to see. II Is three miles west
old town, and is a sprawling two-story
house, with something like thirty-nve
large rooms. The rich Central Amer
lean. discovered while on recent trip,
bankers for the largest rooms it is pos
sible to get into a house. The drawing
room of the Knight mansion is about
ninety feet square, and the other rooms
are in proportion. Costly furniture of
rare designs is slowed In the house from
top TO bottom. The sofas are of ma
hosany and satin, there are grand pia-
nos and magnificent mirrors galore
from Paris, and velvet carpets from
New York. The rooms were decorated
by a score of artists from the United
States, who were half year at their
work. The dining room represents the
expenditure of what many men would
consider q fortune. It Is finished
throughout in polished mahogany and
plate glass mirrors. the floor is a mo-
sale of the rarest hard wood which the
repleta forests of Central America af-
ford. Such another elabrate floor is
not to be found in the New World. The
ground about the mansion, about three
acres in extent are embellished with
beautiful and perfect copies in marble
of statuary from France and Italy, and
an artistic tangle of pat tbs. clump of
shrubbery. beds of brilliant towering
plants artificial grottoes and singular
designs in lawns and vines.
"Out in the maintains knight has an
other estate Of 5000 acres. where the
coffee Gourishcs. The entire property
is under cultivation, and the finest or
chids in the country are seen. There
are also acres of roses. lilies in rows
half mile long. and fine winding roads
among the coffee, banana and pineap-
pie fields. Buildings for the laborers
families and fruit harvesting and pack
ing houses and coffee curing plants
have been erected on this estate at a
cost of $4,000. There are seven child
rcn In John Knights FAMILY. and all
were educated In the United States.
Two OF his boys recently completed q
course of studies at a military academy
in Mississippi, while one of his daugh-
tiers Is portrait painter in Boston.
Once every two years Knight and his
wife take trip to New Orleans They
have been to Europe two or three times
and frequently send their children
abroad.
HE HAD KIND OWNERS.
Knight, who Is proud Of his rise from
a slave boy 10 great wealth and COM