Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-03-15
kRUPP'S UNLIMITED.
Story of German Firm Which EN-
pIoys 10000 Men.

pIoys 10000 Men.
The great German firm that is
known to every one as "Krupp's," and
which supplies half the civilized world
with what it wants in the way Of can
non, is buying large tract of land in
Holland with the object of erecting
new works there.
If so, this gigantic business, which
already gives employment to about
150, 900 men, and owns a city and sew
eral towns and villages in Germany,
will soon possess no fewer than nine
different groups Of works.
The rise Of the firm has been re-
markably swift. In 1910 a working
mechanic called Frederick Krupp set
up a forge in the village Of Essen.
Wretchedly poor, he yet contrived to
keep four workmen in his pay. He
had ideas which, he hoped, would rev.
olutionize the manufacture Of steel.
Handicapped by his poverty, how
ever, and by a ten years lawsuit, he
accomplished nothing, and died, worn
out by failure, in 1926.
When his son Alfred, for whose
schooling the widowed mother had
scarcely been able to pay, entered the
business in 1S4S, he found, to use his
own words, three workmen and con-
siderably more debts than cash." Be-
fore his death, fifty years later, he was
me of the most powerful factors in
the wars Of Europe.
Wedged in between two huge work.
shops in Essen, which is now city
of 100000 inhabitants and is practi-
cally the property Of the firm, there
stands the tiny oldfashioned cottage
in which the founder Of the firm
struggled for a livelihood. 1t bears
an inscription in the handwriting OF
Alfred Krupp, commencing the exam
,Jie OF his parents to the work people.
The site of that cottage Is worth
thousands, but it still stays unused.
1t would be difficult to name three
European countries in which the
Krupp firm have no interests. In
Germany they own, besides Essen
(their headquarters), the Germania
Dockyard at Kiel (where they build
Dreadnoughts), three coal mines,
many iron mines and foundries, and
great steel-making works at Rhein-
hansen on the Rhine and at Madge-
burg.
They have iron anl coal mines all
over Europe. The famous iron-min-
ing town Bilboa in Spain Is partly
theirs It is from Bilboa that
Britain gets most of her supplies Of
iron ore.
Everything the Krupp's do is on
gigantic scale At Essen they keep
hotel solely for the use of the firms
guests. These are chiefly foreign MIL
itary and naval officers inspecting the
work Krupp's are carrying out Tor
their respective countries. No ollls,
of course, are presented. This hotel
costs Krupp's a clear f25,OO a year
Alfred Krupp was succeeded by MS
son, the second Frederick krupp.
The new head of the firm was peace
loving scientist with a passion Tor
distaste for cannon making. Rumor
has 1t. however, that on at least one
occasion he made his presence felt.
On one occasion he bearded Bis
marck in his den and told him f1atly
that a certain war must not Dreak
out. And it did not.
There are several uncrowned
kings in Europe, and the head of the
Krupp firm is certainly one of them.
wage a war without the assistance or
Krupp's.
The firm Is now managed by board
of twelve directors. the chairman OF
which is the second husband of Frau
Krupp, the late Frederick's widow.
Frau Krupp, as she is still called, Is
the largest shareholder. The name.
by the way, is pronounced "Koop"
Frau Krupp and her two daughters
have all married German barons,
friends of the kaiser. The emperor,
indeed, is said to have done the
matchmaking, as he naturally wishes
to bind the Krupp interests as firmly
to those of the state as possible.
Around Essen four towns have been
specially built by the Krupp firm for
their workmen. Two OF these are
garden cities. much like those OF
England, and are reserved for retired
and disabled employees.
In Essen itself the Krupp institu-
tions are innumerable. There are
two housekeeping schools for
Krupp girls. Beside the usual libra
ries and technical colleges there are
Krupp cafes, Krupp churches, a
Krupp park-all solely for the use
Of the firms employees. There Is a
Krupp restaurant, in which 1000
Krupp workmen can dine at one time.
-Pearson's Weekly.