CHAPTER XVII. THE OIL KING OF BAKU. The Most Important Factor of the Baku Oil Trade-" Beyond the Sea a Chicken may be Bought for a Farthing, but it Costs a Pound to Bring it Home "-Career of Ludwig Nobel-Origin of the Nobels-Invention of the Torpedo by Emmanuel Nobel, and of Dynamite by Alfred Nobel-How Ludwig Nobel Acquired the Fortune with which he Started Operations in Petroleum-Commencement of the Enterprise at Baku-Laying Down the First Pipe-line-Replacing Barrels with Cistern Steamers-Account of the Oil Fleet-The "Nine-Foot" Shallows of the Volga-Transporting the Oil from Baku to Tsaritzin-Inaugurating the TankCar System-Establishment of the Petroleum Network of Depots Throughout Russia-Mode of Distributing the Oil in the Provinces-Not a Drop Sold except for Cash-Baku Kerosine in Germany-Prospects of the Trade Abroad-Statistical Description of the Present Position of Nobel Brothers' Petroleum Production Company-The World Does Not know its Greatest Men —Russian Hatred of Foreigners-Character of Ludwig NobelHis Remarkable Talents as an Engineer. THE factor exercising the greatest influence on the past, present, and future of the Caspian petroleum industry is that of transport. Baku controls a larger supply of crude petroleum than America. It can turn out a cheaper kerosine and a better lubricating oil, while possessing in addition an enormous quantity of liquid fuel. For all these products there is a great and growing demand. This is particularly the case with kerosine. If the reader lives in London, where refined petroleum is only used as a casual substitute for gas, this fact may not be sufficiently realized by him; but he can hardly go away from that great city without observing the demand for good cheap lamp oil that prevails in the village, the roadside cottage, and the country railway station. In many parts of the Continent, where gas-lighting is less developed, the demand for burning oil is still greater. Out of the total of 101 millions composing the present population of the Russian Empire, probably ninety-five millions are dependent on other light than of gas. In the suburbs of all Russian towns lamps are usedMoscow, one of the best lit cities in the Empire, having no less than 8,000 kerosine lamps in use in the streets. Consequently in Russia alone there is a great home demand for Baku petroleum oil, without touching upon foreign markets. But a cheap and abundant supply of good kerosine in the Caspian is of no use to Russia, unless it can be placed in the lamps of the people at a price accessible to all. That price is entirely dependent upon the cost of the transport. The Russian people have a proverb that "beyond the sea a chicken can be bought for a farthing, but it costs a pound to bring it home." Applying this to kerosine, it is no source of satisfaction for Russia to have kerosine at a penny a gallon at Baku, if its carriage to Moscow adds three or four shillings per gallon to the cost. There was a time, however, when this condition of things existed, and when it was cheaper for the merchants of the upper course of the Volga to get their oil from America than from the Caspian Sea. Even so recently as last year, Tiflis, up to within a few weeks of the opening of the Baku railway, drew her supply of lamp-oil from America, a distance of more than 8,000 miles, in spite of countless millions of gallons of petroleum running to waste 341 miles from her doors. For years America literally controlled the entire petroleum market of Russia. How at length her sway was overthrown, and her power attacked in turn in Austria and Germany, ORIGIN OF THE NOBELS. 277 forms one of the most interesting episodes of modern industrial progress. The revolution was due to Ludwig Nobel, the Baku oil king. The manner in which it was effected can be best described by giving an account of himself and his brothers. The father was a Swede of great ingenuity and skill, thoroughly devoted to his profession, who, in the hope of finding wider scope for his talents, proceeded to Russia in 1838, carrying with him the models of two torpedoes of his own invention-one for naval and the other for land purposes. These so impressed the Russian Government that it gave him a sum of money for the patent, and assisted him in establishing a workshop to manufacture them. As he spoke no Russian, a young Finnish engineer, speaking Swedish and Russian, was placed at his disposition by the authorities. This individual, General Baron Standertskjöld (pronounced Standertsheld), is now head of the Government Small Arms Factory at Toula, and in subsequent years proved a staunch friend to Emmanuel Nobel's sons in assisting them in the petroleum enterprise. In 1842 Ludwig Nobel, then a boy of twelve, proceeded with the rest of the family to St. Petersburg-his elder brother Robert had already preceded him and entered the business. Seven years later Ludwig also became an apprentice; and it can be well understood that under the guidance of a father who possessed the characteristics which have made the Stephensons a proverbial type, he had every opportunity of becoming a clear-headed, ingenious, hardworking, practical engineer. Ere long the Crimean war broke out; and the father and the sons had their hands full of making submarine mines for Cronstadt and Sveaborg. The task of placing them in the water to hamper the Allied Fleets also devolved upon them, and involved a constant exercise of ingenuity.* It would be * The mines occasioned more annoyance than injury to the Allied Fleets, but this was due to causes beyond Emmanuel Nobel's control. |