Evening star., 1923-11-23
BY THE MARaTIsE DE FoNTENoY


In writing yesterday about the arrival
Of Baroness Wrangel in New York. on
board the Berengaria, | omitted to fur
nish any information about the family
from which her gallant and gigantic
husband Gen. Baron Peter Wrangel
the famous Russian commander OF the
White army in Russia. is descended
The Wrangels hail originally from
Westphalia, whence, away back In the
thirteenth century, they made their
way through Scandinavia to the west
ern provinces Of Russia. For 800 years
past they have played a notable role in
Russia, in Sweden. in Germany, and
also in Denmark. They have even
American affiliations. For Gen. Peter
Wrangers brother. Baron Nicholas
Wrangel. was until the revolution aide
de-camp to the late Grand Duke Michael
AleXanderovitch younger brother of
Emperor Nicholas II, and married to
daughte' of that Baroness Heiningen-
Huene who was Miss Lothrop OF Bos.
ton.
The most celebrated Of the German
Wrangels was that old Prussian field
marshal, Count Frederick Wrangel. Il
veteran of the Napoleonic wars at the
beginning of the nineteenth century,
and who commanded the allied German
armies in Schleswlg- -Holstein in lS4S
and again in the Danish German war of
1864
AS for the Wrangels of Sweden, they
have always occupied high rank at the
court of Stockholm and in the service
or the crown. One of them was Count
Carl Gustav Wrangel. who won distinc-
tion as Swedish field marshal in the
thirty years war, under King Gustavus
AdolphuS. 1t was he who built on the
ruins of an old monastery his magnitl-
cent country seat of Skokolstan Castle.
Pcrched high on the shores OF Lake
Malaran. it's lofty towers are reflect ed
on the tranquil waters of the lake, and
as the principal home of the Swedish
branch of the Wrangels. in whose pos
session it has been since 1911, II is
crowded from cellar to garret with art
treasures, many of which represent the
plunder gathered by the old field mar
shall from his campaigns in northern
and southern central Europe. Then
there is Count Herman Wrangel, who
spent so many years in London as the
minister plenipotentiary of Sweden and
belonged to all the leading clubs-the
Athenaeum-while his brother was for
nearly twenty years the head of the
household of Queen Sophia.
X X
Young Lord Plunkett's little son
and heir. who has just been christen-
ed in London. in the presence of
his great grandmother. the dowager
Marchioness of Dufferin (whose hus-
band was governor general of Can
aday, viceroy of India and British
ambassador, in turn, at Petrograd,
Constantinople. Rome and Paris), is
heir to very great wealth. For the
very pretty Lady Plunkett was the
multi widow of Jack Bar
nato, and daughter, of Mr.. and Mrs.
Joe Lewis. The late Jack Barnato
was an officer of the Royal Field Ar
tillery in the great war, and ono of
the three children and heirs of the
late Barney Barnato, who and his
partner Cecil Rhodes were the two
largest stockholders in the $bo,000,-
600 Beers Mining Company.
Barney Barnato started life as
street acrobat in the east end Of
London. He thought that his oppor-
tunity had arrived when he was pro-
moted to the rank of circus clown,
and, as such, sailed for South Africa,
as a member of a very adventurous
circus troupe. In due time. the cir
Gus arrived at Kimberley, famous for
it's diamond diggings, and there the
little acrobat soon made name for
himself among the miners for the
auickness of his Cockney repartee.
How he developed from a circus
clown. hailing from 9 ,ha the %siig 19reign He
district of London, into one of the
most successful diamond mining
magnates of South Africa has always
been clouded in a certain veil of mys-
terry, and he, himself, used to be un-
willing to talk about the matter.'coh-
tenting himself with the enigma .ical
assertion that "there is tide in the
affairs of all men which, taken at
the flood, leads on to fortune" The
only thing which is positively, known
is that he owed a large portion OF
his financial successes to getting the
best of deals in the real estate trans
actions in the gold and diamond mining
and in the vicinity Of johannesburg.
and became so great a power in the
diamond and gold mining world Of
South Africa that Cecil Rhodes was
glad to join forces with him and take
him into partnership. All the South
African multi millionaire magma ties
have Eean sE%i.-ieu tC p IuG.x =.