The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-10
SOME NEU BOOKS.
strousbers-A Great SPECTATOR. Memot

ers financial ability, or that large operators ac-
quire the faculty of literary expression. We
cannot but regard It. therefore, "a a very curious
fact that In tho prison at Moscow. where bo
was confined pending the trial just concluded
the dethr0ned railway king OF Germany should
have occupied his leisure Ivy nditing the history
Of his life. In Or. Sh0u'bcr0 mld sem Wrken
ron Inn sclbst geahtLlert we have the record OF
bis achievements and yicissitudes set forth with
simplicity and selfreprcssion, the good offices
Of his numerous friends LOYALTY Acknowledged,
and the motives and character OF his enemies
dissected with temperate irony, which Is far
more whitening than invective.
DIR. STROUsBERG Is the sou Of a respectable
jewish family OF Eist Prussia, and although he
early abjured his parents faith. the distinctive
qualities Of their race, Its sagacty and incom-
parable patience, are conspicuous throughout
his career. lie was a student at kOnigsberg
when his father died. and the estate Inherited
being small. he refused to curta the share of
his brothers and sisters. less capable than him
self of gaining livelihood. Coming to London.
he entered a commercial house as clerk, hut II
was noted that this young German, instead Of
frequentng lIighbury Barn or 1.-THE Hoborn,"
gave his evenings to self-nstructon Presently
a taste for writing was developed, and he be-
came journalist, then an editor, until at last,
yielding apparently to an instructive propensity
for direction and command, he bought one
newspaper and founded a periodical. securing
from these two sources yearly income OF about
$500. For literary man this was no can rev.
enue. but II was not likely to content Strous-
berg although his personal wants, a. lie himself
tells us, nave always been modest. " was sim
Tlc,' he US, "athough a little particular in my
dress. and however sumptuous my table might
be, ALWAYS confined myself TO some plain
household dish. never dranH beer or wine. or
had any expensive or at least repreheDsiple ap-
petite. But loved to maintain a great ostab-
lishmcut where comfort, artistic refinement. aud
hospitality might reign. He was living in a
handsome house at the West End Of London,
when he came under Bsmarck's notice. and 1t
was as protege Of the prussian statesman
that strousberg moved to Berlin, and began the
evolution Of those financial enterprises which
have made him 80 well known.
At that date, central Europe, and especially
North Germany, had Just caught the fever Of
Railway building, which had some time previ-
ously eliminated in England and France. It
was precious opportunity to a man OF bold
ness and ACTIVITY and Strousberg IN adc the most
OF II. Among the important railways which he
conferred on Germany may he particularly cited
the lialle-Sorau. the Hanover. Altenbecken. aud
the Berlin-POsen lines, but we may state In gem
eral that without government guarantee this man
has built more than twelve hundred miles OF
iron road, undertaking, "a contractor both to
furnish the companies which be represented
with capital and 70 carry out the whole business
OF construction. Resolved to free himself from
the control. and to absorb the profits Of the
manufacturers. he took measures to burn his
own coal and fabrcate his own rails and loco
motives. He bought iron mines. forests coal
beds. and secured in Bohemia. for six millions Of
dollar-, the magnificent domain Of ZOirow, COM
prlsing some sixty thous md acres. rich in timber
and miner us. and including four hundred VII.
lasc-. In order to connect large railway car
riage mandatory. locomotive factory. a rail-
way wheel factory. rolling mill. Bessemcr iron
works, number OF pudding furnaces, blasting
furnaces. &C. he laid down railway thirty-aye
miles Ia length On his own property, and built
city for his workmen. Throughout his life
Strousoere seems to have had passionate fond
ness for real property md at one time NJ an
other endowed each of his seven children with
a vertablc principally, which he undertook to
develop and render profitable. We shall sc
later, IN glancng at the circumstances Of his
hnal bahsruptcy how rye number u hnied
estates was embraced Ia the schedule OF his
assets. II would secm that this remarkable man
understood agriculture no less thoroughly than
foundry work. and indeed all kinds of m lnufas.
lures, as well as the art Of masking money.
For along lime Sfrousberg passed at Berlin
Tor spe - II miracle WORKING. semi-fantn,tic
persOnoge, about whom the strangest rumor,
we're ahoat. People credited him with asort Of
ana uhiqIitv. and YOU l-ed - be
old Ia the clubs and caits OF tho e. pttal that
here were only two men In Prussia-BIsm rex
ma DR.. Sir'nsbarg. Whenever n,w cntcrprise
vls started, the hand OF tho arch incubator was
nyafiabiv behed in II, and whenoveran awk- |
ward crisis OF GeKtrcablo d N ,ulty arose m the
MARS OF others his counsel was accepted with /
absolute confidence. lie came to De- known AS
ir. Bny-all aud II was even claimed that his
purchases included the condolences 81 tho Pru--
ian bureaurrlts. IL January, 1873. the foremost
'rator Of the national-liberal party Herr La-ker
-unfolied his su,pici1as on this hea to the
'hamher Of Deputies. lie openly accused
'trousberg OF having tbs wnole body of func.
ionaries In his pay ana cspeci llly Of mauipu
aiing at will tho Ministry Of Commerce. This
$50 ut was sneedlly followed 10y another ON tho
RI OF Herr Glag an, who wrote in m Influential
eriodic j: " DIR. sttousoerg makes IL A princiule
o build rs badly and a. deirly a. possible, and
hus It is that millions ind their way 10 his
rocket and that Of hts &C completes lie unloals
himself AZ any price of the stock and bonds
reated by himself, being at no loss 10 manufac
wv N'''h NhPllNs re mas Nt-fs OF literary
nen In his pay, and by distributing handsome
rat ntles aud even regular salaries to Journal
SIS, coutfiyes u muz1ie the press. In every
urcau Sirolshorg Is well known. From the re-
lotest ante-room to the NIinister's private
nee YOU encounter his frienls or his protect
rs who supply him with Information or suy-
estions, and defend his interest with snthu.
Iasm. It's certain that this mans good pleasure
rs determined tue dismissal of more than one
Ugh functionlry.' We need scarcely say that
be Doctor In his memoirs rrpels these charles
'ith indiSnaton lie afr rms that. far frem Sc
urng allies In the Prus-i N bureaucracy. he
ways found IL distrlstful AMI IN disposed.
iieed' proy'kinsly ready 10 thrIs, asnoks in
l. wheels. lie saws that he never bripcd n
russian functionary, for the reason that tho
Mcal In question. although pompous. pcdan-
H. punctllious, and insunerabie Is not for sale.
Or. Slrousherg declares IN these memoirs that
@ was not born SPECTATOR, but that the
ream OF his youth was 10 acquire means
nough to purchase V 81 estate. aud thereupon
lIhdraw from business, entor the Chamber Of
eputies' ana devote himself 10 parliamentary
le. lie confesses, however, that he was grad-
ally carried away by the passion for ex 'itetnent
lgendered by such enterprises rs his, whore
ie contingent element defes calculations and
Z finds "a main source Of his mi fortunes I'm .ba