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Tribute To A ManNamed Ludwig:


Mr. Daniel K.Ludwig

Daniel K. Ludwig came to the United Statesas a young man to seek a fortune. He found it here and I was luckyto meet with him. Mr. Ludwig died at age 95. This is a tributeto the man who helped so many Caymanians.

Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,the United States waved a welcome to migrants from all over theworld. Many came by boat under the light of the Statue of Libertyto seek freedom.

Here was a land overflowing with potentialsfor a sound and wealthy living. From all over Europe they traveledto what was called, God's Country. There were many German families,among them the Ludwigs. The head of the family was a very poorman just seeking something better for his family. His father hadmoved to the U.S. earlier.

Like most of the others, this family pitchedtheir tent in New York City. Nevertheless, it wasn't all thateasy in New York as had been thought. Mr. Ludwig took to sellingcosmetics on a street corner in Manhattan to earn a living forhis family. Just how many children there were in the family isnot clear. Some people think there was only one, a son namedDaniel Keith. Anyway, Daniel went to school and received hishigh school diploma.

Without the benefit of a college or universityeducation, young Daniel was pushed out into a harsh world on hisown. He sold newspapers, ran errands and polished shoes to earnhis keeps, doing any other odd jobs that came his way.

World War I had disrupted the good lifeof many of the Germans in the U.S. Anyway, the war was finishedand young Daniel had been able to keep out of political trouble,emerging as a pure and clean citizen of America.

Now, one of the first highlights in thisyoung man's career was that he bought a sunken tugboat up on theNew York River. He and a friend worked hard at floating and repairingthe boat and getting her in working condition, leasing her toa towing company pulling barges up the river. That venture helpedgenerate a profit of several hundred dollars.

World War II, having disrupted the livesof Americans, financially in no less a way, threw young Danieloff balance with his plans to be rich by middle age, but he wasnot one to take the knocks of life sitting down. Here was a manof great courage and faith.

Learning that a couple of T-2 tankers thatwere Government War Surplus, were for sale, he went all out topurchase the two hulls. With no security of his own, he soft talkeda New York banker to lend him $500.

Venezuela oil was about that time the mosthighly talked about investment. Oil tankers were the big thingin shipping. Soon the Trans Pan and the Trans Sea were carryingblack gold. Not long after this, the Trans Lake joined them andthus the National Bulk Carriers Company came into being. Danielkept on finding more and more favours with banks, and was ableto rapidly expand his fleet.

The investments of Mr. Daniel K. Ludwigwere too numerous to single out here, but for the purpose of thisarticle the great interest lay in his shipping kingdom. Here iswhere the Cayman Islands and Caymanians became involved.

Moving away from the little T-2 Tankersin which many Caymanians first worked, and more so Cayman Bracerswho were among the first to be employed by being in Jamaica; Mr.Cyril Ritch being among the very first, and soon himself becominga shipping agent for the company helped many of his country mento reach New York early on.

Anyway, ships started coming afloat in thename of National Bulk Carriers, like catboats in Cayman Brac inthe early 20th century. The Bulk Trader, Bulk Star, Bulk Petroland Bulk Oceanic were all counted as large tankers. Then camea breed of larger hulls, called the Petro Ships, Petro King, PetroQueen, Petro Currie, Petro Sea and Petrolene.

By now the National Carriers was about thelargest shipping company operating in the USA. During this period,Mr. Ludwig had turned his attention to building Ore Carriers,giant ships such as the Ore Chief, Ore Transport and several others.

But as the demand for black oil increaseduniversally, so did Mr. Ludwig's investments in ships. He startedbuilding giant super tankers of great tonnage. There was the UniverseLeader, Universe Commander, Universe Defiance. These ships wereso large that they could only be dry-docked in Japan or in CapeTown, South Africa. These were the monarchs of the seas wherecargo ships were concerned.

On all, or most of these ships, Caymanianscould be found, sailing from Portland Maine to San Francisco,California; from Australia to Europe; India, China, Africa, youname it, wherever black oil was used, National Bulk ships wentthere.

The time was, when every able-bodied Caymanianwho wanted a job at sea had one. There were more than 100 menat one specified time out there.

Mr. Ludwig never paid too much attentionto the operation of his vast fleet. Sailing, he said, was neverhis hobby. There were too many other irons in the fire, otherinvestments to look after and to plan for more. However, occasionallyhe did drop around for one reason or another.

I can think of two such encounters withthe gentleman: when the Universe Leader made her maiden call intoSan Francisco, I had the honour of being the chief steward, andof being introduced to Mr. Ludwig to sit down and discuss a mammothmillionaires party on board.

Hundreds of Californian millionaires andoil magnates were invited. The crew for the greater part, wasgiven the day ashore. Although we had caterers from ashore, theSteward Department had to work all-day and late into the night,until the party ended.

Mr. Ludwig remained on board for the night.Of course, there was what was known as the owner's room on thegiant Super Tankers. Calling me to his room, he gave me several$100 bills for each one of the departments. He also told thecaptain to give the department 100 hours in over time for thegreat job we had done. We grilled salmon and fillet Mignon steaksall-day long and into the night. Well, I thought Mr. Ludwig was,indeed a great man, and very generous.

For my second contact with the gentleman,I recall one night when I was employed on the dredge ICOA, themost modern dredge at that time. She was there in Port Ordaz,to start dredging the Orinoco River.She hadn't started dredgingas yet and was at a dock in Port Ordaz.

It was Sunday night and I was in bed whenthere was a knocking on my door, the messenger, a Japanese, said,the captain asks you to get dressed and come quickly to the office.You may imagine all, or some of the things that ran through mymind during those brief minutes of getting dressed and reachingthe office. What could be happening for such an emergency at 11:00o'clock at night.

Well, what would you think? I came faceto face there in that office, with Mr. D. K. Ludwig. But now,imagine my elation when Mr. Ludwig moved forward and shook handswith me addressing me as Percy!

"Percy, I am sorry about this but Ireally need something to eat," he said. He was on his wayfrom the cattle ranch in Brazil, flying on his own plane, andhad stopped over to see the world's most modern dredge, his, ofcourse. The ICOA had only reached a week, coming from Curie, Japan.There were 120 men onboard with three complete crews. Work wouldproceed 24 hours per day once the operation started.

Well Mr. Ludwig, as I had known before,was a terribly bad eater. He suffered from a bad ulcerated stomach,he had to have all of his food boiled or steamed without butteror salt. So, on this night, I knew what was best for him. He hadtomato soup first, then a couple of poached eggs on two slicesof dark brown toasted bread and plain jello; his drink was a cupof boiled water. Then at breakfast, he would have a bowl of plainoats porridge and one soft-boiled egg, before starting on hisway home. Well, here is one man that I had admired, even whenhe cursed and swore to promote his authority.

Many, oh yes, most Caymanians will joinme in paying tribute to the man named Daniel Keith Ludwig whomoved the Cayman Islands into prosperity and decent living whenhe gave jobs almost 60 years ago!

Hardly have so many of us owed so much toone man. Mr. Ludwig recently passed away at the grand old ageof 95. May his soul rest in peace, and may he be rewarded forthe down and out people he helped along the way!

Three cheers for Mr. D. K. Ludwig.

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