Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-01-04
Career Of a Railway King.

The extraordinary career of DR.. Strous-
berg the great German financial adven-
turcr andreputed railway king, who has
been recently bankrupted and tried as a
criminal IN Russia, is a story of much in
terest. Ina.lS50 Suousberg was an OBJ
scure shopkeeper in London, without
money orreputation of any kind beyond a
very limited acquaintance among some
magazine readers for which hecontributed
an occasional article. How Strousberg
ever acquired his start in life is not re-
lated. 1t is only known that in 1870 he
rented sumptuous apartments in tie West
End, managedeto become known to Bis
marck, and went under his patronage to
Berlin, and in that city, backed up bv so
powerful a friend, developed those won
dertul financial schemes which have filled
all Europe~ Nglth--liS- name, and brought
losses to thousands and utter ruin TO many.
lie startcdsa network of RAILWAYS in Rou
mania; he projected the Northeastern
Railway IN Hungary; he organized the
Brest-Grayevo Railway in Russia, and the
Halle-Soran, the Hanover ttonhecken
and the Berlin-Posen line of railway in
Germany. Besides these gigantic under
takings he had acquired governmental
concessions for OtheI'srailways which he
''etN " + II Va iOJb tt LIS 1GISUIS.
the same year, 1870, he estab
lished a large engine manufactorv at
Hanover, completed the Berlin cat
tie market and slaughter houses, and
had erected enormous iron works at
Dortmund and Neustadt. He had
also purchased the southern citadel at Ant
werp, paying 3,500,000 francs as money
to bind the bargain or 'sforfeiture,'' and
made lmnlediate preparations to cover the
Whole OF this area with dwelling houses as
new addition to the city. In the midst
of these gigantic speculations the war be.
tween France and Germany broke out and
dealt terrible blow to Strousberg. But
concealing. his misfortunes, he exeted
HIMSELF to the utmost to maintain himself
and succeeded in completing his railway
lines But he was building railways for
people who paid him in shares instead of
cash, and thefearful depreciation which
had to be submitted to in order to con-
vert these shares into cash would have
ruined almost any one. But Strousberg
useC ms friendly relations with Bismarck
TO the utmost and obtained immense loans,
and pushed forward new enterprises with
mad zeal. He sold his extensive iron
works, Inortgaged his princely estates In
Germany, and sold all his Interests in
the Roumainian railway. He finished up
all OF his German railways and then
purchased large railway carriage
manufactory, a locomotive manu-
factory, a railway wheel manufac.
tory. srolling- mill, a Bessemer
iron foundry, and number of pudding
ana oiast furnaces. To connect these
various WORKS he Constructed thirty-fiv
miles OF railway on his own property and
built a ctyfor his workmen. In 1874 he
Obtained RUSSIAN contract for 1000
railway carriages, and through the prose.
cutlon ofsthis contract arose his moneyed
relations with the Moscow Commercial
Bank which have so recently terminated
in his prosecution in Russia, conviction
OF having made improper and fraudulent
representations to the bank whereby he
received the sum of 7,000,0 900 rubles