The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1922-02-18

will be entirely outside the control
of the Allies" He is reported to have
an agent, or a stan of agents, in every
important foreign port, many OF
whom are not openly. but secretly,
in his employ. His agencies in Rus
STA are said to be particularly import
ant and powerful, and II is believed
that his clever negotiations with Brit
ish capitalists are responsible for the
fact that the soviet government has
been recognized and that Russian is
once more Ia commercial communica-
ton with the world. In short, SHINES
appears to be a whole nation in him
self.
HIS SUDDEN RISE
II is no wonder, then, that he has
captured the imagination of Europe.
and that even the German people
marvel at his energy and ability
especially since the man was scarcely
known before the war. His rise has
been sudden. and achieved solely
through his own extraordinary abil-
ity and effort. AS an American news
paper man puts it, "Stinnes burst
like a comet upon the astonished
postwar world" Yet he is not what
we Americans call a self-made man,
for he inherited a considerable for
tune, as we'll as his superior business
genius, from his grandfather. when
he vas born, on February %, 1870"
writes the admiring biographer, DR..
Herman Brickmeyer, there lay ready
to his hand the means by which he
might achieve the tremendous re-
suits upon which he can now look
back"
The grandfather, Matthias SHINES,
according to DR.. Brickmeyer, settled
in Muelheim on the Rhine in 1908,
where he Don became known for his
courage. strong will and business sa-
gacity. He invested his small capt.
tai in coal barges and gradually built
up an important coal-carrying line
between Cologne and Holland. After
a time, he established his own ship
building plant and began construct
ing his W barges, 80 hat by 1920
the number of crafts owned by the
SHINES firm had increased to IS.
Twenty years later, however, when
the practically of the steamboat had
been well established. Matthias Stin-
mes decided to scrap his slow. horse
towed barges in favor of steam pow
er. This substitution was bitterly OPP
posed by the Rhinelanders, who had
been furnishing the horses for towing
the .barges, and disliked to see a good
source of profit swept away. SHINES
vas informed that upon the appear
a.a1 - a.. arrt u1.-~Aoot ,.oI a.
tow his barges, there would be
trouble.
This warning proved to be accur-
ate, When the first steamboat ar
rived at a certain point near Neu-
MISUNDERSTANDING, it was greeted
with a volley of rife shots from the
bank. But to the discontinue of the
enemy the steamboat swept haughti-
ly on. scorning to notice such inter-
ference; for Matthias SHINES had
taken the precaution to place his
steersman in an invulnerable, ar
mored turret. After that, the Rhine
landers resigned themselves to the
inevitable.
A FAMILY OF PROMOTERS
When Matthias SHINES died in
1S45, his business had expanded enor-
mously, so that it included not only
river shipping, but mining and the
marketing of coal. 1t had become
so complicated and varied, in fact,
hat n man could scarcely handle
1t, but Matthias ii somehow man
aged to take care of it and keep it in
the possession of the family, which
included his three brothers and three
sisters. Upon his death in 1858, he
passed the responsibility on to Gus
tav, the oldest of the three brothers,
and the father of the amazing Hugo
SHINES who now engages the atten-
ton of the world.
Hugo exhibited unusual talent for
managing his share of the SHINES
possessions at an early age. Combining
his education to commercial subjects,
he entered the SHINES firm when he
became 10, but soon felt the need for
larger fields to conquer. According
ly, two years later he established his
own firm, laying the foundation for
an Independent career. Not until the
outbreak of the war, however, did he
find his real opportunity for complete
self-expression. The history of all
his skillfnl manipulations would
make a pretty tale, but suffice 1t to
say that he entered the war period
only a moderately rich man and came
out with billions. And since the ar
mistice he has achieved even greater |
wealth and power.
In amusing contrast to his spectac-
ular exploits is the personal appear
ance of the man himself. who is de-
scribed by DR.. Brickmeyer, his bio-|
grapher, as resembling nothing so |
much as "a wandering lump of COAL"
He has a compact body" writes
Brickmeyer, upon which Is set a
big head. His hair is close-cropped. |
black; his face large and pale; his
beard black as coal; his nose bent:
his eyes, deep-set. An Assyrian
kfng-that is what a German paper
recently dubbed him.
His manner is absolutely without
pose-straightforward, heavy, firm.
He walks with a slight stoop, shutting
along k a seafarer. His clothes
and habits are simple.