“The Nitrate King.”

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4982, 15 April 1889, Page 3

“The Nitrate King.”

One of the “ lions ” of London last winter was Colonel North “ the Nitrate King,” who “ struck ile ” in a big manure heap in Peru. A few years ago England and other European countries imported enormous quantities of guano from some islands of the coast of Peru,for agricultural manure. The supply began to run short, and Colonel North—a pushing Yorkshireman who was in business in Lima — bribed, bullied, and wheedled the slow Peruvians into letting him have a monopoly of some huge deposits of nitrate of soda in that country, which crude natural chemical can be used in place of guano and for many other purposes. A brisk demand for the article has sprung up, and tho factory lad of 43 years ago is now a millionaire. Ho went Borne last year and “make the dollars fly.” A single fancy dress ball he gave cost him £IO,OOO, and ho made business Iquite brisk in the jewellery branches. Colonel North is a stout man, with a strong Yorkshire “ brogue,” and his wife is still stouter, —her embonpoint is something awful—and her grammar is shocking. But their daughter is more than pretty, and—“ Hey for a lass wi’ a tocher! ” —she is to have a dowry of £500,000. Tho Colonel (of a volunteer service) on his return to South America, takes with him Dr Russell, the veteran correspondent of tho Times at tho Crimean war and Indian mutiny, to “write up” the nitrate fields, and gives him for this, about nine months’ work, £3OOO.