The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-06
SOME MILLTONAIRES
OF THE OLD WORLD

istence in the old world of milionaires be-
sides whose wealth even that of the GouIds,
the Vanderbilts, the Astors and the Rockies
fellers sink into comparative insignifcance.
True, it is not a wealth that is so extern
sively advertised in the public press as that
of the great American multi-mllonaires
and hence is but little heard of outside
their own country.
Yet doubt if there is any American or
English millionaire whose riches are so
ooundless as those for instance of the late
M. BasiewskL His fortune was simply in
-calculable, and his gold mines in Siberia,
which have been in his family for genera
lions and which are famous for the rich
ness of their ore, for their splendid organi-
cation, and which are practically mex
haustible, constitute only portion of the
estate which he leaves, divided among his
-FOUR sisters, nothing being left to his di-
Vorced wife, who was the cause of such a
sensational law suit at st. Petersburg, and
at Paris some twenty years ago. Most of
the large sturgeon fisheries in Russia be-
ionged to him and his estates in Orenberg
and eSmolensk are the size of Kingdoms
lie came to Paris shortly after the
Crlmean war, in which he distinguished
himself, and from that time forth made
ms nome In the French capital. 1t was his
friend, Prince Seltykoff, who first turned
ms attention to art, and who inspired him
WIN the passion of his life From that
uIne forth the general devoted most of his
time to the formation of collection which
was perhaps the finest in Europe, his I'M
limited wealth being joined to unrivalled
taste and soundness of Judgment
10 house his treasures he built the palace
winch formerly bore his name, but which
Is now known the Palace of Castillo.
IN the Avenue Kleber, and which Is TODAY
the Partisan residence of Queen Isabella of
SPAIN
AT the time of his divorce from his wife
he determined to get rid of both his art
collection and his house. The art collection
ne presented to Emperor Alexander IL.
and it now constitutes the principal attrac-
ton of the Imperial Museum of the Her.
mitage Palace at st. Petersburg At thu
same time he sold the place itself to Oueen
Isabella, who is its present owner.
Equally inexhaustible is the wealth of the
Demidoffs, which also consists in great mart
OF mining property, this house enjoying all
most the monopoly of malachite and lapis-
lazuli, besides possessing gold and silver
too, there are the Yousoupofs who control
almost the entire output of turquises In
the world, this. however, being merely an
incidental feature of the many resources of
the revenue of the Princess Yousoupoff.
who is now the sole heiress of the entira
property, and whose husband (who was
permitted by the late car to assume her
name and title) is descended in the third
generation A,.,.,
OF Elton, who entered the service of Car
Paul at the close of the last century.
Similarly incalculable is the fortune of
the Emperor of Russia, the income from
which is estimated at some $50 900 900 per
annum. But this is probably below the
actual figure. For it must be borne in mind
that among the personal estates of the
car are several huge tracts of territory
each as big as the state of New York. and
Astounding in mineral wealth only in the
carry stages OF development Little is
known in this country, too, of the extent
VI the colossal wealth of the late Arch
duke Albert, of Austria, whose estates conn
~ Se soodiy portion of the entire empire,
ana VINO owns something like so per cent Of
an the big manufactures and industrial es-
tdonshments in the dominions of his
nephew, emperor Francis Joseph In his
case as IN that of the Russian arch-mjI
hohalres above mentioned it is literally i'm
possible 10 calculate his fortune with any
eglee or precision since a portion of IT.
consists in mining property Rut n ia
known that be left in ready money a sum
amounting to some $500 O0O. Co.,
1nere are some German noblemen es-
Peciaily In Silesia, such as the Prince of
Pless, Prince Puckler and Count HenclxeI
Donnersmarck, whose revenues exceed even
those OF the English Duke of Westminster.
VINO mas an ever increasing income of about
$SoVo,OOo year, and whose one dread is
that ne and his family are doomed to die
in a poorhouse.
During the few davs thar nracaded tho
official deposition of Khedtva Tsnoai1 Of
Egypt and after he had already received
information from Constant no.ia, of the
rate that was in store for HIM long trains
Oh ammunition wagons ,oaGed with specie
ana precious stones made their way across
the desert from Cairo to SileZ bv night nm
der strong escort OF personal guards of fine
khediva 1t is estimated teat he carried
away with him $l60 80 0u1 on that occ tsior
that' IN addition to the property which he
had already entrusted to various European
banks, and in addition also to his enormous
landed estates, which the Egyptian govern
ment subsequently purchased from him at
the cost of SIC, 900 600
Ii these figures seem fantastic let me
merely recall the fact that this fortune
cruel exaction and Wholesale confscation.
For in those days, whenever a man became
rich In Egypt he was to be found guilty of
some imaginary offense that furnished a
pretext for the seizure and absorption of
his property by the khedive.
Nor has any one in this country probably
any idea of the vast wealth that lies con-
cealed in ASIA particularly in India and in
China, the reason for this being that
Orientals have no confidence in banks and
IN ftAV
the possession of wealth. As a general rule
1t Is hidden, and the only evidences thereof
that are to be seen are the Jewels which
the owners occasionally wear and the es-
tates.
1t must be borne In mind that although
the production of gold has gone on increas-
ing year by year since the days of King
Solomon, yet it is as scarce as ever. It Is.
therefore, clear and manifest that II ID
being boarded somewhere or other. and
that this boarding process has been going
on for nearly thirty centuries il not longer
1t Is believed that most of these boards ara