The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-09-10

lie has been the friend of every nation
and The enemy in turn'
These few words express fully the posi-
ton that il Hung Chang has held in ihe
political lie of the world. AS a mill
ii0nairc. however. be has long held % poo
siti0n at the mead of The fist for while Doe
was born "a poor boy and for q lme
taueht school he has succeeded I'm amass-
ing q fortune that is probably not less
than E0oG0.e0 How be achieved this
feat is secret that the celestial mil
llonaire has not divuleed but his diplo-
matte life has been fun of opportunitiea
and 10 ls evident that theyLhave not been
neglected.
AT present while much Of his fortune IS
in China the willy diplomat has banked
a large sum with the Bank Of England.
During his years of experience he has
learned that political supremacy IS
most uncertain quantity I'm the Celestial
Empire and be has placed a portion of
his property where he would be sure
TO find it i'm case Of emergency. As 70
is. however. ne IS the richest individual
in China with the possible exception OF
the Dowager Empress.
CHANK yrs PILE.
Another Chinaman whose wealth would
pass the hundred million mark is Chank
vi. the president OF the Chinese Engineer
ing and Mining Company. Like ID Hung
Chang he was poor boy but he took
advantage of every opportunity ana TO-
day he is not only one of the most wealthy
persons in the country, but he can ac-
count for every penny Of his vast for
tune and show that he came by 10 honest
y He is the iron and coal king of China
is the leader i'm an banking interests and
owns "a large block of the stock Of all
the railroad companies I'm the country.
Mexico has multi millionaire who,
while he bears the common name Of John
smith deserves 10 De rated among the
richest men I'm the world. The extent of
his wealth may be judged from the fact
that he himself is unable 90 estimate It
even apnroximatcly. Good alone knows
how much j am worth" he has said.
In spite OF this non-committal attitude
however. there Is no doubt that he IS
worth more than 500 100000. lie owns
a gold mine that is simply inexhaustible
and from which he expects 10 take not
less than Sl0oc00O) before he dies I'm
addition TO this ne has tens of millions
invested in railroad and bank stocks,
and he also owns thousands OF acres OF
real estate and so many cattle that II
would keep a man busy for a month TO
count them
In spite ~ all this Smith Is man or SIN
pie tastes lie lives well but not eXtrav-
aganuy and his sole ambition is to be
come the richest individual IN the world.
III bis life is spared he may yet succeed
IN his ambition, but as he IS already more
chan eighty years OF age his success may
be regarded as somewhat doubtful.
AMERICAN BONDHOLDERS.
What is compared to these almost meal
culable fortunes are the paitry millions
OF the Goulds. Sage. and the Nanderbllts.
OF course there are rich men I'm this coun-
try. The Astor estate Tor instance, Is
probably NOT less than 500 ono 900 and John
ID Rockefeller alone is worth as much
money in his own right The Vanderblts.
il an their interests should be united,
would be worth even more, but even those
fortunes great as they may seem, are
small when compared 10 the hundreds Of
millions he'd By some Of the rich men o.
Europe and Asia
Ia this country the richest individual