ROTHSCHILD'S FORTUNE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 1514, 9 November 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

ROTHSCHILD'S FORTUNE.

MILLION MADE IN A PANIC.

AFTER THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO AiTHOtJGH founded on fact, the story of how Nathan ■ Rothschild mo.de a million pounds out of the Battle of Waterloo might well find a place in a sensational work of fiction- None the lees, the. story which is told by Herr Iguaz Balla in "Tho Rothschilds," a book published in Berlin in commemoration of the centenary of the death of Maier Amschei Rothschild, the founder of the fortunes of the great financial house that still, bears his name, is, it is claimed, hased on authentic material. Nathan Rothschild was the London representative of "the five Frankforters," and he' rendered the cause of the Allies invaluable services during the Hundred Days, and had amassed huge profits for tho Frankfort firm. But Napoleon's dramatic return from Elba confronted him with the prospect of losses so enormous that they might break even these great financiers. So far as Nathan was concerned, it is a fact that ho stood to lose every penny he possessed. In a fover of apprehension he hurried across the Channel, and, following Wellington's army, watched the battle of Waterloo with every nerve tingling with excitement. Long before Napoleon had called on the Old Guard to mako their last desperate attempt to break the British lines the financier was in full retreat. He had seen enough to convince him that the fate of the First Empire was decided, and his nerve was restored. Riding hot foot back to Brussels, ho engaged a coach and drove without drawing rein to Ostend. Ho now had a campaign of bis own to attend to. Here the fortune of war seemed to bavo declared against him for it was blowing a full gale in the Channel, and not a skipper would put out. In vain he offered 500, 800, even 1000 francs. Not a man held his life so cheaply. In tho end the young master of a smack came forward and offered to attempt the passage, on condition that his fare paid 2000 francs to his wife before thoy started. His private opinion was that, before they had been afloat very long neither he nor his passenger would have further need for money. Tho financier gladly clinched the bargain. He reached Dover half drowned after a terrible crossing, and rewarded the plucky skipper handsomely. From Dover he posted to town without a minute's delay. Early on the following morning he was at his accustomed place, leaning against a pillar, on 'Change. His face was deathly pale; ho looked broken in mind and body, like a man who has aged ten years in a single. ; night. The Tension in the City. was very high that morning. Evert iron nerves were beginning to feel the strain, for every kind of ugly rumour was on tho wing. Reports that Blucher had been disastrously defeated and that Wellington himself was in full retreat passed from mouth to mouth. The sight of Rothschild seemed to confirm what might otherwise have passed for unfounded rumours, and the city realised that their country's most relentless enemy might at that very moment be restored to power and bo master of the continent. A sudden wave of panic swept over the house. No story was too fantastic to find belief. When once prices began to fall they went down with a rush. The slump was not arrested when tho observant noted that Rothschild himself, as well as his accredited brokers, was throwing stock on the market with both hands. Not even the soundest securities were proof against the general sense of alarm and uncertainty. They were caught and swept away in tlje current. The pale-faced man, propped up limply against his pillar, was an object of sympathy to every one who could spare him a thought. He was watching, they imagined, the crumbling of the fortunes of his house. What he was watching was his confidential agents, acting under strict instructions, buying up sound securieties at panic prices- On the following morning tho official news came through of Blucher's success at Ligny and of the crowning victory of Waterloo. Prices rose as rapidly at the opening of the markets as they had fallen on tho previous day. The battle of Waterloo, it is estimated, was worth over a million sterling to Nathan Rothschild, so, whatever his fare for the Channel crossing may have cost him, it was cheap at the price.