help of the capital flowing in from France. 1873 – Crisis (Gründerkrise) – because of speculation by German investors, capital from the French reparations flowed into Ruhr mining companies, without the additional capital requirements from the mine share certificates being covered. Steel production in the Ruhr dropped by 13%. 1882 – On 24 February 1882 fifteen Rheinish and Westfälish steelworks formed themselves into a cartel to protect themselves from competition. 1889 – A mass strike of miners spreads from Bochum to encompass the entire Ruhr. The workers demand a share in the profits of the companies whose production was stabilising after the years of the Gründerkrise. In the same year, the first permanent miners' union, the "Alten Verband" was founded in Dortmund-Dorstfeld. In 1894, a Christian union was also founded and in 1902 a Polish miners' union. 1892 – The Grillo Theatre is opened in Essen. 1893 – Formation of the Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate with its head office in Essen, as an association of a large number of Ruhr mines. Its aim is to regulate production, marketing and prices. Sales are organized at a central point. 1893 – In Essen the first electric tram in Rhine-Ruhr starts operating. 1895 – The later Social Democratic Reichstag Member Otto Hue becomes editor of the Berg- und Hüttenarbeiterzeitung of the Alten Bergarbeiterverbandes. Soon Hue, because of his job, becomes known as the Sprecher der Bergarbeiter (speaker for the miners). 1898 – The Rheinisch-Westfälischen Elektrizitätswerke (RWE) is founded. 1899 – The Emscher Cooperative is founded, primarily to deal with drainage and flooding measures in the Ruhr generally. 1899 – The Dortmund-Ems Canal is opened. William II arrives for the official opening of the port of Dortmund and the Henrichenburg boat lift. The canal becomes particularly important for the transporting of imported ore, especially Swedish ore routed via the Norwegian port of Narvik. First half of the 20th century (to 1945) The coal and steel industries continue to expand, with the Ruhr reaching a position whereby its coal and steel production is in each case almost equivalent to the rest of continental Europe put together (excluding the USSR) 1904 – The businessman Otto Heinrich Flottmann from Herne receives a patent for the pneumatic drill. The use of the new drill in the Ruhr mining areas increases extraction levels markedly. 1905 – As a result of a district-wide strike, miners win a maximum 8-hour day. 1905