The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-01

- Aen ne was horn
on Feb. p, 1870" writes his al
miring biographer, DR.. Hern .a-
Brickmeyer, there lay ready to IN hil
hand the means by which he mishs
achieve the tremendous resnI,s
upon which he can now look bec1. .
The grandfather. Matthias Stir
mes, according to DR.. Brickmava,.
settled in Mulheim on the Rhina =
1908, where he soon became kno,--
for his courage, strong will sns
business sagacity. He invested ~
small capital in coal barres 80
gradually built up an importen1
coal carrying line between Colog1e
and Holland. After a time. he estsb
lished his own ship building nlsnt
and began constructing his or
barges, so that by 1920 the nurha.
of craft owned by the SHINES g.,
had increased to IS.
Twenty years later, hogavsr
when the practically of the steam
boat had been well established Ns4
thias SHINES decided to scran bis
slow, hoFse-tSwed barges in favos
of steam power. This substituted
was bitterly opposed by the Rhine
landers, who had been furnisbjng
the horses for towing the barqas
and diSliked to see a good sonrco
of profit swept away. Shines v,ss
informed that upon the appearance
of the first steamboat used To tov
his barges, there would be tronhls
This warning proved TO be ar
curate. When the first steamboat
arrived at a certain point near
Neuwied-on-the-Rhine it was greet
ed with volley of rifle shots from
the bank. But to the discontinue
of the enemy, the steamboat syent
hautily on, scorning to notice sucb
interference; for Matthias SHINES
had taken the precaution to pIaca
his steersman in an inVulnerable
armored turret. After that the
Rhinelanders resigned themselves
to the inevitable.
A Family of Promoters.
When Matthias SHINES died in
1845, his business had expanded
enormously so that it included not
only river shipping but mining and
the marketing of coal. 1t had be-
come so complicated and varied, in
fact, that one man could scarcely
handle it, but Matthias II somehow
managed to take care OF it and keen
it in the possession of the family.
which included his three brothers
and three sisters. Upon his death
in 1858, he passed the responsible
ity on TO Gustav, the eldest Of the
three brothers, and the father Of
the amazing Hugo SHINES, who
now engages the attention of the
world.
Hugo exhibited unusual talent
for managing his share of the Stin-
mes possessions at an early age.
Combining his education to CONNER
ciaI subjects, he entered the Stin-
mes firm when he became 10, but
soon felt the need for larger fields
to conquer. Accordingly, two years
later he established his own firm
laying the foundation for an indie
pendent career. Not until the out
break of the war, however, did be
find his real opportunity for com
plete self-expression- His history
of all his skillful manipulati0ns
would make a pretty tale, but suf-
fee it to say that he entered the
war period only 4 moderately rich
man and came out with billions
And since the armistice he has
achieved even greater wealth and
power.
In amusing contrast 20 his spec
tacular exploits is the personal ap-
pearance of the man himself, who
is described by DR.. BTickmeyer, his
biographer, as resembling nothing
so muct as "a wandering lump OF
coal"
He has a compact body, writes
Brickmeyer, upon which is sS a
big head. His hair is cIose-crop-
ped, black; his face large and pale,
his beard black as coal, his lose
bent, his eyes deep-set. An Aseyr-
ian king'-that is what a German
paper recently dubbed him.
His manner is absolutely with
out pose-straightfoTward, heavy
firm. He walks with q slight stoop'
shuffling along like a seafarer. HIS
clothes and habits are simple.
1T is remarkable" he comments,
"how the traits and leanIngs Of OLD
Matthias SHINES have reappeared
in his grandson. In him we md
the same restless spirit, the same
daring, the same talent for ComDl-
nation and construction, but these
powers find their application on an
infinitely greater scale. Never IN
the economic history of Germany
was the time so propitious as today
for a constructive genius