The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-05-26
Hugo SHINES Employs More
Men Than Are Engaged in
Coal Industry Here.
B MILTON {: BRoNNER

= 49,
German empire was formed, the
HohenzoiIeTns could put into the
common pot the Kingdom OF
Prussia whick they ruled. To
thisaweres added the Kingdoms of
Bavaria and Wurtemburg, the
Duchy Of Baden and dozens of
little principalities all ruled ove7
by kings, dukes and princes. Then
the Hohenzo1lern king became
German emperor
! Hugo8S SHINES, Germany.s undis-
puted business emperor. started
befoEeStiie war with two kingdoms
the Kingdom of coal and the
kfngdomEof iron. And to this he
has since added. various duchies
!, and principalities; in commodities
over hich no others but himself
ruler:
He grasped early3in his business
Mcareer8what the nations only fully
learned after the great war start
al moSern life, all its neces-
ties, al u Its conyeniencesa all its
ARE pyramid OF which
the baseis coal. Place iron on top
Of the#coal and you at once have
almost all the needfuI.
So SHINES began with coal. He
secured control OF many of the
best coal mines in the rich Ruhr.
ike his Sgrandfathe he continued
the.bnildingaof tugs and barges to
convey his own coal up and down
sss eTiverssto his own coal yards.
He became the ruling power in
ssss the Rhenisf1> Westphalian Coal
syndicate which in its great brick
paiace at Essen regulates the
price and market of
practfcaIlya all the coal dug in the
Rhineland and Westphaiia. And
sit doneso openly. The coal barons
don have to dodge the law to
accomplish their purpose.
Ready For Chance
Having fortified himself in the
coal business, SHINES long before
theaWar%wasE in a position for his
next strategic move which was a
igSinya of the iron and steel.
trade. loaded his heavy guns
& with Smoney and with coal.
There is this to be said for
g Slim s-7he goes forward not by
scrushinE or wrecking opponents
HeSis asconstructor. He takes sick
businessesS andScures them of what
& ais lem. He takes well busin-
esses and makes them bigger. He
likes to make two mills produce
gives more work to Germans and
anriches both Germany and
s;innes.
Back in the nineties "a weak
a nast furnace corporation in
Iuxem burg and another in Boch-
am, Germany, were united in one.
which was just as
weak It lost money for its stock
Es,oId ers
Thensin q 9O1 SHINES came into
the field. He formed the German
auxemburg Mining and Smelling
iyorporationwi with capital of only
y one mi lion marks. He took over
the weak ombination just men
toned In less thanata year the
"a new concern Increased its capital
mil ion marks.
Under Slime leadership it
Dough 1T some stock in. big coal
mining accompanies in the Saar and
IoselIe svalIeys and thus assured
eheap#coal supply. Then it COB
3 bIed upEaSDortmund company and
FocketedEit capital to 100 million
s marks.
Stinnes was showing himself
The German Napoleon of industrial
4 Haance. But twas sound finance
was based@upon actual possess
tons, not water IA American
trusts. asst mills in Bochum.
portmnnds Mulheim and Emden,
4 coal mines, iron. mines, coke
4 oFsns, O 700 busy workmen, all
told a very real story of bis bust
Z The concern controlled five mil!
lion tons Of coal and .1,500,000
tons OF coke per annuln, to say
NOTHING of%ammonia, benZol, and
coal tar products. 1t made not
only pig8iron, cast iron and steel
but finished products like freight
cars. In ther mills it made
! machinery.
seemed SHINES was at the.
zenith ofSh1s& career. But he had
been really tested. The
war came and with it the bitter
aftermath OF crushing defeat for
Germany. Albert BaIlinse creator
OF neutrality-suspicious. steam
Ship Hnes,s eeing his great busin-
y ess Destroyed, didn't have the
heart TO go on. t. was said he
\ killed himself. But SHINES was
OF toiS ner m etal- Seeing his
greatest work cut into pieces by
the allied victory, he astonished
Germany by wrestling great
out of disaster.
War Spured Him
No GermanEbuSinass was harder
hi than@fis German Luxembourg
M hen Lorraine went back to
France and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS freed
from German influence. Shines
company lost SO per%cent of its
saB material -. iron ore and coal.
lssorsan8ordfrSSyb business man that
you'd have been acrushing blow
But SHINES tsn't< an ordinary
~ an 81 Eat once began buying up
sn az companies which could give
I1isscompanySsome Of the m aterial