The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-22

Over 10000 Persons Employed In the
Essen Gun Factories.

Essen Gun Factories.
From the Iron Age.
The city of Essen Is located in the
center OF a billy valley. which abounds
i'm coal and iron ore. and the digging
for both and the melting of the ore and
casting the metal into ingots and roll
ing IL into bars have been h ccupa-
tons of the inhabitants for centuries.
past. Frederick Krupp, the founder of
the great works bearing his name, was
born in 1857, and when crucibie cast
steel was first being introduced In Eng
land. and it's importation from there
into Germany had been made impos-
sible through the edict of Napoleon.
called the continental sperre." +.
krupp began to produce crucible cast
steel. first i'm small quantities for files,
stamps rolls for coins and shears. but
only slowly could he convince N per-
suade German manufacturers to use his
cast steel. N after a life full of dis
appointments and hardships. he died
IN ls2S. after a long ard severe Illness.
leaving to his son Alfred. 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 De able to furnish a cast steel of "A
varying degree of hardness, thereby
increasing it's a~dsptability for many
new purposes. Next came the inven-
tlon OF the weldless car wheel tires.
which were patented in 1853 in all coun-
tries. N furnished him capital for
charging his plant. In 1865 he inter-
ested himself in coal mines. iron ore
mines and furnaces. which should fur
nish the material for his own works.
and In 1867 he began tn reap the har-
vest from his experiments. inaugurated
long since. with steel and the
great Franco-Prussian war of 1901
proved beyond doubt their superiority
as against the old bronze
Since then the success of these works
and their growth have been phenom-
email. and when Alfred Krupp closed
the busy and successful N philan-
thropic work of his life in 1887 at villa
Huegel. his Drincely home on the side
hills of the valley of the Ruhe, the CITY
or Essen. in recognition of his great
work, erected in his memory a beautj-
ful on the most prominent
square of the city, and Populations
from many nations mourned at his
grave.
Essen is a city of rs. 900 inhabitants,
and over $1,000 of this population are
employed i'm the works OF the able and
energetic son of Alfred Krupp-Fried-
rich Alfred. Over loo acres of ground
are covered with buildings and ma
chinery. Many Goa mines furnish fuel
for the works. over 400 iron ore mines
furnish the metal and large iron ore
deposits In Spain. near Bilboa. have
been purchased in acdition. and a spe-
cial fleet of "a have been built
which bring over 200, 900 tons of this
spanish ore from Spain to the German
coast and up the Rhine Twenty fur
naces at Dulsburg and Neuwied ON
the-Rhine are reducing this ore for the
krupp works and are owned or con-
trolled by .hem.
The main street of Essen divides the
krupp works in two parts. connected
overhead with innumerable mammoth
steam pipes n bridges, and parallel
with 1t, unning east and west. the
tracks of the Rhenish railway pass
the works on the north. while on the
south the railroad leading from Dus-
seldorf To Bremen. Hamburg and Ber-
lin skirts the mills. Innumerable
tracks connect these two main lines OF
railroad. surrounding IN an inextrica-
BILE network the buildings and cross
ing the street leading to Muelheim be-
low its eve Powerful locomotives
bring train loads 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 an
other until IL is finished and ready for
the market.