--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Cannon, Hugh J. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 29 number: 4 published: 1926-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Cannon, Hugh J., “A Day at Krupp’s,” *Improvement Era* 29, no. 4 (February 1926): 331–334." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2904unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2904unse start_page: 331 end_page: 334 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1926-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2904unse publication_year: 1926 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1926, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Day at Krupp’s A DAY AT KRUPP'S By Elder Hugh J. Cannon, President of the Swiss-German Mission This brief account of a visit to a world renowned factory is inspired by the thought that "lives of great men all remind us" of the possibilities which lie hidden in the future. No thoughtful man can consider the accomplishments of Alfred Krupp without himself being impelled to greater effort. At the conclusion of a very successful conference held in Essen, in the famous Ruhr district of Germany, twenty-one missionaries had the privilege of visiting the Krupp works. This wasi made possible by the initiative of President Glenn R. Dorius of the Cologne Con- ference, and Aaron C. Taylor, president of the Essen branch. This was not the first visit of missionaries to these works, and former groups must have made a good impression, for nothing could have been better than the treatment accorded us. We met in the administration building as 9 a. m. Two courteous gentlemen, Messrs. Hans Schopp and Hermann RemmTt were assigned to conduct us through the works. As the various factories extend over miles of ground, automobiles were placed at our disposal to convey us from one point of interest to another. That in itself was a novel experience for missionaries, who seldom indulge in such luxury. After four hours of intensely interesting inspection, Mr. Schopp suggested that we were to be their guests at lunch. It seemed a good time to tell him that we do not drink coffee, usually so inseparable from a German lunch. This surprised him greatly. "But of course you will drink wine?" "No, we neither drink nor smoke." His surprise grew to astonishment. He began to wonder what kind of a crowd he had. "But you surely eat?" Even this query was put somewhat doubtfully. A negative could hardly have added to his amazement. A long forenoon after the usual modest German breakfast had provided abundant appetites. All the missionaries were willing to affirm, and some of them were even prepared to swear, that we do eat. The result was we had an excellent meal, and the company even went to the trouble of providing mineral water and cereal coffee to take the place of wine and the regular bean coffee. Even in America, the land of opportunities, success such as was achieved by Alfred Krupp would be phenomenal. To accomplish what he did in Germany was little short of miraculous. His father, Friedrich Krupp, had exhausted a small fortune in an effort to establish a factory which could profitably manufacture iron and steel articles. 332 IMPROVEMENT ERA When his son Alfred was less than fifteen years old, Friedrich died, leaving an insignificant and bankrupt business. Against the advice of relatives and friends the boy undertook the management of the factory and the few poorly paid employees. Sixty-two years later he died. The Krupp works were known the world over. Between twenty and thirty thousand men were on his payroll and he was frequently honored by visits from royalty. A story, current in America nearly two score years ago, was told us by request. Herr Krupp, himself a skilled workman, had the gift of developing skill in others and took great pride in his men's1 ability. On one occasion Kaiser Wilhelm I was visiting the plant and was much interested in the immense twenty-ton hammer which in those days was used to work the steel into the proper shape instead of the great presses which are now employed for that purpose. The men in charge could legulate this hammer so exactly that it would fall on any desired spot. The emperor had heard of the man's accuracy and placed his diamond- studded watch on the block pf steel and asked for a display of the reputed skill. The operator took his measurements so carefully that when the hammer fell with a crash the valuable timepiece though grazed, was not in the slightest degree injured. The emperor would have presented the watch to the man, but Herr Krupp objected. He did consent, however, to a less expensive gold watch being given. One of the buildings, where a few years ago 7,000 people were kept busy making implements of war, is now used exclusively for the manufacture of farmjng machinery, principally mowing machines, self-binders, and plows. It occurred to us that it was almost a literal fulfilment of the words of Micah: "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks." Naturally the first years of this remarkable business were filled with toil and privation. Alfred Krupp, really nothing more than a child, had no capital, no credit, no experience; but he did have pluck and a fixed determination to succeed. He had something more — genius — though he himself was probably unaware of it. and certainly those about him who were trying to discourage him had not discovered it. However, his genius would have been of no moment if he had been less tenacious. For twenty-five years, perseverance played the leading role; then genius took the center of the stage. After he had directed the business for twenty-three years, he had 100 men in his employ. Eleven years later he had 200. During