Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1948-02-01

rifles certain kind of wood which
was found in Caucasia, and in 1878
Robert went there to arrange for
a supply. Thus he came to see the
naptha wells in Baku, which were
being utilized in a very primitive
way. 1t struck him that an enor-
nous saving could be made by
conveying the oil in pipes from
Balakhani to Baku, a distance of
ten kilometers, instead of by the
cumbersome method of filling bar
rels and loading them on heavy
trucks. He consulted his brother
and in 1875 they bought naptha
! field. He invented new ways of re-
filming the oil and in short time
was able to deliver a product as
good as the American oil and much
cheaper. Now Alfred Nobel also
advanced money fer the enterprise:
In ten years the business de-
veloped into a world industry, ex-
/ banding with a swiftness that has
few parallels anywhere Ludwig
Nobel built tank steamers and
tank wagons for transportation of
the oil on the railroads. For some
years the Nobel oil refineries held
their place as the largest in the
world. They handled two. billion
Kilograms of naptha in a year and
employed a force of 1900 clerical
and professional workers and 49,
500 laborers. They provided for
their employees by building homes
for them, establishing pensions and
schools, and in ether ways setting
a standard that had never been
heard of in Russia before.
Unfortunately the strain of pio-
neering work, together with the
unhealthy climate, broke down the
health of both brothers while yet
in their prime. Robert had to re-
tire already in 1879. Ludwig then
managed the business alone, but
died in 1888. The latter's son I'm
manuel succeeded him and cen
tinued in the traditions of his ia
Their. In 1920 the Soviet govern
ment took over the business with
out paying any compensation to
the owners.
A Lonely Man
Alfred Nobel's life was filled
with hard work, and distin-
guished by some fabulous success
es, but was poor IN personal happi-
ness. He spent the greater part
of his time on business journeys
or in his laboratory. His unsettled
and rowing existence prevented
him from establishing a home of
his own. No woman was ever close
to him except his mother, to whom
he gave a lifelong devotion and
loving care. He would often go
to Sweden only to spend her birth
day with her. This wealthy, ia
nous, and much envied man often
felt himself lonely and homeless.
In his few leisure hours this sense
CT loneliness sank deep into his
nature and strengthened an orig
inal tendency to melancholy. He
once wrote an eloquent confess
sion in a letter to his sister-i law,
Edla, wife of his brother Ludwig
Nobel.
What a contrast between us,
You surrounded by love, happi-
ness, noise, pulsating life. cherish
ing and cherished, caressing and
caressed, anchored in ccntentment;
l restless roaming without COM
pass or rudder, like a useless
wreck broken by fate, with no
bright memories of the past and
no false but fair glamour over the
future, without the vanity which
is a gross but convenient self
beautifier, without children w h o
are our only continued life after
this, without friends or enemies
for the natural development of my
heart and my gall respectively,
but with a power of self-criticism
that shows every blemish in un-
vanished ugliness and every weak
ness in the full light of day. A
portrait with such outlines has no
place in the home of happiness
and contentment."
A mingling of pride and melan-