Evening star., 1932-03-13
|KREUGER, MATCH
| KING, TAKES LIFE
Swedish Government Asks
for Month Moratorium on
Foreign Debts.
Continued From First Pase)

ilc Heeoeu test, puC ne 1elJ tnat his
personal attention to his vast business
interests was more necessary.
He returned only yesterday from a
long stay in the United States. He had
planned a luncheon with prominent
French and American bushes. msr
When he failed to appear his secretary
telephoned to his apartment. where q
chambermaid said he was sleeping. f,,llv
clothed
Disturbed, M. Littorin friend and
business associate, hurried to the apart
ment at Rue Victor Emmanuel. near
the Champs Elysees. At 1870 pm. he
found Mr.. Kreuger dead, living fully
clothed on a bed. One shot had heen
fired from revolver which was on q
bed beside the body.
On the table were the three letters
addressed to sister, to M. Iittorin
and to a friend in Stockholm.
To Hold Autopsy.
Police said their preliminary in
vestigation supported the indication of
suicide, but they expected to hold An
autopsy.
The body of Mr.. Kreuser, who was
unmarried. will be taken to Sweden for
burial
News that the man who had loaned
millions to European governments and
in return received the match monopolies
which his company holds, was dead
was great shock to industrial circles.
Mr.. Kreuger, who learned his business
methods In the United States. headed
trust that makes about rs per cent
OF the worlds match supply. His COM
pany and its subsidiaries hold monop-
olies on the match business in most Of
the countries of Europe.
worth millions and a power in world
flnance, Kreuger nevertheless was little
known as personality He was shy and
avoided publicity.
kreuger was born in Kalmar, Sweden.
on March 2, 1880,
He went to the United States in 1900
aIter having graduated from Stockholm
university as an engineer and working
1or time as manager of a match fac.
tory IN Moensteras, In South Sweden.
his nrst job In America was selling lots
LOT Cnlcago real estate firm.
Took New York Job.
Then he took job in New York with
rurdy d Henderson. building con-
AAO obCJC0 OAlly d SEOTL Time
He. went to London as a building
engineer in 1902 and continued this
work in Canada and back in the United
States in 1905 to 1907.
kreuger acquired in these years a
knowledge Of American methods which
became OF great use to him when he
IN l908, went back to Stockholm and.
with Paul Toll. formed Kreuger & Toll.
holding and finance company which
controls, among other things, the match
monopoly
Kreuger's father was managing direc-
tor Of safety match company and
young 1var inherited his fathers in
terest in this industry. In 1918 he
formed the. Amalgamated Match Fac
tories, including one-third Of the
Swedish match companies.
from then Kreuger was-a leader in
the swedish match industry. He
brought about its final consolidation
INTO the Swedish Match Co. It's capi-
tai within 10 years increased from As
100000 krone to $50, ,00O, 900 krone
t$72 900 ,000).
Kreuger & Toll became a vast
organization with 90 manufacturing
plants in various parts of the world
outside Sweden and with a controlling
interest in the leading match concerns
of nearly a dozen countries In Europe
America and Japan.
He early set ont to give his enter
prise commercial aid financial world
structure, obtaining funds In the inter-
national money market-in the first
instance America.
Company Began In 1928.
The International Match Corpora
tion was foated In 1923 with q capital
Of S77,000,000 and took over most of
the Swedish match company's foreign
! interests and assets. It became q fore
most American industrial concern. but
Kreuger never allowed the control to
pass out of his hands.
World wide monopoly was his aim in
1917. when he began amalgamating the
Swedish match companies. To over
come political obstacles in the various
countries he and his associates ar
ranged to combine state loans with the
monopolies.
The countries conferred upon Kreuger
for a certain period. generally IS years.
sole rights to manufacture, and sell
matches and Kreuger guaranteed the
! government a certain share of the
profit Poland, Greece, Germany.
Peru, Ecuador, Esthonia, Latvia, Hum
: gary. Jugoslavia, Rumania, Bolivia.
Guatemala, Danzig and Lithuania were
! states In which such monopolies were
obtained.
Kreuger lent France $4,000 900 and
Germany $125, 100000. His large lend
ing capacity was attributed to his abil-
ity, in return for satisfactory securities,
to negotiate the money at a lower rate
than could the governments concerned.
He co-operated with existing enter
prises in other countries, for instance,
in England and Japan.
His interests, other than matches. in
cluded control of the Swedish Telephone
Co. and a share in the iron ore indus
try one of the most important In
Sweden.
His life was 50 remote from public
gaze that his own countrymen scarcely
knew him. and he could move In Stock
holm for days without being recognized.
He received high honors and decora-
tions, but nobody ever saw him wearing
them
His hobby was reading modern litera-
ture-Swedish, French and English
late into the night.
The death of Mr.. Kreuger was one of
the mcst sensational among world finan-
cierS since the disappearance of Albert
Lowenstein, Belgian utilities and arti-
f1cial silk magnate, from an airplane
over the English channel in 1928.
Lowenstein's body was found In the
channel two weeks later, on July 10,
and investigators found his death to
I L