Evening journal., 1898-05-25
THE THREE KRUPPs.

The city OF Essen is located in the |
centre Of a hilly valley, which abouno5 |
in coal and iron ore, and the digging /
for both and the melting Of the ore |
and casting the metal into ingOts
and rolling it into bars have been the |
occupations OF the inhabitants for cen |
turies past Frederick Krupp, the !
founder of the great works bearing his
name, was born in 1887, and when
crucible cast steel was first being in
trOduced in England and it's impOrta-
tiOn from there into Germany had
been made impossible through the
edict Of Napoleon. called "the conti-
mental sperre." +. Krupp began to
produce crucible cast steel. first iD
small quantities for files. stamps, rolls
for coins and sheers, but only slowly
could he convince and persuade Ger
man manufacturers to use his cast
steel and after a life full Of disappOint-
ments and hardships he died in 1876,
after a long and severe illness, leaving
to his son, Alfred, little else than the
old homestead, which still stands in
the midst Of the great works, rand 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, thereby
increasing its ad2ptability for many
new purposes. Next came the inven-
ton OF the weldless car-wheel tires,
which were patented in 1858 in all
countries, and furnished him capital
| for enlarging mis- plant. In 1865 he in
telested himself in coal mines, iron ore
mines and furnaces which should fur
nish the material for his own works,
and in 1867 he began to reap the har-
vest from his experiments, inaugu-
rated long since, with steel cannons
and the great Franco-German war Of
| 1901 proved beyond doubt their SUI
periOrity as against the old bronze can
| mons Since then the success of these
works and their growth have been phe-
nOmenal and when Alfred Krupp closed
/ the busy and successful and philan-
| thropic work of his life in 1887 at villa
| Huegel. his princely home on the side
/ hills of the valley of the Ruhe, the CITY
/ of Essen, in recognition Of his great
work, erected in his memory beauti-
full monument on the most prominent
4 square Of the city, and deputations
| from many nations mOurned at ms
grave.
Essen is a city OF $4,000 inhabitants
| and over 20 900 Of this population are
employed in the works of the able and
energetic son of Alfred Krupp-Fried-
rich Alfred. Over / 200 acres of ground
are covered with buildings and machin-
cry. Many coal mines furnish fuel for
the works. over 400 iron ore mines fur
nish the metal. and large iron ore de-
| pcsits in Spain, near Bilbao, have been
| purchased in addition, and a special
fleet of steamers have been built which
bring over 300 .0OO tons OF this Spanish
ore from Spain to the German coast
and up the Rhine. Twenty furnaces at
Dulsburg and Neuwied-On-the-Rhine
| are reducing this ore for the krupp
works.
The main street of Essen divides the
Krupp works in two parts, connected
overhead with innumerable mammoth
| steam pipes and bridges, and parallel
| with it, running east and west, the
tracks of the Rhenish railway pass the
works on the north, while in the soutn
rhe railroad leading from DusseldOl
to Bremen. Hamburg and Berlin skirts
| the mills Innumerable tracks connect
these two main lines Of railroad, sur
3 rounding in an inextricable network
the buildings and crossing the street
leading to the Muelheim below It's
level. Powerful locomotives bring
train loads of raw material into the
yards and leave the works with valu-
able products finished and ready for
shipment to all parts OF the globe
Miniature engines and cars move about
between the buildings on narroY guage
tracks. bringing material OF smaller
size from one building TO another un-
| til it is finished and ready for the
market.-Iron Age.