The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-04-20
THREE KRUPPS
OF GERMANY

From the Iron Age.
The city of Essen is located in the center
of billy valley, which abounds In coal
and iron ore, and the digging for both and
the melting of the ore and casting the me: al
into ingots and rolling bars have been the
occupation of the inhabitants for centuries
past Friedrich Krupp, the founder of the
great works bearing his name, was born
in 17S7, and when crucible cast steel was
first being introduced into England and it's
Importation from there into Germany had
been made impossible through the edict of
Napoleon called 1.-THE continental sperre,"
F. Krupp began to produce crucible cast
steel, first in small quantities, for files,
stamps, rolls for coins and shears, but
only slowly could he convince and persuade
German manufacturers to use his cast steel,
and after a life full of disaDpointments
and hardshps he died in 1926, after long
and severe illness, leaving to his son, Al
fred, little else than the old homestead,
which still stands in the midst of the great
works, and the secret of his invention.
Alfred Krupp's energy and enterprise
soon conquered. His first success was to
be able to furnish cast steel of a varying
degree of hardness. Next came the inven-
ton of the weldless carwheel tires, which
were patented in 1888 in all countries and
plant. In 1865 he interested himself in coal
mines, iron ore mines and furnaces. which
should furnish the material for his own
works, and in 1867 he began to reap the mar
vest from his experiments inaugurated long
since with steel cannons. Since then the
success of these works and their growth
have been phenomenal and when Alfred
Krupp closed the busy and successful and
philanthropic work of his life in 1887, at
Villa Huegel, his princely home on the side
of the valley of the Buhr, the city of Essen.
In recognition of his great work, erected in
his memory a beautiful monument on the
most prominent square of the city, and dep
utatons from many nations mourned at his
grave.
Essen Is a city of $4,000 inhabitants, and
over 000 of this population are employed
in the works of the able and energetic
son of Alfred Krupps-Fredrich Alfred.
Over 1,20O acres of ground are covered with
buildings and machinery, Many coal mines
furnish fuel for the work, over 400 iron
mines furnish the metal, and large iron
ore deposits in Spain, near Bilbao, have
been purchased In addition, and a special
fleet of steamers has been built which bring
over 100000 tons of this Spanish iron ore
from Spain to the German coast and up
the Rhine. Twenty furnaces at Duisburg
and Neuweld- on the Rhine are reducing
this ore for the Krupp works and are
owned or controlled by them.
The main sereet of Essen divides the
Krupp works into two parts, connected
overhead with innumerable mammoth
steam pipes and bridges, and parallel with
1t, running east and west, the tracks of the
Rhenish railway pass the works in the
north, while in the south the railway lead
Ing from Dusseldorf to Bremen, Hamburg
and Berlin skirts the mill. Innumerable
tracks connect these two main Ines of
railroad. surrounding in an inextricable
net work the buildings and crossing the
street leading TO Muelheim below its level.
Powerful locomotives bring trainloads of
raw material into the yards and leave the
works with valuable products, finished and
ready for shipment to all parts of the
globe. Miniature engines and cars move
about between the buildings on narrow
gauge tracks, bringing material of smaller
size from one building to another until it
is finished and ready for the market.