New-York tribune., 1914-08-09
Feat of August Thyssen,
Known as King"
Stirs the British.
HIS MOTTO-wF
| REST, | RUST"
He Looks After the Welfare of
$4,000 Families in Rhine
land, Westphalia.
rFrom The Tribune correspondent


London, July 2O.-There has been no
attempt in Great Britain to minimize
the importance of the acquisition by
Germany through the medium of one
of its great iron masters of port IN
Holland. Attention is now directed to
the man who accomplished this feat
He is August Thyssen, seventy-two
years old, iron master of the Rhine
land. and his acquisition Of Dutch
harbor for the Vulcan Shipbulldlng
Company, of Stettin and Hamburg, IS
only one of his famous exploits. There
fore. Vlaar Dingen, on the New Water
way, near Rotterdam, is not herf
Thyssen's first outpost =,
This most famous OF Germanys SELL
made men has long had under his con-
troll a harhor in the British Empire
itself. which is located in India. lie
nossesses another in Brazil an 1 another
at Nikolaieff, on the Russian coast OF
the Black Sea. From Caen, in Nor
mandy, which is practically German
"baseb on the soil of France itself,
Thyssen has long brought from his own
warehouses, docks and wharves at that
port ore and bye products from his own
mines and works, Montigny ana
Maizieres.
A Simple Millionaire.
One of his hobbies has been to IN
ternationalize all commerce, and Viaar
Dingen is only the latest expression OF
it. He is known as king Ihysseh IN
Rhineland- Westphalia, for there ne
looks after the destinies OF 5O,OOo WORK
men and their families, and has AUTO,
cratic sway over vast chain OF allled
industries, including Steel IRON anu
coal His motto, "If | rest / rust" is
a character sketch of the man himself.
He is one of the simplest millinalres
who ever lived. and he has adopted thIs
motto on his coat Of arms.
Herr Thyssen is one of the hardest
workers in his whole gigantic organlza-
tion. Except on business, he travels
little. and It is reported that he has
worn out three secretaries in day. IL
is likewise said of him that he never
wears suit of clothes costing more
than four guineas, though he lives IN a
feudal castle, a fine old Gothic
"schloss" situated high on the wooded
slopes of Ruhr. Even so, it IS really
oothing but branch Office of Thysssen
& Co., for adjoining his bedroom Is a
workroom.
"King" Thyssen received his early
business training at the Antwerp Com
mercial High School. Merchants, man
nfacturers. shippers and engineers ne
would like to take the place Of protes-
sional diplomats. Anglo-German rela-
tions would inevitably be on the way
10 permanent friendship, he asserted
not long ago. were Germany repre-
sented AT the Court of st. James's by a
Rbenish- h-Westphalian manufacturer ana
England at the court of the Kaiser by
a managing director Of some great
shipping company.
Career Romance of Business.
"King" Thyssen's career is romance
of business comparable on ly TO the llle
stories of John d. Rockefeller a., Ahu
Andrew Carnegie in our time Inc
Standard Oil Company was the OUT
growth of an original inyestment, NJ, sala 1no
| to have amounted to about S'Z'oVV'
/ August Thyssen began about the same
! time on a capital of $4,000, WIN "nlch
/ he built rolling mill employing SHY
workmen. To-day one OF ms concerns
the great Deutscher-kaiser woIks d a'
\ Hamborn, has a payroll OF Zo'VoV per
sons. He has been stauhch DelIeNei
/ in the necessity Of Industrial cohcen-
tration as factors for preventing trade
crises and levelling prices. he nlm-
/ self was the founder of the comDlIlaI
| tion of all Germany's leading steel, coal
and pig iron syndicates: Cheapenlns
/ the cost of production is his other Dust
ress ruling passion, which ne mas
termed the keynote of industry, ana ioI
! tbis reason he mines his own ore, shiPs
/ II from far-off foreign points IN ms
ovn vessels, transports 1t up the hhine
/ in his own barges, unloads IL at ms
ov,r wharyes and converts the Dy-
nroducts of coal, steel and iron at MS
own works into commodities Whlch nc
/ himself sells. ..rt
One of his works which at the start
ounloved 95 men, producing 3,6OO TONS
now now has a staff of $3.50 producing 4l4'-
! 6S5 tons. ..;r,.tad IN
no nroducing annually S,OOO,OOO tons
couprising about 10 per cent OF 'he
eUtire oU Rbenish output. He has rock
saIt alt fields Welding 100000 tons a
sa,r sur and mines yielding 100000 tons
SSS aofasb salts. Thyssen's inland mar,
- p' acconnt for 3,500,00 tons OF
Fraiobt a wear. His personal fortune Is
I.o~;onslv estimated at between sZo'-
zoo 400 and S5O. 900 900, yet all his vast
ooo,VV ;ros are invested in plant ior
~ fmTther extension OF his sway. he
;s a man of few words, good llsteiLeL
a,d a deyout Roman Catholic IL 10 h''
resolve to die in harness.
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