Scandinavian American. [volume], February 01, 1948, Page 6, Image 6

About Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
6
ALFRED NOBEL mm;
Immanuel Nobel though inade
quately trained, p( sse'ssed a natur
al gift for invention and a power
of initiative which were to carry
him quite far in his changeful ca
reer. He lived for some time in
Stockholm as an inventor and
builder, but after having failed in
business, he emigrated to Finland
and from thence to St. Petersburg.
Through the good offices of a Rus
sian general. he succeeded in get
ting the chemment interested in
some land and sea mines that he
had constructed. and for the money
he received for them he acquired a
machine shop. This venture was
successful, and during the Crimean
V‘Vai'. 1854 to 1856. Nobel had a
genuine boom. His marine mines
were taken into use after it had
blC‘n prove-d that those construct
ed by the Russians themselves
Were worthless. Nobel's mines
“'LI‘e laid out in the Gulf of Fin
land where they were regarded
with much respect by the British
navy. He also built steam engines
for Russian warships. But peace
was dcclaied. and the new Govern-
ment bI‘Oki‘ the' promise of the
former to keep Noble's shop going
with its orders. After struggling
along a few years. he had to leave
it in the hands of his creditors.
Ruined for the second time. he re
turned to Sweden in 1859. Frcm
that time on. Fortune shunned his
path. and he could do nothing dur
ing the last years of his life but
to assist his son Alfred who
started his first venture in St0ck
holm.
Building a World Industry
Ludvig and Robert Nobel had
remained in Russia and again won
a foothold there. Ludvig was en
gaged by his father's creditors to
manage the machine shop they had
taken over, and in this position
he was able to save enough so
that he could buy for himself a
smaller machine shop equipped
especially for the manufacture of
firearms. He also succeeded in re
establishing himself in the confi
dence of the Russian government.
Robert went to Helsingfors. Fin
land. where he had a small busi
ness in illuminating oils. Here he
became familiar with petroleum
and had his attention directed to
the process of refining it— a fact
that was to be very important
later. In 1870 he entered his broth
er Ludvig's business at St. Peters
burg. In manufacturing firearms
Frs'm—‘c? na 5 3 ’/
mm was“
T ENTS :
Capws Prodarf: 0/ ill Klna’: J'
33233353914
318 N. Dhision St. .‘Iain 4233
DODSON’S
SPOKANES LARGEST
-l EWELRY STU RE
Fine Jewelers for 61 Years
W. 517 Riverside
I
Sartorl
Mastm (’mftsman in Jvrweh‘y
N. 10 Wall Spokane
(;REETIN( ;S
GLOBE
GARAGE
Broadway 1333
1619 N. Division
they needed for the butts of the
rifles a certain kind of wood which
was found in Caucasia. and in 1873
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. It struck him that an enor
mous 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 a naptha
field. He invented new ways of re»
fining the oil and in a short time
was able to deliver a product as
good as the American oil and much
cheaper. Now Alfred Nobel also
advanced money for the enterprise.
In ten years the business de
veloped into a world industry, ex
panding with a swiftness that has
low parallells anywhere. Ludvig
Nobel built tank steamers and
tank wagons for transportation of
the Oil on the railroads. For some
years the Nobel oil refineries held
Ult‘li‘ place as the largest in the
world. They handled two. billion
kilograms bf naptha in a year and
employed a force of 1.500 clerical
and professional workers and 12.-
500 laborers. They provided for
their employees by building homes
for them. establishing pensions and
schools. and in other 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. Ludvig then
managed the business alone, but
died in 1888. The latter's son Im
manuel succeeded him and con—
tinued in the traditions of his fa
ther. In 1920 the Soviet govern
ment took over the business with
out paying any conpensation 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 poc: in personal happi
ness. He spent the greater part
of his time on business journeys
or in his laboratory. His unsettled
and roving 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, fa
mous, and much envied man often
felt himself lonely and homeless.
In his few leisure hours thi sense
of loneliness sank deep hie his
nature and strengthened an orig
inal tendency to melancholy. He
once wrote an eloquent confes
sion in a letter to his sister-in-law.
Edla, wife of his brother Ludvig
Nobel.
"What a contrast between us!