the next ten years this number increased to 2,000. Within the succeeding ten years the number mounted to 17,000. When he died there were more than 25,000 men in his shops and mines. He was fond of saying, "The purpose of work should be for the common good: then work will bring blessings: then work becomes prayer." Evidently he tried to put these sentiments into execution A DAY AT KRUPP'S 333 for he established stores where his employees could purchase supplies at cost; he built homes which they could rent at much lower prices than were usually charged. Upon the death of Alfred Krupp his only son, Friedrich Alfred, took over the business and followed his father's example regarding provision for the workmen. The company now owns ten thousand homes which are occupied by employees with families. Savings' banks, insurance funds, pensions, homes for the aged, hospitals, and reading rooms have been created. During the war, 115,000 people were engaged in the Krupp works at Essen. It was here that "Big Bertha" was built, the long range gun which threw shells into the heart of beautiful Paris, and consternation into the hearts of her residents. So great were the demands made upon this firm, while the war was on, that they were forced to add extensively to their buildings'. One of these covers twenty acres of ground, equal to two of Salt Lake City's blocks. This structure is now used for the manufacture of locomotives; and in this one plant they can completely make a locomotive of the largest type and ten freight cars in a day. Another building erected during the war is said to be the longest factory in the world, though it does not cover as many square yards of ground as some of the others. It would reach from the Brigham Young monument in Salt Lake City to a considerable distance below Second South Street. The Krupp coal mines are in the heart of their factories, and the coal and other materials and supplies are transported to the various factories by trucks and trains. They have 100 locomotives engaged in this labor. In addition, each separate factory from which the finished product is shipped has facilities for loading cars under its own roof and on tracks which have connection with the main lines. These plants at Essen now employ 33,000 men and make almost everything in which steel plays an important part, from crowns and fillings for liuman teeth to the largest railway locomotives. They have developed a special rust and acid-proof steel which it is believed will revolutionize dental practice. They claim that it is far better than gold for fillings and bridge work. Farming machinery, automobiles, cash registers, moving picture machines, the finest surgical instruments and measuring devices, rails, armor plate, spinning! and weaving machines, and almost everything else are among their products. They move a block of steel weighing 120 tons with incredible ease and mould it by means of their presses into any desired form. Or thev melt it so that it is as liquid as water and pour it into any required mould. In addition to the Essen plant, this firm has factories in various parts of Germany. The occupation of the Ruhr district by French soldiersi is a matter of very recent history. We saw the gate where a clash occurred \ 334 IMPROVEMENT ERA between soldiers and Krupp workmen during this occupation. The French were, or professed to think they were, in danger and fired into the crowd killing thirteen men. At present there are no foreign soldiers in Essen and they are gradually being withdrawn from the entire district. I The last of the male Krupps, Friedrich Alfred, died in 1902. Prior to this date the business had been incorporated, though practically all the stock was held in the family. Its management fell into the hands of a board of directors. Following the old law of primogeniture the bulk of the Krupp estate came to Bertha, the eldest of the two daughters, after whom the formidable cannon, already referred to, was named. She was married subsequently to Dr. Gustav von Bohlen, who has since become the general manager of the business. She has several sons, and in order that the Krupp name should not die, Kaiser Wilhelm, not long before the world war, gave to von Bohlen the right to take the name of Krupp, together with his own. It is expected that the sons will bear the mother's name, instead of the father's. During the day we heard many lamentations concerning the dullness of the times. No part of the great institution is working anywhere near its capacity. One cannot help wondering whether it is running on the momentum acquired under former administrations. Certainly von Bohlen is having the yard-stick placed upon him and. his measure is being taken. If he can conduct the business through these trying days of reconstruction and establish it on a successful peace basis, he too will prove himself a genius and will be entitled to a place alongside the grandfather of his wife. Those Melancholy Times There is in all men's lives despondent hours, When Melancholy in her feverish greed devours Health's blooming flesh and beaming eyes And leaves, in their sweet stead, her dismal sighs. When those who should have helped you turn away And don with merry strangers, garish Mirth's array; When most is needed just one helpful word, And faces are averted and the needed things unheard. It could not be that life's long journey through Is freely flower-strewn and her skies all blue. But Fate decrees heavier course to some — 'Neath bleaker skies; with heavier hearts and numb. It could be that when each one's burden came, We said a cheery word or fondly breathed a name, And lightened some poor traveler's load, and he Might in his turn pass it on — this is Divinity. elleisle, Canada. ALAN C. REIDPATH.