African Entrepreneurship Record

October 8, 1873.

On the far west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes, it was late at night, but it was rare that the entire city was still awake.

Under the watchful eyes of Odyssey, the president of the Chicago branch of the Bank of Hechingen, and a group of employees, as well as the citizens of the entire West Side of Chicago.

Chicago, nicknamed the "Windy City", has turned into a sea of ​​fire except for the West City area at this moment. The fire illuminated the sky brightly. From time to time, buildings collapsed in the fire, and flames soared into the sky. , thick smoke billowing.

Countless Chicago citizens poured into the West Side from other areas, and the sounds of crying, roaring, and looting were endless.

So much so that the Chicago branch of the Hechingen Bank had to strengthen security, with security teams patrolling around the bank with guns.

Standing on the third floor of the bank, looking at the city center, it has been completely engulfed by fire, including the Chicago Business Center, where various banks and other financial institutions in the United States gather.

When colleagues suffered such a disaster, Odyssey, the president of the Chicago branch of Hechingen Bank, couldn't help but sigh: "Oh, God bless! Fortunately, Chicago's housing prices saved us."

The Chicago branch of the Hechingen Bank is quite special. It was built in a relatively backward area of ​​Chicago. Therefore, the main building of the Hechingen Chicago branch stands like a flock of chickens in the middle of a pile of sheds with no more than two floors. It is particularly abrupt and makes the Odyssey Bank You can leisurely watch the fires in downtown Chicago.

The city of Chicago is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, on the Taihu Lake Plain. It was originally an Indian hunting land. When the city was founded in 1834, it had a population of less than 1,000 people. Due to the expansion of the American West, Chicago, which was still a remote town, developed rapidly after the Civil War.

With the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, the mining of forests and iron ore, and the connection of canals and railways, Chicago's population has reached 350,000 in just a few decades. It is also the largest meat trading market in the United States and even the world. It has the reputation of "the slaughterhouse of the world".

The development of Chicago is enough to embarrass all the cities in the East African Kingdom. The three cities in the entire Central Province (First Town, Dar es Salaam, and Bagamoyo) have a combined population of barely half of Chicago. The first choice for immigrants all over the world, the United States has this appeal. It brings together immigrants from all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Germany... including Italians, Chinese, Indians, and black people with the lowest status at this time.

As early as 1865, the Bank of Hechingen had been operating in the city of Chicago, but the development of the Hechingen Chicago branch could only be described as mediocre. It was far away from the central business district in the center of Chicago, which was not conducive to the staff's business.

Many businessmen and Chicago citizens choose to go to the city center to handle business. However, as the Bank of Hechingen becomes popular in Europe, the Bank of Hechingen's popularity in North America has also been greatly improved. Even though the geographical location is somewhat unfavorable, More and more people are choosing to borrow money from Chicago branches.

Regarding this bad location, the Chicago branch also thought about moving to a different place for development, but was rejected by the New York North American headquarters.

The reason given by the New York North American Headquarters is also very simple. The land price in Xicheng District is very cheap compared to the city center. There is no need to spend more here and you can save money.

But this argument is obviously untenable. After purchasing a large piece of land in Xicheng District, Hechingen Bank carried out large-scale reconstruction here. The cost after the reconstruction was enough to buy a good enough location in the center of the city. .

Moreover, the North American headquarters of the Bank of Hechingen is not short of money at all. As North America is second only to Europe in terms of economy, the Bank of Hechingen is developing rapidly here, even more smoothly than in Europe. Here, the Bank of Hechingen has fully developed into a bank. due financial attributes.

In order to show its financial strength and gain the trust of depositors, the New York North American Headquarters built an extremely luxurious reinforced concrete structure with seven floors and an elevator in Manhattan.

The North American part of Hechingen Bank mainly deals with German business. Germans are a huge group in the United States. In addition, Germans generally have a high level of education and a lot of enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. It is just like the fraud industry that pervades the entire United States. Like Those who make counterfeit currency, make false accounts, apply for false certificates, high-end financial fraud, etc. are almost certainly German.

Of course, in these industries, the better it is to have a certain level of culture or skills. German immigrants who have universalized compulsory education have a natural advantage. Those in Italy can only do menial jobs like gangsters.

Moreover, the Germans also have a characteristic. Those who have a little bit of success want to go back to their hometown to show off. In this way, many wealthy German businessmen and wealthy people like to deposit their money in Hechingen Bank. In addition to being friendly, it is convenient to get it when they return to Germany. Checks from Hechingen Bank can be exchanged directly in Europe. The same is true for ordinary Germans. When remitting money to their families, they also choose Hechingen Bank directly, which can save a lot of troubles, such as language barriers.

Relying solely on the Germans in the United States, the Bank of Hechingen had a great advantage in its development, especially in the German-speaking community. In 1860, there were more than 250 German-language newspapers and periodicals. Whether it was a big city or a community, as long as there were German-speaking people German-language newspapers and magazines existed everywhere, and by 1871, 80% of non-English-language publications in the United States were in German.

Therefore, the Germans during this period were quite powerful in the United States, especially after the reunification of Germany. The United States had to think carefully even if it wanted to promote an assimilation policy.

All in all, the Bank of Hechingen was not short of money at all. Banks in other cities at the same time as the Chicago branch were also built in luxury business districts, with the Chicago branch being an exception.

This unreasonable decision made Odyssey very angry at the beginning. The high housing prices were all excuses. The people at the New York headquarters must have been kicked in the head by a donkey.

Today, Odyssey was uncharacteristically praising the New York headquarters. At the same time, he was so sympathetic to the tragic experience of his usually arrogant colleagues in Chicago that he drank a few more drinks tonight.

When the Chicago branch was built, the first thing to do was to tear down the surrounding wooden roads and replace them all with masonry structures. Most of the buildings in Chicago were built with wood from the forests of Wisconsin, even its roads. and sidewalks were built of planks, cheap lumber allowed Chicagoans to squander it, much of the city housed poor immigrants in dilapidated shacks, and even the homes of wealthier citizens were often built of wood. So much so that when the Chicago branch was being built, the price of masonry building materials was much higher than in other cities. After all, the demand was small and the production scale could not be increased.

It hasn't rained in Chicago since July of this year, and in early September, the city's most famous newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, criticized the city for being a "fire trap," adding that many of the buildings were "fake and shingled." , but this still did not arouse people's vigilance.

Today, Chicago suddenly burned. At the same time, forest fires broke out in many places around Chicago. The cause of the fires is no longer known.