You surrounded by love, happi
ness, noise. pulsating liife. cherish
ing and cherished. caressing and
caressed, anchored in ccnteiitment:
I 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
boautifier. without children who
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
varnished 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—
choly made Nobel Indifferent to
his own biography and averse to
any publicity regarding himself.
He refused photographs and inter—
vwws to the newspapers and could
ncver be persuaded to have his
portrait painted. When his brother
Ludvig. in the interests of the fam
ily genealogy. asked him for some
facts about himself, he refused to
give them. He explained that there
were “no important events" in his
life. and added: “Who has time to
read biographies, and who would
be so naive or so kind as to be
interested in them? That is.the
question I ask myself in all seri
ousness."
Not that Alfred Nobel lacked
ambition, but his ambition was di
rected towards higher goals and
sought its satisfaction in special
achievements. He wanted his in
ventions and his donations to ben
efit mankind. He might have said.
in the words of the philosopher
Bergson: “He who knows with ab
oslute conviction that'he has-cre
ated something good stands above
honors." If Nobel felt. as he nat—
urally must have felt, satisfaction
in his triumphs, he kept it to him
self, and this silence is in harmony
With his whole manner of living.
The want of personal tfes and af
fections tended to direct his
thoughts and dreams toward hu
manity as a whole. He was always
interested in metaphysical prob
lems; he admired poets of idealis
tic tendencics such as the Eng
lishman Shelley and his own coun
tryman Rydberg, and in the later
years of life he became absorbed
in plans for preserving peace
among nations.
The Inventor of Dynamite
Nobel's indifference to the facts
of his own life has given his biog
raphers much trouble. We know.
for instance, that at the age of
eighteen he made a study trip to
the United States. but where he
went. what he studied and how
long lfe stayed tnere We do not
know. Our only clue is a letter.
written in 1852, in which he refers
to “the time I was in America."
We also know that in (.11? same.
period he spent some time in Par
is, but the detaiis are lacking
here also. We may infer that those
trips during the years of his youtn
gave him that exceltsnt knowlu‘gc
of languages which stow him in
good SUoJ when he cum: to trav
et abroad securing pa’e:~t-.3 and
forming companies.
Aliled Nobel was bon. in Stock
holm. October 21. 1833. XL: first
schcul-years were spent in his na
the city, but at the 11g0 0! nine
he icmoved with the farnilv to St.
l’etersburg. Where his education
was continued .z‘i'iert‘m direction
of a tutor.
After \isits to foreign cour
tiits. he received further practical
tiainnig in his father's factory. In
1862 he invented Nobel's dc tonutor,
an exceedingly important discov
ory by which it became possible
to utilize nitroglycerin as an ex
plosive. In fact it laid the founda
tion of the entire modern manu
facturing of explosives. In 186.;
he moved to Stockholm in order
to work together with his father.
who had always been interested
in this problem. and together they
set about to utilize the discm’ery
in a practical way.
f In the very beginning a terrible
icalamity struck them and threat
;ened to put a stop to all their
3work. They had equipped an ex
iperimental factory in Heleneborg.
lStwkholm, but one day when they
‘Were trying out a mixture of gun
ipowder and nitroglycerin—another
|of Aifred' Nobel's inventions—ewe
gfactory was blown up and five.
{persons met their death. among:
Ethem the youngest of the Nobel
ibrothcrs, Emil. The father was
lquitc broken by this blow. The
iaccident arouaed public opinion
-against the dangerous stuff they
lhandled, and they were forbidden
gto manufacture it within the city
‘limits. But Alfred Nobel did not
'lone faith in the future of his dis
!covery. ,Only a month later he
iformu‘l a stock company for the
lmanuhcture and utilization of ni
troglycerin.
The first manufacturing had to
take place on a barge on Lake
:Miilaren near Stockholm until per
;mission could be secured to build
‘a factory on land. Soon the build
,‘ing and mining industrie. in Swe-
den lurned'to utilize nonoglycor
in, and before the year was out it
was used in blasting the tunnel
under Sodermalm for the new rail
way. Its immense effectiveness as
a labor-saver was thus for the first
time demonstrated, and next year
the new explosive was gem-rally
adopted in Swedish mines.
