﻿THE 
  STORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  RUHR 
  

  

  555 
  

  

  Photograph 
  from 
  Frederick 
  Simpich 
  

  

  KLLCTRIC 
  WELDING 
  IN 
  ESSLN 
  

  

  it 
  slumbered 
  along 
  for 
  hundreds 
  of 
  years, 
  

   an 
  obscure, 
  unimportant 
  hamlet. 
  Even 
  

   as 
  late 
  as 
  1850 
  it 
  had 
  hardly 
  more 
  than 
  

   10,000 
  people. 
  Then 
  the 
  Krupp 
  boom 
  — 
  

   the 
  rise 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  machine-shop 
  the 
  

   world 
  has 
  ever 
  seen 
  — 
  struck 
  it, 
  and 
  today 
  

   the 
  city 
  houses 
  half 
  a 
  million. 
  

  

  Set 
  in 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  coal-fields, 
  

   crowded 
  with 
  endless 
  industrial 
  plants 
  

   whose 
  tall 
  chimneys 
  belch 
  eternal 
  smoke 
  

   and 
  fumes, 
  the 
  great 
  workshop 
  fairly 
  

   throbs 
  with 
  power 
  and 
  energy. 
  The 
  roar 
  

   and 
  rattle 
  of 
  ceaseless 
  wheels 
  and 
  the 
  din 
  

   of 
  giant 
  hammers 
  pounding 
  on 
  metal 
  

   seem 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  whole 
  town 
  atremble. 
  

  

  Here 
  every 
  form 
  of 
  iron 
  and 
  steel 
  

   article 
  is 
  made, 
  from 
  boys' 
  skates 
  to 
  giant 
  

   marine 
  engine 
  shafts. 
  Curiously 
  enough, 
  

   even 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  smoke, 
  or 
  the 
  fumes 
  

   from 
  the 
  smokestacks, 
  is 
  caught 
  and 
  con- 
  

   verted 
  into 
  a 
  gas 
  that 
  furnishes 
  more 
  

   power 
  to 
  run 
  the 
  mills 
  ! 
  

  

  And 
  to 
  the 
  80,000 
  or 
  more 
  men 
  on 
  his 
  

   pay-roll, 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Krupp 
  is 
  above 
  

  

  that 
  of 
  kings.* 
  And 
  indeed 
  no 
  indus- 
  

   trial 
  enterprise 
  anywhere 
  has 
  ever 
  shown 
  

   a 
  more 
  astonishing 
  development, 
  reflected 
  

   more 
  dramatically 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  human 
  

   concentration, 
  or 
  achieved 
  a 
  wider 
  noto- 
  

   riety 
  among 
  the 
  nations 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  More 
  than 
  a 
  hundred 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  

   first 
  Krupp 
  set 
  up 
  his 
  small, 
  crude 
  shop 
  

   and 
  began 
  to 
  make 
  by 
  hand 
  the 
  tools, 
  the 
  

   drills 
  and 
  chisels, 
  used 
  by 
  tanners, 
  black- 
  

   smiths, 
  and 
  carpenters 
  along 
  the 
  Ruhr 
  

   and 
  the 
  Rhine. 
  He 
  also 
  made 
  dies 
  for 
  

   use 
  in 
  the 
  mint 
  of 
  the 
  government. 
  

   Within 
  30 
  years, 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  ambition 
  

   for 
  expansion, 
  Krupp 
  tools 
  were 
  known 
  

   and 
  used 
  as 
  far 
  away 
  as 
  Greece 
  and 
  India. 
  

  

  *At 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Friedrich 
  Alfred 
  Krupp, 
  

   the 
  last 
  of 
  his 
  line, 
  the 
  factories 
  passed 
  into 
  

   the 
  possession 
  of 
  his 
  daughter 
  Bertha. 
  In 
  

   1906 
  she 
  married 
  Dr. 
  Gustav 
  von 
  Bohlen 
  und 
  

   Halbaeh, 
  formerly 
  a 
  counselor 
  of 
  embassy, 
  to 
  

   whom 
  the 
  government 
  granted 
  permission 
  to 
  

   assume 
  for 
  himself 
  and 
  heirs 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Krupp 
  in 
  conjunction 
  with 
  his 
  own. 
  

  

  