336 FELLOW-WORKERS. 



them, he felt no longer satisfied, and resolved to retire, 

 in order to devote his whole activity to the ad- 

 ministration of the city of Berlin, which afforded him 

 personal satisfaction. Halske remained a dear and 

 faithful friend to me -till his death, which occurred 

 last year, and always, even to the last, retained a 

 lively interest in the establishment of which he was 

 joint -founder. His only son takes to-day an active 

 part in the management of the present business as 

 confidential clerk. 



As Meyer's successor we appointed the former 

 director of the Hanoverian telegraph system, Herr 

 Karl Frischen, who after the annexation of Hanover 

 passed over into the service of the North German 

 Confederation, and had for several years filled the 

 office formerly held by Meyer as chief telegraph 

 engineer of the Government telegraphs. The business 

 gained in Herr Frischen an eminent technical worker, 

 who had already distinguished himself by many original 

 inventions. Further it was now of great advantage 

 to the firm, that excellent departmental managers and 

 constructors had been formed among its junior assistants, 

 who had received their training in the firm. I shall 

 only mention Herr von Hefner-Alteneck, whose achieve- 

 ments as head of our construction-office have earned 

 for him a world-wide reputation. 



Supported by such able coadjutors I was able more 

 and more to confine myself to the general management 

 of the business, and to leave with full confidence the 

 details to our assistants. In this way I obtained greater 