Alfred Nobel had much greater
plans, however. He wanted to
found a world industry. He went
abroad to secure patents and or
ganize companies in the larger
countries. The fight was hard
against prejudices ami fears rous
ed again by renewed accidents.
against competition, and against
intrigues from patent thieves and
the sharks of finance. By until-ing
efforts he succeeded, and in May
1865 formed in Hamburg his first
foreign company. It was Called
Alfred Nobel und Co., and still ex
ists under the name Dynamit-Ak
tien-Gesellschaft wormals Alfred
Nobel und C0,, occupying a leading
place in the German explosives in
dustry. In 1866 he went to Ameri
ca and formed the United States
Blasting Oil Company which after
a long struggle with competitor:
was absorbed in the Atlantic Giant
Powder Company. In 1871 he
founded a dynamite factory at
Ardeer on the west coast of Scot
land. which was to ber-onie one of
the greatest in the vuorld. In the
1870‘s he also founded dynamite
companies in France, Italy. Spain.
Portugal. and. Hungary. The ma
jority of the companies in Great
Britain and Germany were combin
ed in 1886 into the Nobel Dyna
mite Trust Company with a cap
ital of two million pounds sterling.
In order to prevent the accidents
caused by the liquid nitroglycerin.
Nobel had experimented with a sol~
id absorbent, and it was these ex
periments that led to the discov
ery of dynamite in 1866. His fac
tory now began the manufacture
of this explosive, and in 1875 it
was followed by an explosive gel
atin. which was yet another step
toward safety. As it is scarcely
at all affected by water, it is es
pecially adapted for blasting un
der water. in 1887 Nobel made his
discovery of the smokeless gun
powder called ballistitc or Nobel
powder. which was adopted first
by the Italian government and
later came into general use in the
armies and navies of many other
countries.
In the development of explos
sives. dynamite is the most im
portant next after gunpowder. and
unlike gunpowder the Nobel ex
plosives have been used chiefly for
peaceful objects. Dynamite has
blasted tunnels, opened mines, and
facilitated the building of railway
tracks and highways. not least
across the American continent. By
the use of dynamite the Saint Got
hard Tunnel was completed at a
the use of dynamite the Saint Gott—
lars in money and years of time.
Dynamite has. therefore, has
tcned the developments of our mod
em civilization. Modern industry
and transportation rest to a large
extent on the inventions of A1-
t'rcd Nobcl.
Lgogtinued on Page 7)
PETERS & SONS
GREETING (‘ARDN —— GIFT SHOP — TW‘O STORES
829 Riverside
Mun I 145
AMERICAN MACHINE WORKS
“Headquarters for Trucks and Logging Equipment"
W. 1027 Broadway
VISIT
ZIIKOR’S FASHION GENTER
FASHION CENTER '
Famous for Dresses - Coats - Suits - Furs
Corner of Riverside and Wall Street
Spokane
THE SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN
Gets Command
Captain John Norlander, master
of the S. S. “Drottningholm” of
tho Swedish American Line. has-
been givm the commani of the
new M. S. “Stockholm." Since he
will remain on the hrid;c of the
“Drottnin;holm“ during her last
crossings. until the veteran ship is
turned ovcr to her new owners,
Captain Nordlander will not as—
sume command of the "Stock
holm“ until later. Captain Walde~
mar C. \‘C. Jonsson, who since last
September has assisted in the su
pervision of the new vessel's con
struction. will be her first skipper
until Captain Nordlander takes
over. The “Dz-ottningholm“ made
her last voyage under the Swedish
flag 2mm New York on February
11. It will be her 220th vrossing
during the twmtyeight years she
has flown the house-{lag of the
Swedish American Line Captain
Sigfrid Ericsson, Commodore of
the Line. remains master of the
company‘s larg(st vessel. the M. S.
“Grispholm.”
1PETER M. JMOY
E Tobacconist
E Exclusively Representing
I
v
Webster
1 and
? 1886 cigars
I
i‘V. 102 Sprague Main 2321
' Spnkane
FLORISTS
Flcwers For All Occasions
SPOKANE
Phone Broadway 3100
Spokane
4702 N. Market
Glenwood £666
Opposite Courthouse