MADE MILLIONS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 136, 5 December 1929, Page 18

MADE MILLIONS

SIR JOSEPH ROBINSON

AFRICAN MINE MAGNATE

On the Bth of November last it was reported in the cable pages of the "Evening Post" that Joseph Bobinson, Bart., a pioneer of the Rand goldfield, had died. He left it was believed £12,000,000. His will, when published, caused a great deal of indignation, as not a penny was bequeathed to any public purpose. The story of his life, as published in an overseas paper, has just come to hand. DIAMONDS! Astonishingly little has ever been written about this South African mining magnate, in spite of the fact that he was the virtual pioneer not only of the diamond fields but of the Baud gold mines. There even seems, some doubt about thoycar of his birth; but he was clearly well over eighty (probably about 84) at the time of his death. Ho was born in Capo Colony, and started life as a stock-breeder and dealer. It was in 1868, when he was trekking back to Cape Town after a journey far up country, that he heard of O'Beilly's discovery of the first diamond. O'Reilly, a hunter and trader, struck by the appearance of a strange stone which was the plaything of a Dutch farmer's little girl, was told he could have it if he wanted it. The stone turned out to be a diamond, worth £500. O'Reilly honestly shared this money with the farmer who had given him the gem, and they naturally decided they must find'some more. But where? The farmer suddenly remembered that ho had.seen a.similar stone which a Kaffir carried about his neck in a little bag as a.talisman. _ . After a frenzied search, they found the native, who parted with the diamond readily enough, for "plenty cattle, plenty sheep," and thought the white men mad. This second stone fetched £11,200, at once, and later, as the Star of South Africa, was sold to Lady Dudley for £, 30,000. TURN AOAIN ROBINSON. " Robinson, reflecting on O'Reilly's good fortune, remembered some haying socin-ed'odd-lookingstones in a dried up river bed..-... Perhaps it would be worth while to go back and ha-ve a look at them. . . . He turned his horse's head. It was a long journey, but at last he found the drift, and promptly filled his pockets and a large bag with pebbles. .. A.t a farmhouse nearby, he asked for a night's lodging; but, as soon as he was alone, instead of going to bed, he omptied the bag of stones on to the floor, and carefully .arranged them with the most likely-looking near his hand. Then he got a glass tumbler, and put out the light. "I began to rub," said Robinson afterwards, in telling the tale, "first gently, and then briskly. No light came. I rubbed the stone against the glass harder and harder, with still the same lesult. I could see no light. A feeling of wretchedness came over me. All my mental anxiety and bitter suspense were then, after all, to end in nothing. I.sat still for some minutes, and then took the next stone and tried it on the glass. No better. It was a fraud like the first. Stone after stone was taken, and hour after hour was spent by me in the rubbing process, but the result was every time the same. No light, and nothing could be seen. I threw myself despondently on the bod. . . ." FIRST GLIMPSE OF FORTUNE. Then he remembered the few stones which he had put in his pocket, and, feeling pretty hopeless, decidod to test these as well. "It was the seventh stone, an illshaped thing with ragged edges, not more then eight carats, which gave me a start. There was no light yet. I had only rubbed it twice on the glass, but it produced a certain grating sound which had come from no other stone. ... I suddenly saw a streak of light ; it was there and no mistake. I rubbed and rubbed again. The light was dear and distinct. ... In a moment of frenzy, I shouted in a loud voice: "I have found it.'" The future millionaire was capering wildly about the room, when there was a knock at the door, and a voice demanded in Dutch, "What's the matter?" Bobinson had the presence of mind to go to the door and apologise, explaining that he had been dreaming. "So it seems," said his liost. "You have made a great noise, and you arc wet with perspiration. Have you had a nightmare?" RHODES AND ROBINSON. This was the real beginning of the South African diamond fields; but it was Cecil Rhodes, and not Robinson, who, in association with Barney Barnato, was to found; the company that controlled this fabulously rich industry. It was in gold mining that Robinson was destined to make his millions, and here Rhodes found the tables neatly turned upon "hinj. The story goes that Rhodes originally condemned the Rand as "a 4-dwt. proposition," and therefore valueless; but there is evidence for the statement iiiat only Robinson's, sharp practice | prevented his rival from buying the Uanglaate farm. It was this property tiiat Robinson acquired for £26,000 A Jew- years later it.was worth £18,000,Ono day in 1886, Rhodes was in the orchard of Langlaate trying to strike r«BrPi n With the °wner- Jt was a , difficult business, for tho Boer spoke bad Juighsh, and Rhodes incomprehensible ; Dutch. Robinson arrived before the deal had been completed, but he avoided -lie orchard and opened negotiations with the farmer's wife -in her kitchen, lacing able to speak Dutch well, and to jliang sovereigns on the table with a magnificent air, he-very soon triumphed. The old vrouw clutched greedily at the Sold, and called shrilly to her husband to come to the house. So, while Rhodes waited in the orchard, Robinson got the