Evening star., 1899-04-12

collection and his house. The art collection
ne presented TO Emperor Alexander II, and
II now constitutes the principal attraction
OF the Imperial Museum OF the Hermitage
Palace at st. Petersburg At the same time
ne SOLD the palace itself TO Queen Isabella,
who Is its present owner.
Equally inexhaustible is the wealth Of the
behhluots, which also consists in great part
OF mining property. this house enjoying
almost the monopoly of malachite and lap
lslazuli, besides possessing gold and silver
mihes IN Russia OF great richness. Then
TOO, there are the Iousoupoffs. who control
almost the entire output of urquises I'm
the world, this. however, being merely an
incidental feature of the many resources Of
ine revenue OF the Princess Yousouppn
who is now the sole heiress of tho entire
property, and WHOSE husband t.vho was
permitted by the late cZar to assume her
l Laine and utlel is descended in the third
generation from an American OF the rame
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 aDn tao nor
anhum. But this is probably below the
actual hglIre. For il must be borne In mind
that among the personal estates of tho
Czar are several huge tracts Of farri,orN,
each as big as the state of New York a nd
aoounding in mineral wealth only in the
early stages Of development. Little is
ktown IN this country, too. of the extent
or the colossal wealth of the late Arrhduks
Albert of Austria. whose estates cororrise
a goodly portion OF the entire ernni-e ard
WI" owns something like ~ per cent OF all
iile une bls manufactories and industrial estab-
ilshWentS IN the dOminions of his nPphpN
emperor Francis Joseph In HIS case as IN
that of the Russian rch-millionairas ahove
mentioned. IL Is literally impossibl, 10 cal
cuLate ms fortune with any degree Of pre-
cIslon, since portion of IL consists in min
ing properly. But it is known thar he left
S50o. .Ooo,oOe ~
Thara
peclally in Silesia, such as the Prince of
Pless, Prince Puckler and Count Heuckel
Donnersmarck, whose revenues exceed even
those OF the English Duke Of Westminster
VINO mas an ever increasing income Of about
SS'Oeooo year, and whose one dread is
that he and his family are doomed to die
in n poorhouse
During the few days that preceded the
oiitclaI deposition Of Khedive Ismail of
Egypt, and after he had alreaiv reCei.,e3
information from Constantinople Of the
late that was in store for him long trains
OF ammunition wagons loaded with specie
ana precious stones made their way across
the desert from Cairo TO Stlez by night nm
der strong escort Of personal guards of he
hhediVe. 1t is estimated that he carried
away with him $loO.ono00o on that orca-
SION, that IN addition to the property which
he had already entrusted to various Euro
pean banks, and in addition also to his en-
ormous landed estates, which the Egyptian
government subsequently purchased from
MN at the cost of Sl501ol0.
III these figures seem fantastic let ma
merely recall the fact that this forum.
represented the fruits of eighteen years OF
cruet exaction and wholesale coniiscation.
FOR IN those days, whenever man became
flch IN Egypt he was to be found guilty of
scme 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-
eealed in Asia, particularly In India and in
emma, the reason for this being that ori-
entails have no confidence in banks ard
prefer to conceal rather than to boast OF
the possession Of wealth. As a general r,-le
IL Is hidden, and the only evidences thereof
that are to be seen are the Jewels which
the owners occasionally wear ana the
estates
1t must be borne in mind that although
the production of gold has some on incrsas-
ing year by year since the DAYS Of King
solomon, yet ii is as scarce as ever Ii is
therefore, clear and manifest that It is he
ing boarded somewhere or other and that
TINS boarding process has been going on
Tor nearly thirty CENTURIES if not logger
IL is believed that most of these boards are
hidden in India, China and Central Amer-
lea.